What a great joy as the holiday weekend comes ahead. The family gets together over a feasty meal and soft flannel sheets are within reach.

Whether your idea of cozy quality time is sipping cider or making wreaths, here are some activities to take you through the holiday.

1. Wrap Up in Blankets and Sit Outside

First, pass out warm throw-over and mugs of hot cider or cocoa to visitors. Gathering around the fire pit made at your backyard is a great bonding idea. Furthermore, grab that guitar hanging around your living room. There you have a night you will surely remember.

2. Make Up the Beds With Flannel Sheets

Snuggling into a bed dressed in soft flannel sheets is the ultimate in coziness. Layer on the warmth with blankets and throws in mix-and-match plaids, and burrow in with a good book.

3. Put Out a Pile of Unsorted Photos

Some of us definitely have or own a pile of unsorted photos hidden. It is indeed exciting dipping into a mixed-up batch of photos and seeing what you get. It’s sure to spark fun conversations. Your family or friends would love to see it, likewise.

4. Share and Record Stories

You know those family tales that get told over and over? It is truly impressive and nonetheless customary to preserve and honor. Be sure to start remembering them every family gatherings. Of course, tell those stories to your younger kins, it will keep your family history alive.

5. Settle in for a Movie Marathon

Kick movie night up a notch with homemade popcorn and hot chocolate in your living area. Holidays, on the whole, are meant for staying in and enjoying your sofa for a little much longer than usual. Take that movie list out. Consequently, you are free to choose themes. To illustrate, you can go with classics, trilogy, chick flicks, early 2000s, adventure, and even all of James Bond’s films. There are no rules!

6. Build a Fire

For instance, this alternative goes hand in hand with our first recommendation. Building a fire in your backyard and surrounding it with peers is definitely a cozy move of enjoying your holiday. Therefore, ask the authority or know the laws of your neighborhood so you will not be in trouble. If you can’t make a fire, still see some items below!

7. Play Old Records

The interactive nature of LP record gets everyone involved in choosing and flipping them. Try old favorites or pick up a few new ones from contemporary artists — records have made a major comeback in recent years, so you can find just about anything on vinyl that has been released digitally.

8. Pull Out Childhood Books

Charlotte’s Web, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Velveteen Rabbit, Harry Potter — what a great holiday weekend at home when you reminisce these movies with youngsters. And whether or not there are kids in the house, why not indulge in a little rereading? Solo reads but nevertheless feels good to reminisce.

9. Test a Recipe You’d Like to Give for the Holidays

Thinking of making biscotti, loaf cake or granola as a holiday gift? Or maybe you just want to try out the recipe you saw on the cookbook or even from a video tutorial. Buy those ingredients as the long weekend comes. There is no other time to bake or cook to your heart’s desire, besides now.

10. Compile Family Recipes

Sharing your ancestors’ treasured recipe is as equally important as reminiscing family history. Briefly gather all the contributions into a booklet. Then, make copies to give to your family as a holiday weekend memento.

11. Cook and Freeze a Few Big-Batch Dinners

If you aren’t tired of cooking (and no one would blame you if you are after Thanksgiving), why not use a bit of your downtime this holiday weekend to whip up a big-batch meal?

Many casseroles, soups and stews freeze well and can make quick homemade dinners when life gets busy. You may even be able to work Thanksgiving leftovers later into turkey soup, for example, or pot pie.

12. Hold a Game Tournament

After the big meal is over, bust out the board games. For instance, turn the dining table into a table tennis court and encourage a little friendly competition. Moreover, with a big crowd, you could even set up a few game stations and let people gravitate to their favorites.

13. Ask the Kids to Show Off a Skill

Have the little ones been learning songs at school, or taking piano or tumbling lessons? Meanwhile, encourage them to display their talents with an impromptu performance. Of course, you know your children truly, so if they’re on the shy side, you may not want to put them on the spot!

14. Make or Buy Wreaths

Bring a festive spirit to your holiday weekend at home by hanging beautiful wreaths of greenery, berries or pinecones on the doors or windows. If you want to turn it into a group or children’s activity, pick up a bunch of small wreath forms and some twine, and let people forage for natural materials outdoors to make their own wreaths.

15. Find a Quiet Place to Sit

After the big Thanksgiving meal, stealing off to catch a nap or sip peppermint tea can be restorative.