Though we took our child to one yard sale last year, she didn’t really remember it and was excited to go on a yard sale-ing adventure recently. We let her empty out her bank, which had about $20 in dimes, nickels, and quarters in it, and put it in two change purses for her to take with us. We set off for adventure, and we weren’t disappointed.

During our yard sale date, we discovered that a lot of benefits were to be had by the simple trip. Though my daughter didn’t really learn to haggle or ask about prices—the former, I’d joked about before we left, and the latter I’d had hopes for—and pretty much had her usual string of luck with people telling her she could simply have things that were for sale (or get them at significantly reduced rates; one woman gave her a large bag and told her she could fill it up with toys out of the “5 for $1” bin), other instances of learning, fun, and love still occurred just as well.

We had such great conversation in the car throughout the morning. Just driving around, without feeling rushed, we were able to answer some of her wonderful questions (What are the other colors that clouds can be? Where does the moon go? When does nighttime start? What is the sun made of?)—or at least promise to find the answers! We discussed our finds (a huge bean bag chair—just what we’ve been looking for, a purple one to not match but at least go with our tie-dyed one—for just two bucks! A table for our nature studies! Hundreds of books for a few dollars—literally!) and what we would do with them when we got home. We stopped for quick snacks at a convenient store—peanuts and juice—and enjoyed munching together. We took some roads we rarely, if ever, travel, prompting plenty of other questions as well as interest in general.

And when we did get home, we showed her how to clean up her new toys. We wrapped the stuffed items in plastic and put them in the freezer for two days to kill any germs—a painful process for her, since she had to wait for the toys and kept asking about them every few minutes! She really enjoyed scrubbing the hard toys with dish soap and a wash cloth, and did a good job, too.

Take your kids yard sale-ing sometime this fall and find out how much fun your family can have. The weather is getting perfect for it—or, at least, it will be soon—and you might be surprised at what you find, both as a family as well as shoppers.