If you're planning on going out to eat or shopping on Memorial Day, consider visiting businesses owned and operated by veterans or military families. Click here to find a master list of veteran-owned businesses, covering everything from hardware stores to fine dining.

Even if you're not able to travel to the nation's capital this year, you can take a tour of the White House from the comfort of your living room. Head to Google Arts & Culture for a virtual tour of the historic home, complete with facts about its architecture and important events that took place in each room.

Even if you don't know a veteran personally, listen to a range of stories from active military members and veterans through Storycorps oral history. Or if you'd rather read your way through history, choose from top military memoirs like Band of Brothers, Guts 'n Gunships or The Things They Cannot Say.

Come Memorial Day, red poppies are worn as a sign of remembrance. In fact, the Friday before Memorial Day is considered National Poppy Day. While you can buy poppy pins at the store, you can also make your own with tissue paper by following this simple step-by-step tutorial.

Get the tutorial at Hey, Let's Make Stuff »

If you've already filled your three-day weekend with kid-friendly activities, save extra time (and money!) to research trusted military organizations and nonprofits that need donations. Choose a cause that's most relevant or important to you — wounded soldiers, grieving families, veterans with PTSD and so on —and give whatever you can.

If there was a time to do it, it's now. Before diving into your family's Memorial Day activities, refresh your own memory about the reason why we celebrate Memorial Day and how it differs from Veterans Day.

To your kids, Memorial Day may just be another day off from school. To remind them that it is much more than that, have them write handwritten notes to active American soldiers and veterans. Once your letters are complete, bring them to any A Million Thanks drop-off locations to guarantee a safe, speedy arrival.

Even though Operation Gratitude encourages people to get join their efforts year-round, they host several events during the Memorial Day weekend. There are many ways to get involved: Convince your kids to donate their Beanie Babies to kids in combat zones, sew special ties to keep troops cool during the hot summer months or a host a neighborhood drive to collect toiletries for soldiers.

Gather the kids in your neighborhood and create a patriotic-inspired mural or just write out a simple thank you to local veterans, using sidewalk chalk.

Show your love by hanging an American flag in your front yard. But before you get ahead of yourself, make sure you're following the proper etiquette and guidelines in the U.S. Flag Code established by Congress in 1942.

READ THE PROPER FLAG ETIQUETTE

No matter where you live, take a moment of silence at 3 p.m. local time for The National Moment of Remembrance. For at least one minute, send your thanks, love and prayers to active soldiers, veterans, and the many men and women who died serving our country.

Even if your weekend is full of family fun, make sure you still pay your respects to the fallen troops with a donation to Memorial Day Flowers, a national foundation that places a flower on the graves of soldiers. A small donation of $5, for example, honors five soldiers with a red rose in front of their headstone.

If you're planning to make a dessert for your family, make double. Because the sweetest way to show your thanks is to drop off a homemade treat — pie, cake, you name it — at the home of a fallen soldier.

For many, Memorial Day is a day full of emotion, heartbreak and tears. With a simple phone call, you can offer your gratitude and well wishes to the loved ones of a soldier in your community.

We could all use a little more patriotism, especially on Memorial Day. Get your kids involved in making these easy-to-DIY decorations, and then remember to hold onto them for your Fourth of July festivities.

MEMORIAL DAY DECORATIONS TO DIY

Just because you don't live close to near the Arlington National Cemetery doesn't mean you should nix a Memorial Day cemetery visit altogether. Volunteer to dress graves at a local or military cemetery with flowers and flags. Or simply swing by to pay your respects to our country's heroes.

Whether you're remembering a loved one or want to shed light on the importance of the holiday, post a tribute to our fallen heroes.