With school out soon, are you wondering how you are going to entertain the kiddos without breaking the bank? You could always try a staycation. Yep, you don’t board a plane, rent a car, or pay for any admissions–you just set aside time to relax and enjoy each other close to home.
Here’s a few staycation ideas to keep everyone entertained and build those lasting family bonds you’ve only seen on sitcoms:
- Camp in your backyard. Set up a tent, barbecue dinner, and if you have one, build a fire in the firepit. You won’t have to pay for a campsite or spend a couple of days packing, but you’ll still get tons of quality time with the fam.
- Organize a block party or neighborhood picnic. Ask everyone to bring something and roll the barbecuer out front. Set up sprinklers for the kids to play in and enjoy the camaraderie right in your own front yard.
- Take a trip around the world…from the comfort of your living room. Pick a couple of countries you’d like to visit and visit them virtually. Plan your dinner menu around that country’s food, get pictures from the internet–you could even have kids write postcards to Grandma and Grandpa.
- Organize a game night. Invite friends and family over to have a game-a-palooza. Tell them to bring their favorite munchies and a game.
- Have a movie marathon. Tell the kids to stay in their jammies, make tons of finger foods and watch movies from morning till night. I don’t know about you, but my kids wouldn’t know what to do if I stopped to relax for a whole day.
- Be a local tourist. I once met a lady who lived in New York and had never been out to see the Statue of Liberty. Crazy, but it made me think, have I toured Seattle like I am a tourist? Nope. Look for art museums, parks, and restaurants, etc.
- Start a family book club. Now, my kids might roll their eyes at this one, but I bet if you have avid readers or smaller kids, they would totally get on board.
- Go fishing. Usually a fishing license is pretty cheap and with a short drive, you can teach the kids to catch their dinner.
- Plan a family field day. Set up kickball, relay races, and other obstacle courses. Give prizes or certificates at the end.
- Go to a pick-your-own farm. Let the kids help. Then go home and look up a new recipe to make together with your newly acquired food.
How about you, do you have any awesome staycation plans?
~Mavis
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Kendra says
My best friends and I did the tent in backyard thing when we were in higschool to celebrate the beginning of summer. We joked that it was probably the only time a tent had ever been set up in Medina (where my best friend lived and where we completed this adventure). It was a lot of fun to sleep outside and hang out with close friends all night.
Catherine says
We did a staycation last summer. We tried a free museum about an hour from home, camped out, visited the beach, ate lunch out at a new place, and tried out MANY new parks. My boys still talk about that “trip”. 🙂
vc says
Last summer our neighbor hosted a party during her staycation (and surgery recovery). The invite read: we’ll supply the chips, please bring a dip to share. I helped her set up (a long table for everyone to set their dip on) and clean up (everyone took their empty dish home, just wipe down the table), most people burned their paperplates in the campfire. done….easiest party ever, EVER.
Mavis says
A chip and dip party, I like it!