Home & Garden
How To Make Your Staycation More Fun Than A Trip Away
With these tips and recommended products, your at-home vacation is sure to be one to remember.
All around the world, vacation plans and family getaways have been canceled or postponed. It's a bummer, but you can still relax, unwind and make amazing new memories this summer: You just have to plan a good staycation.
A staycation can be a day, a weekend, a week or more — it just has to take place at home. And with these tips and staycation essentials, your stay-at-home vacation can be even more fun than the trip you'd planned to take.
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Make it an event.
You can only watch so much Netflix before it starts to get old. And let's face it: Lolling about the couch doesn't feel like a vacation activity. Instead, aim for every day of your staycation to be an event.
This requires having some sort of a schedule — but don't worry, it can be flexible. You can plan for three hours of R&R in the morning when you can do anything and everything (or nothing at all), but bookend that with an outdoor picnic or a noon Zoom yoga class. Even if you want your days to be free and unstructured, you want to plan things such as special dinners and at-home spa treatments to differentiate your staycation from an ordinary weekend.
Let the games begin!
Nearly every staycation can benefit from some friendly competition. If you have kids, we highly recommend setting aside an afternoon to play Family Scavenger Hunt In a Box. This interactive game features 280 challenge cards for kids and adults for both indoor and outdoor play.
With Family Scavenger Hunt, the whole family can get in on the fun of running and searching for items inside or outside the house.
Related: Easy Ways To Get Your Kids Playing Outside
Another kid favorite is Flickin' Chicken, a game that's a lot like disc golf but with rubber chickens. It starts with one player throwing the target disc as far as they can. After that, each player throws his or her rubber chicken as close to the target as possible. Each player counts the number of throws it takes to get to their chicken, and the person with the lowest number wins.
As it turns it out, there's no right way to throw a rubber chicken, so Flickin' Chicken really encourages creativity.
For older kids and families with competitive teens, Giant Jenga is a popular option. Multiple people can play at once, or you can do a round-robin tournament with just two players at a time.
Corn hole is another game that lends itself to tournament-style family play. Any basic set will do, but GoSports' tri-toss bounce version is our favorite. The board surface is extra bouncy, which makes things interesting when you're trying to score.
The set comes with instructions for three different variations of the game, as well as a compact carrying case for when you do take it out of the yard.
Related: 10 Fun Things Kids And Families Can Do At Home
Get crafty.
Art is always good for the soul, but this is particularly true during a staycation. There are endless crafts and activities you can do at home, but you'll want to make sure you're stocked up on supplies.
Kid Made Modern has a top-rated studio-in-a-box set with everything you need to get started sketching, painting and coloring.
This box set is recommended for kids ages 6 and up, but it's also popular with teens and adults looking to unleash their inner artist.
If you're looking to get artsy outside, it doesn't get much easier than chalk art. Any colorful chalks will work, but we're partial to Crayola's 48-piece set of colors. They're washable, big enough for children to hold comfortably and have squared edges that help keep them from rolling away.
If you want to take your chalk art to the next level, consider getting a stencil set specifically designed for this type of outdoor art. HeartSong makes a ChalkScapes set of stencils that includes two ornate stencils with multiple designs, 30 pieces of chalk and chalk holders.
Make some sweet treats, and indulge!
Nothing says "staycation" like a homemade summer dessert. Half of the fun is making sweet treats, which is why Nostalgia's old-fashioned ice cream maker is a hit with kids and adults alike. Just pour your ice cream, gelato or frozen yogurt mix (sold separately) into the aluminum canister, layer in ice and salt, let the machine churn for 20 to 30 minutes, and enjoy! It's old-fashioned ice cream made easy.
Homemade snow cones are another sweet option for staycationers. Hawaiian Ice makes an easy-to-use shaved ice machine that comes with flavor syrup, straws and cups.
Just add the ice, twist the lid and pour on the flavoring/color. Additional flavor syrups can be purchased separately.
And if you want a low-sugar cold treat, nab a Yonanas dessert maker. It's a soft-serve machine that lets you create delicious and healthy frozen treats in seconds using any combination of fruits and chocolate.
Related: 5 Reasons Why You Need A Yonanas Dessert Maker
Document the memories you're making.
With a traditional vacation, you take lots of photos to remember the good times and adventure. With a staycation, you should do the exact same thing. Any camera or smartphone will do; but to make the most of the picture-taking experience in real time, nab a camera that prints photos instantly, such as the Fujifilm Instax Mini 9.
This Fujifilm bundle deal includes an instant camera, a two-pack of film, a carrying case and sticker frames for your pics. Additional film can be purchased separately.
If you're shooting staycation videos — particularly on your smartphone — do yourself a favor and nab a selfie ring light. UBeesize makes one with a tripod stand, cell phone holder and a Bluetooth remote.
The UBeesize selfie ring light is easy to operate and provides near-professional quality lighting for all of your home movies.
Sleep under the stars.
To make your staycation extra special, you'll want to spend at least one night sleeping outside. If you don't already have a tent, a simple, two-person setup such as the Coleman Sundome tent should work fine for the backyard.
For bigger familes, Coleman makes quality three-person, four-person and six-person tents as well.
If a tent's not in your budget or the weather doesn't cooperate, not to worry: A pillow fort in the living room is special, too. Because when it really comes down to it, a great staycation is all about spending time and making memories with the ones you love.
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