As people’s ideas of travel change following the global pandemic, the prospect of swapping vacations for staycations are still not far off many people’s prospects for the coming summers. To save your creative energy, we explore for you the best staycation ideas for families and determine the best means of making homebound almost as exciting as foreign travel.
But, with the excitement of exploring new destinations, and lounging around the poolside gone, how can you possibly sell the idea of another ‘staycation’ to your children?
For one thing, you’ve got to constantly be reframing your home or nearby city as an exciting new place, but how do you do it repeatedly?
Putting some effort into your staycation will help give it the same value as a summer vacation would!
Stay at a local hotel
There are huge benefits to spending your money locally. Why not help your local hotels, resorts, and campsites, by booking a couple of nights and have a staycation – away from home!
Especially if you’ve got younger kids, the idea of staying somewhere unfamiliar for a couple of nights is enough to get them excited, plus, when else can you justify trying out one of your home city’s luxury hotels?
You could pretend to be visiting your hometown for the first time, and you may even feel a sense of rediscovery, under this guise of travelling.
Camp out in your backyard – one of the best staycation ideas for families
Camping doesn’t have to take place in the wilderness, the magic of sleeping outside can take place in your own backyard!
This is a great staycation idea for the family if you’ve got young kids who you feel are too young to go wild camping. Camping in your backyard will surely excite them, as it’ll reframe how they view their surroundings and will create a whole new world for them in a setting they are familiar with.
Make the experience more authentic by giving each member of your family a flashlight, construct a small campfire, and roast marshmallows over it.
Stargaze
While you’re out the backyard camping, why not teach your kids a thing or two about the night sky, by downloading a sky map app, pointing your phone to the sky, and teaching them where each planet and star in the galaxy is – this could really fascinate them!
Camp out in the countryside
Once you’ve tested your kids’ camping skills in the backyard, it’s time to move on to the great outdoors. there’s probably plenty of appropriate woodlands and greenery nearby your home where you can try.
Again, you don’t need to go far to have a fun and exciting camping trip.
Get to know your local area better – if you grew up in the same town, why don’t you take your kids somewhere that you loved to camp when you were young?
House Swap
Got a friend who lives in a different part of the city who’d be willing to trade houses with your family for a couple of days?
Why don’t you broach the idea to them, as it could be a fun way to create the feeling of a vacation for you and your kids.
Work on a project
One good thing about vacations is getting to know your family members better – it’s a chance to not let work, school, or anything else get in the way, and finally, have some time to relax and interact.
This atmosphere is something that may seem difficult to recreate while on a staycation, but with a little bit of effort, can be done.
You could introduce a focus to your time at home: decide to work towards building something, like a treehouse, a sandpit, or a secret garden den.
With all the family working together, you’ll no doubt recreate that feeling of togetherness that vacations bring.
BBQ
Depending on what type of vacations you normally go on, family BBQ nights may have been a big part of them.
Continue this vacation tradition by having plenty in your backyard and get your kids to help with the food preparation.
It’s one of the best staycation ideas for families as it brings the vacation to you.
Talent show
If your kids are missing the evening entertainment and kids clubs that they experienced on vacation, try putting on a ‘talent show’ to create a semblance of vacation fun.
Get each member of the family to step up, in turn, and display their ‘talent’ to the rest.
This could be anything from singing, to juggling, to acting out a scene – whatever your kid enjoys doing.
It gives them a chance to have a bit of fun and express their likes and interests – perhaps you’ll pick up on a passion that you never realized they had.
Buy an outdoor projector
If staycations are looking likely to be your go-to family time for a while, it would be worthwhile to invest in an outdoor projector, so that you can put on movie nights for the family.
Set up cushions and chairs in your garden and give it the appearance of a real outdoor theater.
You could get the kids to ‘run’ the theater and distribute tickets to everyone, and hand out popcorn.
Go on an exciting bike ride
Study your surroundings – where could you and your family safely cycle to and back from – perhaps a nearby lake, woods, playpark, or somewhere you know your family will definitely enjoy.
Bikes are a fun means of exploring your city, and with more and more bike routes being constructed each year, it’s now safer than ever to take your family out on the wheels.
This staycation idea for your family gets you active, too!
Plan a vacation theme night
Just because you can’t go on some exotic holiday, doesn’t mean you can’t pretend you are! Why not plan a theme night? Pick a country and plan activities around it.
For example, if you pick Italy, you could cook an Italian-themed dinner (or order a pizza from the local Italian restaurant!), learn a bit of the language, and watch a subtitled Italian movie.
Cook new recipes
While you’re constructing vacation-themed nights, why don’t you try out some recipes from the destinations you’d like to visit?
It could be a great way to teach your kids a thing or two about cooking and excite their tastebuds for different flavors and spices while also getting excited for the vacations ahead.
Out of all the staycation ideas for families listed in this article, none give you such an authentic taste for the holiday you’re missing than this one.