20 Easy Ideas For An Amazing Family Staycation

There’s always one week of summer where everyone is home from camp and work but we aren’t going away. We need things to do so that we feel like we’re really on vacation, and so we don’t spend the week organizing closets, answering email, and watching Sing! on an endless Netflix loop. With help from my Facebook friends, here are 20 ways to make sure your staycation really feels like a vacation.

20 Things To Do on A Staycation with Kids

Staycation Activities

1. Take a day trip. Check something off your bucket list.

2. Take a hike. A long walk in a woodsy park qualifies.

3. Go to the beach—even if it’s not hot.

4. Go to the Movies! Even better, make it 3-D. Better still, make it IMax, which is like a two-hour getaway.

5. Camp in the backyard (or the living room). Tent, sleeping bags, flashlights, ghost stories and all.

6. Armchair travel: Pick a different country for a day: Eat food, plan crafts, activities and events, and listen to music from that country.

7. Play tourist in your hometown. Fill in the sentence “I’ve always wanted to…” Then go do it!

8. Plan a date night. A staycation should include a vacation from parenting.

Staycation Eating

9. Stock the bar: Nothing says vacation like margaritas in the blender.

10. Cook out! You need food to go with those margs!

11. Eat dessert every day! Eat ice cream twice a day

12. Go on a picnic.

13. Say three words— breakfast for dinner!—watch the kids go nuts.

14. Go out for brunch! And yes, order the mimosa.

Staycation Relaxing

15. Hire a cleaning service mid-week. Don’t think about cleaning otherwise.

16. Nap! You’ll need to after that mimosa.

17. Unplug. Follow the same rules for checking in that you would if you were actually away.

18. Stay up late. Have a Family Game Night!  sleep in.

19. Have a pajama day.

Staycation Memories

20. Take lots of photos; make an album. Better yet, let the kids make one.

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