If your budget is tight, you might not be able to afford taking the kids out for a long camping vacation. No worries! You can still have a memorable camping experience in your own backyard. Your kids will always remember their backyard camping adventure with their parents. Here are 5 tips to have a memorable backyard camping staycation.
Use Your Real Camping Gear
This will make the experience feel real. Use all the sleeping bags and tents you have! Your kids will feel like they’re really camping. If you just have some blankets next to a fire, it just feels like your roasting marshmallows and you’re going to sleep back inside. If you have tents and sleeping bags it’ll feel like you’re miles away from home and your kids will look forward to trying something out of the ordinary.
Set Up Camp
Have your kids learn how to set up tents. They can build their own tents, with your supervision. Your kids can also get all the sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets to set them up in the tent. Have them make the tent however they want it inside. They can decorate inside with pictures, or arrange the sleeping bags however they’d like. Let them take care of as much work as they can by themselves.
Go on a Hike
Alright so it’s not really a hike, but it’ll still be a lot of fun! Take backpacks with snacks in them and walk around the neighborhood. Or take a short drive somewhere you’ve never been to walk around. You can walk around a pond or a lake, or around a park. Pretend you’re far away in the wilderness. Bring binoculars to look at birds, bring snacks in your backpack, and bring a compass to have your kids guide you to your destination.
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Educate Your Kids
There are so many things that kids can learn from camping. Even if your only if your backyard. Have your kids build the fire for dinner, or guide you with a compass on a treasure hunt. These are skills that are valuable to learn. Go around looking at the plants in your backyard, teach your kids how to identify certain types of plants. They can also look at bugs and try to learn why some bugs are beneficial. Look at the stars and learn about constellations. Lots of learning can take place when you go outside.
Enjoy a Distraction Free Dinner
No electronics. Cell phones don’t get reception in the middle of the wilderness (wink, wink). Have everybody put away their electronics for dinner. No one is allowed to make a call, text, or google something. Have everybody just enjoy dinner together as a family. Give each other your undivided attention. Sit by each other and listen to each other. Enjoy one another’s presence. It’s good to unplug every once in awhile. After dinner you can make s’mores and tell scary stories. Whatever you do during dinner, just be with each other. That’s the best thing you can do.
Summing Up
If you want to make a memorable Summer for your kids but are on a tight budget, consider a staycation. You can still have a wonderful time in your own backyard. There is lots of fun still to be had right around your house. These 5 tips to have a memorable backyard camping staycation will help everybody have a fantastic time getting to know each other again. It will be something your kids will always remember and want to do when they have kids. You’ll never forget the time you had the best vacation right in your own backyard.
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