STAYCATION IDEAS

Are you having a staycation this year? Here are some ideas for things which are fun and active, which you can do without going away. Why not choose a weekly theme for your holidays. You can try holding your own Olympic Games with your friends, family or street. Everybody can compete at different sports, representing different countries. Or if you can’t stand playing sport in the sun, how about holding a board games Olympics instead? You could have competitions of chess, checkers, Monopoly, snakes and ladders, or any games you like.

You can also decide to have a music week when everybody hangs out in the clothes and hairstyles of a particular decade (70s, 80s, ‘90s) and you try dancing to the music together. You could even offer to hold a mini music festival for your friends!

Have you ever tried geocaching? You need to use a mobile phone to follow GPS coordinates that you download online and find secret locations and treasure. Or you might prefer to make and follow your own scavenger hunt with your friends. Work in small groups and write clues around your neighborhood for the other teams to follow.

Or if the weather is bad, who doesn’t love getting out of an escape room? You can make your own at home in any room in the house, using clues, locks, everyday objects and puzzles to test your mind and teamwork to escape.

If you want to put teamwork to the test, but using your body this time, build an assault course in the yard or local park with ropes, tires, blankets and some water to cross in an individual or team race. Alternatively, you might fancy holding your own street party with long tables, food and drink, music and a garage sale to sell all the things you don’t want to keep anymore.

Or why not decide to learn something new this vacation? Painting, baking, graffiti, photography, blogging, playing the guitar, circus skills or creative writing? You don’t have to join a class, just find someone who knows how to do the activity and offer to teach them something you can do in exchange. You could also join an online class and learn yoga from someone in Tibet or golf from somebody in Scotland. But summer doesn’t have to be all about fun, you can also help your neighbors in their yard or do some shopping or cleaning for them or volunteer at a kids’ party.

So go on, and give some of these fun and valuable activities a go and don’t forget to turn your phone off!