staycation – A vacation spent in one’s home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions. ~ Definition by Lexico.com

This post contains informational and/or affiliate links. At no additional charge to you and with no purchase necessary, Ssouthernlifestyle may receive a commission from the pictures and/or links that you click on . Thank you for supporting Ssouthernlifestyle!

Entertaining family at home is not a new concept even though the word staycation is. The real challenge is coming up with new and unique ways to entertain in the world of smart phones, tablets and computers. Can it be done? The answer is yes but you need to start thinking outside the box.

Staycationing at home? Get inspired by these 12 unique ideas.

Use these 12 unique home staycation ideas as a basis to get your own creativity juices flowing:

Mystery Dinner Theatre – Set the stage for the perfect “who done it?” dinner play. Whether it’s a family member, a pet or a stuffed animal, somebody was the culprit in the great mystery. At the end, let everyone vote on who was the guilty person. All you need is a good mystery story and dinner.

Water Fun Day – Have water, will have fun is the motto for water fun day. Take a dip in the pool and then bring out the water toys! Water guns, water balloons and sprinklers will top off the fun. If you don’t have a slip-n-slide then you can buy one or make one. All you need is a hill, a tarp and water just make sure it’s safe for everyone.

Themed scavenger Hunt – Create clues and/or riddles to see where it leads and what item you find. At each item, there is another clue to find the next item. The last clue would be to bring you all the items and guess the theme of the scavenger hunt.

Dance Party – It’s a dance party and you are the DJ. Everyone gets a chance to make a special song request to dance to. You can have dance blocks of different genres so that it keeps the fun going. If you have a microphone, you can also do karaoke to spice it up.

Backyard Luau – Time to dress up the backyard with all things Hawaiian! Set the tone with Hawaiian skirts, tiki torches, fruity foods & drinks, leis and Hawaiian music. Watch videos to learn hula dancing and see how low you can go while doing the limbo. Aloha!

Zoo Day – Using stuffed animals, animal toy figures or printed pictures, set up a day of fun by making your own zoo. Everyone gets to pick a favorite animal to add to the zoo. Look up facts for each of the animals like original country, what they eat and how big the largest one on record is. Once each animal station is all set up, everyone together visits each station and learn all the fun facts.

Backyard Movie Experience – If you have a projector then it’s movie time! Get the blanket or lawn chairs out along with the popcorn, candy and drinks to have a great movie night right outside. Add to the fun by doing a tailgating movie experience if you can! Don’t forget to make movie tickets too!

Day at the Museum – Use toys like cowboy toys, Barbie toys, dinosaur toys, puzzles, pictures, etc. to set up different stations to start your own museum. Look up historical facts to go along with each creation or create your own for fun. Once everything is completed, everyone together should visit each station to learn all about it.

All you need is a little imagination to have a great home staycation!

Nerf Gun Wars – Set up obstacles in the backyard to hide behind as everyone tries to hit their target and dodge the nerf bullets. Last person standing is “King of the Hill”. Just make sure you have goggles for safety and enough nerf bullets to outlast everyone else!

Backyard Field Day – If it’s a party game then it’s perfect for the backyard field day! Four legged races, potato sack race, bean bag toss (cornhole), egg & spoon race, water balloon toss, ring toss, tug of war, duck pond matching, horseshoe toss game, badminton, ping pong, bowling, miniature golf and etc.. Sure to be a great field day they won’t forget!

Fashion Runway – There are so many themed looks that you can use to make this runway show a real hit. Write them all down, put them in a hat and let everyone draw out a theme that they need to dress to. Clear a space so that each person can “strut their stuff” for everyone else to see.

Camp Out Experience – Get the bug spray out, sleeping bags, flashlights and pitch a tent because the backyard is about to become your own personal campground. Stargaze, sing songs, tell stories and make hot chocolate while roasting marshmallows over the fire pit to make it as real as possible.

There are so many more ways to have a fun staycation at home.

Here are a few more ideas that will inspire you to come up with even more ideas to entertain your family:

• Parade Day
• Puppet Showtime
• Race Day
• Superhero Day
• Board Game Day
• International Day
• Crafty Art Show

If you have more ideas to share, please leave them in the comment box below. Sign up for a weekly newsletter from Ssouthernlifestyle today and receive a bonus PDF with 10 more staycation activities! Have fun exploring the fun of having a staycation at home and as always have a blessed day!

Other posts you may enjoy: 5 Places You Can Visit While in Vegas, 5 Places to Visit in South Carolina & World’s Top 10 Places to Travel in 2020.