8 Tips to Help You Plan The Ultimate Family Staycation

Family staycations are the new way to vacation! Depending on the season of life you and your family are in, an out of state vacation might seem like more work than it is worth.  Why not consider a family staycation instead? 

Does the thought of cramming your family into a tiny hotel room for a week of vacation seem more like torture than restful? Planning a kid-friendly vacation that can accommodate nap times, picky eaters, bedtime routines, hot sticky weather, crabby family members all on a tight budget can be a near impossible task.  

As parents we want to give our children the gift of a fun-filled vacation but if an out-of-town vacation isn't in the budget and seems way too overwhelming why not consider a staycation instead!

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8 Tips to Help Plan The Ultimate Family Staycation

A family staycation embraces all the fun and restfulness of a vacation from the comforts of your own home. Check out our list of ways to make your staycation the best family vacation ever!


1. Create Family Staycation Guidelines

As a family spend some time discussing your expectations for your staycation. Everyone has different opinions of what "relaxing" is so make sure to discuss what expectations are before the staycation so everyone can enjoy their at-home vacation. For example, what chores must get done during the week and which ones can be skipped? Will it be a social-media free week? Will you allow friends or family to visit during your staycation?


2. Come Up With A Plan

click HERE for free printable planner

You might not be booking hotels, rental cars or flights but having a plan in place will help this staycation feel like a real vacation. What local attractions, restaurants, activities or nature preserves do you want to visit? 

Depending on the season of your staycation look for opportunities to try something new like a great new sledding spot in the winter or a backyard bonfire. 

If you don't have a plan it will be really easy to slip back into your regular routine which won't make this time feel like a true vacation. No need to create a plan of your own from scratch - use this great FREE printable staycation planner from the mint.com blog instead. 

3. Create A Budget

click HERE for free staycation budget planner

If the budget is tight having a plan in place before your staycation begins can help you keep your spending in order. Planning out what places or activities your family is going to do before hand gives you time to find deals, coupons and even free events everyone will enjoy without blowing your budget. 

Research which museums and events are free or what times and days they offer discounts.  Download a FREE staycation budget planner from mint.com blog today!

4. Have A Meal Plan

Don't forget to plan which meals you will be eating out and which ones you will eat at home. The cost of eating out can be more expensive than you think so stick to your budget and enjoy preparing a meal or two together as a family at home. Keep it simple and put your crockpot or instant pot to work for you so the meal is ready when everyone is hungry! 

Use this amazing meal planner from Sunny Day Family that includes everything you need to plan out a week of recipes for snacks and meals so you can stay within your budget!

5. Let Loose A Little

It's a vacation right! Why not get a little crazy and kick the rules to the side for a few days? All day pajama party, face painting party in the kitchen or spa day in the bathroom isn't something you do everyday but on a vacation the sky's the limit. When you are on vacation everything is a little more relaxed and fun so make sure to let down your hair a little and enjoy your staycation!

6. Pick Your Family Splurge Item

There is always something on every vacation that everyone looks forward to so why not have one special "splurge" item on your staycation too! It doesn't have to be extravagant to make it special. A walk on the beach collecting seashells or tickets to a local sport event or even a special family dinner can all be considered a special splurge. Remember vacations are about making great family memories, so make some great ones!

7.  Plan Some Local Day Trips

Your staycation doesn't have to all be done in the comforts of your own home. There are plenty of local attractions around that are within a tank of gas if you look for them. Plan a few day trips to places you love or haven't visited before, pack a cooler and hit the road for the day. The best part is you get to sleep in your own bed each night! 

8. Vacation Attitude

Remember this is a vacation so make sure your attitude is set to vacation mode! As a parent it is easy to reply to a quick email from work or return a phone call to your boss, but remember you wouldn't be doing this if you were out of state lying on the beach somewhere would you? So don't do it on your staycation either! Commit to a vacation and to relaxing and truly unplug from the daily grind. Your family will thank you!

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Easy No-Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Energy Snack Bites

Our family is always on the go which is why I am constantly on the lookout for homemade, healthy, easy-to-make, budget-friendly snacks to bring along with us.

Even better is when I have all of the ingredients on hand in my cupboard!

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These easy no-bake oatmeal peanut butter energy bites (whew....long name for a little snack!) meet all of the above requirements. I can't believe how easy they are to make! 

And guess what....my kids love them too!! Win - win.

I know there are a lot of great energy bites or energy ball recipes out there but this one has a special secret ingredient the other recipes don't have. It is a total flavor-boosting game changer, my friends. I came up with it by chance when I was just a bit short-handed on one of the ingredients and I was blown away at the difference it made. 

Want to know what my secret ingredient is.......flavored instant oatmeal! Surprised?

My favorite is maple & brown sugar instant oatmeal. All you need is one small packet added with the rest of the ingredients and the flavor just explodes! 

This is the perfect recipe to let your kids help make too! We do a lot of baking and cooking for school since there is always a lot of math, science, and reading involved. 

Go grab a large mixing bowl, a spatula, or wooden spoon, and let's get mixing shall we?

Delicious No-Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Energy Bites

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups oatmeal 

1 packet flavored instant oatmeal 

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Optional add-ins:

1/4 cup chopped almonds, pecans or peanuts

1/8 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup dried cranberries, cherries, or raisins

Make This Recipe:

1. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the peanut butter for 30 seconds so it is easy to mix.

2. In a large bowl mix all the remaining ingredients including the melted peanut butter together. 

3. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball. (To keep the mixture from sticking to your hands, lightly wet you hands with water). Repeat with the remaining mixture making about 16-20 energy balls depending on size.

4. Place the energy balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and put them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Store the peanut butter snack bites in a sealed tupperware container in the fridge. Trust me though, they won't last long! 

PRINTABLE RECIPE - Easy No Bake Energy Bites

This yummy snack is perfect for on-the-go families! Why fill up those little tummies with junk food when they can eat a few energy bites, feel full and you can know that they are getting a healthy snack. These little bites even satisfy your sweet tooth cravings too!

If you need some more great snack ideas check out these posts that are full of great snacking ideas:

10 Healthy Game Day Snacks For Kids

Big game today? Prepare the right way - with the right type of pre-game and post game snacks! Boost your kids energy with these tasty and kid approved snacks. Click HERE to read the full post.

11 Popular Snacks You Should Avoid Feeding Your Child

Worried your child's snack habits are doing more harm than good? Check out this great post to know what snacks to avoid and what you should give them instead.

Simple & Fun Watercolor Process Art Project For Kids

Kids will love these easy to make textured watercolor paintings using watercolor paints and paper. Not only is this process art fun to make but the finished painting looks super cool!

For our first day back to school after a long Christmas break I really wanted to incorporate a fun art project into our day. Doing art with your children is fun, inspiring and educational. The project we did was a perfect transition activity that I used to break up our school day at regular intervals. 

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The focus of our art project was on texture and color as they made an abstract piece of art. This project was a process piece since it wasn't complete after their first attempt and it fit in perfect with our first day back to school! 

My kids LOVED this art project and so did I. It is the perfect project for kids of all ages too. Let me tell you how we made our fun textured watercolor paintings so your kids can make their own at home too.

Fun Textured Watercolor Art Project For Kids

Before you start gather up the following supplies to create your artwork!

Supplies For This Project:

water color paints
paint brushes
white construction paper
container for water

Directions to Make Textured Watercolor Art

1.  Cut the white construction paper into smaller pieces. It is easiest to fold the paper in half then in half again and cut out the four pieces along the fold lines.

2.  Next crumple up one piece of paper into a ball (this was my children's favorite part!)

3.  Leaving the papers crumpled into a ball select one color of paint and paint all around the crumpled paper ball. Let it dry while still crumpled up.

4.  Once the paint is dry carefully unfold the paper and press it down gently. 

5.  Crumple the paper back into a ball, select a different color and again paint the outside of the ball.

Repeat these steps one more time with a third color! Keep going layering color after color until you are happy with your painting.

We ended up doing three colors for our paintings but feel free to do more! After the paper is completely dry unfold the paper and gently press it open. Set a heavy object like a stack of books on top of the paper and let it sit overnight to really flatten the paper. 

Ideas For Using Your Finished Watercolor Paintings

These beautiful pieces of finished art can be used for many things like little note cards, cute garland if you cut them into shapes and attach them to a string, a collage by attaching them to a big piece of poster board or just leave them as they are and frame them. 

Find all kinds of fun activities for kids in our ebook available on Kindle HERE. 

Don't miss out on future fun projects like this one! Follow me to keep up to date on new tutorials, recipes and projects (click the follow button on the right sidebar!)

More Fun Kids Crafts!! 


If you liked this project I know you will love these too! Click on the link below the picture or Pin for later.

Little Hoot Owl Craft For Kids

Recycled Art Project For Kids

How To Make A Mini Christmas Wreath Ornament

Happy Holidays! Today I'm going to show you how to make a mini fabric wreath ornament. This is the perfect DIY project to make with kids because it requires very little skill, doesn't cost much to make and is a lot of fun. 

With Christmas just around the corner, this project is the perfect way to get your holiday crafting started! 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. For more information please see my Disclaimer page. 

Before you get started making one of these mini Christmas wreaths gather up your supplies.

Supplies:

• small hoop (shower curtain rings, canning lid, plastic bracelet)
• fabric scraps cut into 9" x 1" strips
• scissors 
• rotary cutter & self healing cutting mat
• baker's twine or ribbon

Mini Fabric Wreath Ornament Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: First cut your fabric into strips 9" long pieces. I stacked mine on top of each other and used my rotary cutter on my self-healing mat to cut them into 1" wide strips. 

Step 2: Fold one strip of fabric in half matching the long end to the opposite long end. Place your hoop over the folded fabric strip so the fold is sticking out under the hoop. Open the fold slightly, then take the two long ends of the fabric strip and wrap them over the top of the hoop and tuck them through the loop side of the fabric. Pull the fabric tight (looks like a single knot). Follow the picture below if you are confused!

Step 3: Continue looping and knotting the fabric strips around the hoop until the hoop is completely covered with knotted fabric strips. 

Step 4: I like to iron the rag strips flat after I'm done tying them on (this is an optional step however I think it makes the wreath look fuller). Trim the strips around the wreath so they are all the same length. 

Step 5: Tie a ribbon on the ring so you can hang your new rag wreath ornament! Then get busy making a few more!

Wreaths Aren't Just For Christmas - Check out these year-round ideas for wreaths. 

Wreaths are the perfect decoration for any time of year. Use different colored fabric strips for other holidays 

• red & pink for Valentine's Day
• orange & black for Halloween
• red, white & blue for the 4th of July, Memorial Day & Veteran's Day

Instead of using them as ornaments you could string them up and make a beautiful garland. Wouldn't a white and cream tulle make a beautiful Bridal Shower or Wedding decoration for a gift table? The options are endless! Just let your imagination go wild. 

Don't miss out on future tutorials! Make sure you follow me here on Mommy Suburbia! 

Check out this other fun & easy to make the Clothes Pin Wreath Tutorial I put together! Again, you could make this for any occasion - just mix up the colors!

click here to read more...