Happiness hacks for holidays at home
Taking a holiday at home (or ‘staycation’) means that you don’t have to take the trouble to pack and unpack, you’ll save on souvenirs and you won’t even need to arrange for someone to look after your pets.
Here are some low-cost but high-fun activities for holidaying at home without using a lot more electricity than usual.
Go camping
If you’ve got the space in your backyard, a holiday at home is the perfect excuse to transform it into a site for camping – or glamping if that’s more your style.
Pitch a tent, eat baked beans and enjoy the great outdoors all day. At night, you could go all in and sleep outside under the stars or opt for your comfortable bed inside and return to the campsite for a BBQ breakfast in the morning.
Build a cubby
If you’re short on space outside, you could build a campsite inside with mattresses on the floor or keep it simple with cushions and throws turned into a cubby. Once you’ve got everything set up, add some books or toys for a cosy space to relax.
Set a household challenge
If your family loves to get competitive, this could be the perfect time to pit against each other in some kind of challenge. You could:
- Go on a scavenger hunt. This could be either inside your home or in your backyard. Search for family scavenger hunt ideas if you need inspiration.
- Find a building challenge. You might see who can build the highest tower or strongest bridge using blocks or whatever recycling or building materials you have on hand.
- Host your own reality show. Nominate someone in the family as the host or judge – and then the rest of the household can get cooking, get dancing or get creative as contestants. Bonus: You could even get dinner made in the process.
Press play
Keen to take a break from screens? Play some games together. You could learn a new outdoor or card game, add a new twist to your family favourites (loser empties the dishwasher!) or dig out some board games you haven’t played for a while.
Treat it like a holiday
Kids might like to make postcards about your family adventures to share with other family members – or paint a fun holiday scene to use as a backdrop for your next online call. Throughout the day, you could add special holiday touches such cocktail umbrellas to your morning tea drinks or ask everyone to fill out a guest book of their daily highlights. Throughout your adventures, take photos to turn into a family album or scrapbook.
For more energy-saving ideas, try our Energy Tool.
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