Supermom’s have a tendency to jam pack their kid’s summer with swim lessons, day camps and summer sports to keep them from climbing the walls, but all it really does is keep Supermom busy. Some of the best memories our kids will have are when they do something different in their own home.

Here’s a few inexpensive ways to give your kids a summer they’ll never forget without leaving home!

At-home Drive-In

Take a projector and sound bar to the back yard and project it on the side of your house. Pop some popcorn, throw out the sleeping bags and have a family movie night!

Camp out in your back yard

Along with watching movies on the side of the house, you could put up a tent and explore the stars above you. A great app we’ve used for star gazing is ‘Sky Guide’. You point your phone to the sky and it names all the constellations above you. No telescope needed! Plus the sheer happiness of getting up and going in the house the next morning (if you make it all night) is totally worth it!

Make S’Mores

Don’t save this for special occasions. It’s not Thanksgiving! If you don’t have a safe place to build a fire use a fire pit. Pssst…. Skip the solid chocolate bars and use Recess’s peanut butter cups instead. You can thank me later.

Sleep in a fort

Don’t just build a fort and tear it down; let the kids sleep in it! This is especially great if don’t have a yard for a home camp out.

Make tarp slip and slide

Painter’s plastic tarp is cheaper and easier to clean up and wider. It does less damage to your lawn and the water stays on better.

Build a box house

Grab a few giant appliance boxes from your local appliance store and duct tape them into some pretty cool tunnels. Let their imagination turn it into anything!

Shaving Cream the kitchen

My cousin does this with my nieces in Arizona because it’s too hot to be outside. Get 10-15 cans of shaving cream at the dollar store and sit down to slip and slide. Have towels ready before hand and do NOT try and stand up! Just have some slide around fun and clean the floor while you’re at it!

Scavenger Hunts

Once kids my kids were old enough to read but too cool for board games they have loved neighborhood scavenger hunts. I usually stick pretty close to home for their safety, (not cause I’m too lazy to walk a note very far…ssshhh they can read now) and have a prize at the end. Sometimes the prize is the announcement of other fun things on this list.

Weird Science

Kids LOVE to create! Use household items to make Oobleck, Flubber, Gack, and Homemade Playdoh all recipes can be found on Pinterest. Do it outside so they don’t destroy the house.

Play black out hide and seek

Invite your friends over, wait until the sun goes down, use tape and paper to cover up the lights on appliances and play hide and seek in the pitch blackness. It’s a lot more fun, especially if you have a variety of ages; darkness gives everyone a level playing field.

Have a great summer! If YOU have a great idea please share it in the comments! The entire Parenting Team would love to hear them!