By Mariana Kelly
School holidays have arrived amid lockdown and the need for different and interesting are high on the ‘to do’ list. Doing something just a bit out of your ordinary helps to break up the monotony of your daily activities and the holidays are a great time to experiment and have a bit of fun with this.
I have a tried and tested way ‘to do’ just this, while spending an amusing evening together as a family – A Livingroom Campout! We did this recently as a family and it worked a treat! It was a great way to switch things up, while giving us an opportunity to feel like we had spent the night somewhere else, even if it was just the living room.
To get you started, here are some suggested
ingredients for an awesome living room campout with the family:
Ingredients:
- Sausages – your favourite variety, cooked and kept warm
- Bread rolls
- Corn on the cob, served with butter and salt
- Potato Salad – Recipe linked here. Tip: add bacon and Dijon mustard. It makes everything better!
- Condiments for sausages.
- S’mores cookies – find a recipe here. Tip: replace the Hersey’s chocolate with your preferred milk or dark chocolate bar and chop roughly. To replace the graham crackers, I suggest a mix of Digestibles and Marie Biscuits.
- Chocolate fondue
- Strawberries, bananas, pretzels, and remaining biscuits/marshmallows from S’mores recipe – for dipping in fondue
- Fluffy pillows, one per person
- Sleeping bags, one per person
- Candles
- Torches
- Glow in the dark stars
- Playlist – great way to add to the atmosphere.
- Deck of playing cards
- Items for charades
Method:
- Set up your campout environment: clear a space for all the sleeping bags to be laid out. Blue tack the stars on the ceiling and light candles around the room for the warm flickering effect of a campfire. Gather your board games, playing card and torches for later in the evening.
- Prepare your camp-side feast. Cook up the sausages, corn and potato salad. Bake the S’mores cookies and arrange your fondue platter with all the essential elements. Tip: if you want to keep things ‘camping authentic’ use your camping cutlery, plates, and cups to eat with.
- Add a dash of your favourite camping music or background nature sounds as a finishing garnish.
Like with any recipe, tweak it to your own desired taste, and enjoy the process. Now it’s time to take a break from the bedroom and get ready for a night under the [glow in the dark] stars!
Nutritional value: High in quality family fun.