13 Creative Ways to Have More Fun in Your Own Backyard

Whether you had your own tree house as a kid or regretted not having one, it's never too late to build your dream fort. House*Tweaking blogger Dana Miller outfitted the tree house in her yard with army cots and mosquito netting. Convinced yet?

Why save this delectable treat for the once-a-year camping trip? If you have a fire pit outside, it's a no-brainer, but even if you don't, you can still assemble a tabletop s'mores station by using bags of pea gravel and some ethanol gel cans. Happy roasting!

Photo by Marianne Taylor Photography via Style Me Pretty

Throw your own film festival under the stars by projecting a movie in your backyard. Candlelit lanterns, floor pillows, and cozy throws will create the ambiance, and this step-by-step guide will walk you through the setup.

If the miniature version of this anxiety-laced game of physics gives you a thrill, just wait until you raise the stakes with this humongous outdoor version. A Beautiful Mess outlines tips for making your own jumbo Jenga set.

We'll venture a guess that this isn't the first chalkboard wall you've seen, but something about setting it up on the side of the house seems even more enticing. Are we right? Tour the rest of the small but incredibly stylish home of landscape designer Elizabeth Low and her husband, David Cash.

Source: Bethany Nauert via Apartment Therapy

It's almost comical how much pleasure you can get from the simplest things in life, like an old-fashioned tree swing! A Beautiful Mess has a sweet tutorial for crafting one, so there's no excuse not to indulge.

Whether it's a cedar hot tub or a vintage porcelain beauty hooked up to the hot-water heater, there's nothing like unwinding with a soak under the stars.

Give a basic horseshoe set some zing by adding a little color. Designlovefest shares a snazzy little paint tutorial here. Bonus points for turning on some country tunes.

Source: Kimberly Genevieve via Designlovefest

If your little one is obsessed with the sandbox at the park, bring the fun home by buying or building a portable sandbox. Caster wheels make it easy to roll out of the way when you have company over, and containing it in a box means you don't have to transform part of your deck or lawn into a permanent sandpit.

Kick off your own at-home carnival fun with a DIY cornhole set. Obviously, we appreciate the color-coordinated version that Kristin from The Hunted Interior made.

Want to climb a tree with Spider-Man speed? Tie a rope ladder to the trunk, and you won't have to worry about finding branches within reach.