Family camping hack: Start in the backyard (plus, how to make an outdoor movie screen)

Several of you wrote in saying "start simple." Melissa's camping hack keeps everyone close to home:

My favorite camping tips? Camp in the backyard. Three years ago there were three of us were pregnant and as an extended family, we felt it would be easier to camp in Grandma and Grandma’s backyard than head into the great outdoors. We had a firebox for making s’mores, pitched our tents on the lawn, had a “midnight movie” (see attached picture), and a flashlight treasure hunt with goodies from the dollar store.

We made the screen from PVC pipe, two elbows and two “T’s”, rebar pounded into the ground to hold it upright and a twin sheet sewn top edge to bottom edge and slipped on to the PVC frame. The two legs are glued together so it’s four pieces, plus the screen.

More: Family camping tips at Parent Hacks