Let's face it; we like to keep mattresses forever. You can't help but feel attached to your mattress. After all, you spend about a third of your life sleeping on that old slab of stuffing and springs. Not to mention how heavy and challenging an old mattress is to move across the room, much less out of your home. Most of us won't throw a mattress away until back pain, mold tests, or a lingering smell makes it necessary.

While you might be inclined to be sad about saying goodbye to your big squishy sleeping buddy, we have a better idea. There are a lot of things your parents taught you not to do with mattresses because they are valuable and you don't want to break them. But your bed is already on it's way out. Which means nothing is stopping you from enjoying some childish mattress-based glee before you and your old mattress finally part ways.

So we put together a list of seven tempting things to do with an old mattress. Invite over your friends, get your kids involved if you have any, and prepare for a weekend of fun.

1. Jump on the Bed

When you were small, your parents taught you not to jump on the bed. You probably got at least one stern talking to about busting your head or the springs in the mattress and most of us refrain from this constant temptation as adults. But this is your golden moment. The one time it is okay to jump on your mattress. The best way to do this is by dragging your mattress into the center of the living room, putting on your comfiest jammies and leaping on with a big "Woohoo!" before your friends and any nearby children jump in to join you in fun.

2. Create a Bounce-Wall

Ever want to throw yourself at a wall and bounce like a cartoon? That mattress has all the padding and bounciness you need to joyfully throw yourself at any wall in your home with gleeful abandon. It's best if you can give yourself a running start so find a wall at the end of a hallway or in an open area in your living room. If you don't have enough space indoors, drag your mattress out into the yard where there's some sweet soft grass for padding. Now you can practice all your best cartoon flops, super-spy lunges, and epic dance moves with abandon!

3. Build the Ultimate Blanket Fort

Blanket forts are usually limited to pillows, blankets, and chairs. But now you have the biggest pillow of them all. Your mattress is equal to at least six pillows, if not twenty, depending on the size of the bed it once padded. It gives you enough material for one wall of an entire blanket castle. Every other pillow, chair, and blanket in the house might be enough to turn your full living room into a blanket empire. Just make sure to include the TV so you can watch movies in your mattress palace.

4. Sled Down the Stairs

Sliding down the stairs on a mattress is almost like an urban legend. We all have a friend of a friend who theoretically did it. Most of us have tried an alternative version with cardboard boxes, but the key to living the stairs-surfer dream is an old broken-down mattress. The best mattresses for stair-sledding are twin or full-size mattresses on the small side unless you have very wide stairs. Once you get the hang of sliding and dragging the mattress back up the stairs, try riding two or three friends at a time. Hold tight to the top and lean back to keep from tumbling.

5. Soundproof a Wall

If you live in an apartment, the chances are that one of your nearby apartments contains a noisy neighbor. Constant banging, muffled sounds, or loud television can make it tempting to make a lot of noise back. But a better option is to employ that mattress that is no longer good for sleeping. As it turns out, beds are great for soundproofing because they are so thick and soft. They absorb sound and keep it from transmitting into the air beyond. By attaching your mattress to a wall, you can effectively muffle even the noisest neighbor, much as you might if building a blanket fort.

6. Host an Outdoor Movie Weekend

If there's one thing you should never do with your bed mattress, it's putting it on the ground outside. But as one of your final sign-offs to an old friend, it can be the perfect comfy platform for an outdoor movie night. It is a great way to round out a great night with friends and family playing with your old mattress. Grab some tubs of popcorn and ice cream, hang up a big sheet, and kick back on your old mattress to a favorite film. Fidget all you want, have tickle fights, and don't be afraid to jump up and cheer for the action sequences. You'll get some great extra bounce from the dead mattress.

7. Make Something New

Finally, it's time to decide what to do with the bed. While you could leave it out on bulk trash day or drive it to the dump, you can also turn it into a fun DIY opportunity. Crafty people might have fun using the stuffing and springs for all sorts of things. Some people make dog beds, some people stuff new pillows, and some repurpose the mattress to be a permanent part of their children's play area. Get creative and find something new to do with a mattress that's no longer good for sleep.