Fun Spring Break Ideas without Breaking the Bank!
Need some Spring Break ideas?
Yay! No more making lunches for two weeks! Yippee! Extra snuggle time with the kids! Spring break means that it is time to come up with fun ideas without having to spend a lot of money. It means being creative when going to Disneyland is not an option this year. Keep reading for a bunch of Spring Break fun ideas that are free or almost free!
It’s that time of year again when children get a mental break from schools and our wallets don’t. Spring Break is a great necessity as it allows our children to take a break from the hustle and bustle of school and hectic morning routines.
Winter often sees the highest rates of anxiety and depression and the break is a great way to let them just breathe. Sadly, truth be told, school breaks are not always convenient for us parents. Sometimes parents get lucky and use this week as a work vacation taking their children to extravagant fun places and activities but some of us still have to work our regular schedules, whether at work or at home. Sometimes we have the luxury of sending our children off to Spring Break camps and Daycare but that is not always the case. Here are a couple of ways to help the parent who won’t be jetting off this break so that you may in turn help keep your children entertained, without hurting your wallet.
Spring Break Ideas – Kids on a Beach
Stations
Fun Spring Break Ideas #1 – Children need and crave variety. Setting up different “stations” in your home will insure they stay busy and entertained. Set up different areas of the house with different themes. You can have a water play area (water table, regular bowl with towels underneath or even the bathtub!), a sensory area with rice or silly putty/ play- doh, have an art area with washable markers or crayons, A toy section with blocks or other toys, and a reading/puzzle area. This way they can bounce between regions, keeping busy!
Outdoors
Fun Spring Break Ideas #2 – Utilize the outdoors! Find a snowy patch or a great field and bring some outdoor games! Have a picnic! Go sledding, tobogganing, build a snowman or point out nature. Take them on a child friendly hike! The exercise will wear them out! Playing outside with neighbour’s kids is always a great idea too! Get Artsy!
There are so many cool art projects you can do together or individually. Make it an art day or turn it into a game. If they are old enough get them to build a fort/castle/kingdom with recycled objects such as cardboard, collect rocks from outside and paint them for a game of tic-tac-toe, or get them to make slime for hours of fun. Chef for the Day!
Have your child choose a simple recipe for all three meals of the day and have him or her be the Head Chef and you become their Sous-Chef (second in command in the kitchen) to assist! Make sure to plan this the day before so you can go get the groceries together. Even more budget friendly would be to look in your pantry and freezer and come up with creative meals based on what you already have on hand! Please do send me photos! I would love to hear! The next step would be to take photos and make your own family recipe book from this wonderful family time.
Mad Scientists!
Fun Spring Break Ideas #3 – Home based science is easy, fun and can be done with the ingredients inside your cupboards! Teach them to Use Paper Mache to build a volcano and vinegar plus baking soda to help it erupt! There are tons of inspirational and fun science projects on sites like Pinterest that will bring oodles of fun!
Drop ins
Fun Spring Break Ideas #4 – Take advantage of your local drop ins. They are super cheap and hours of gym time for your child.
Scavenger hunt!
Fun Spring Break Ideas #5 – Set up a spy style scavenger hunt inside your home, loaded with simple booty traps and fun puzzles for them to solve to close the mystery. This will keep them busy for hours of fun!
Library diving!
Fun Spring Break Ideas #6 – Take them to the local library and let them explore! Once they’ve picked their own books they will be excited to spend hours reading their finds!
Drama
Fun Spring Break Ideas #7 – Let them write and direct a play to perform for the whole family! They can use their toys as puppets for their characters and it allows them to let their imagination soar! Have them make tickets and create a poster to advertise the event too!
Board Game Inventors!
Fun Spring Break Ideas #8 – Have the kids create their own game! If they get stuck on ideas, have them combine their favorite parts of three different games and go from there! Like, Battleship-Twister-Bingo!
Bonus Idea – make it random!
Brainstorm with your kids and put all of your favorite ideas on scraps of paper a “family time jar”. Then, when it is activity time, pull out a random piece of paper. Kids love fun surprises!
Remember whatever you choose to do will depend on your child’s interest. Explore their likes and dislikes for a perfectly structured and fun Spring Break! Don’t forget to let them sleep in! Humans need our sleep and busy schedules tend to keep us from the amount we each need. Letting them sleep will help set a great mood for the break and also give you an hour free you do not have to have planned. Sleep is important in helping out children grow and be healthy. Look at this blog on how many hours our children should be sleeping: https://www.easydaysies.com/5-must-know-tips-for-stress-free-back-to-school-mornings/
Spring Break Ideas – Little Chef making an easy breakfast smoothie!
By Elaine Tan Comeau, Mom of Three, Wife, Award Winning Entrepreneur and Educator, Creator of Easy Daysies® Magnetic Schedules for Kids, Dragons’ Den Winner and 2014 Canadian Mompreneur of the Year www.EasyDaysies.com, Mompreneurs® – Vancouver Chapter Owner, and Podcast Host for http://www.elaineskitchent
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