How to Have a Great Spring Break at Home With Your Kids

Spring break is here. The kids are home and bored. How do you keep them entertained and having fun without loosing your sanity? Vacations are not always in the budget but great fun can be had without great expense.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Creativity
• A trip to the Garden store
• Paper and Envelopes

1. 
    

   Make each day special: My children often picked a theme with me for each day. We had "Garden Day", "Fancy Day", "Diner Day", "Picnic Day" and "Role Change Day". You can make up days that work for you. Some people pick "backwards day" or "opposites day". The goal is to have a plan and make each days theme special.

2. 
    

   On "GARDEN DAY" we planned to work in our yard on the flower gardens. The kids got to pick flowers at the local garden store and we worked to weed the flower gardens and plant our new plants. Make sure they have gardening gloves and shovels to get in the dirt and work. Because all work and no play does not work, get the sidewalk chalk out and make a chalk town on your driveway or the safe street in front of your house. Have scooters and ride the roads with the kids.

3. 
    

   "FANCY DAY" works well for the little girls. We dress fancy and wear our nice cloths to go out to lunch. In the afternoon we have a tea party. We visit with a couple elderly ladies in our neighborhood who really appreciate the white glove treatment and usually join us for our tea party. Fancy day does not work unless you are seen... being seen is important so go out somewhere with the kids.

4. 
    

   "DINER DAY" is our day for kitchen fun. The kids make breakfast and lunch and we usually make a good mess in the kitchen. They wear aprons and wait tables. Remember to let the mess rest. Don't get worked up about the mess on the counters and in the sink. Encourage the kids to pick recipies they want to try and let them try different treats. Sometimes we have Dessert for Dinner. No, we don't do this often... but what a treat! Make treats for your neighbors if you have time... you will make long lasting friends.

5. 
    

   "PICNIC DAY" if our day at the parks. Get up early and work together to pack a picnic that everyone will love. We use left over treats from Diner Day to pack for this special day. Visit several different parks in your area... try to explore parks you have not been to before and add a couple favorites. You need to pack plenty of water because there will be a great deal of energy spent. Snacks and lunch should be done on a blanket in the sun. I am always surprised to find parks I never imagined would be so much fun. We always find something new!

6. "ROLE CHANGE DAY" is fun too. Let the kids take on your role for the day. They get to do all the planning and you need to be flexible and go with the plan. Obviously you need to set guidelines and keep them safe but generally my kids picked their favorite activities from over the years and there were no surprises. They need to make sure everyone is ready on time, they need to plan the meals, they need to plan what to do.... they think it is fun until they realize how hard it is. Great lesson and fun. I used to dress up in overalls when they were young and let them dress as the mom. Yes, pig tails and all. It was fun to explain when we went places... people thought I was nuts but usually laughed with us in the end.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't try to be too structured.... school is out and structure, while important, should be put aside sometimes for spontanious play.
• Great for young children and grade school children.

[kittycooks]

on 4/10/2009 Wonderful article. I especially like Role change day!

[doublewidediva]

on 4/10/2009 What Fun and creative ideas!

[sdchambers]

on 4/9/2009 Great ideas! You sound like such a fun mom!