When does spring break start for your family? For us…it’s now!
Chances are, you’ll want a few spring break screen-free activities in mind for your kids. Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
Walk somewhere. Is there a park within walking distance? Then walk…don’t drive. Bikes, roller skates, skateboards, scooters – these are all great too. We walked to our corner bank to make a deposit into Noelle’s savings account. Notice her penguin piggy bank! It made it a lot more fun to walk there instead of drive like we usually do. Walking gets you outdoors and helps you talk more together too.
Kick them out! If you can in your neighborhood, kick your kids outside! Don’t direct them. Don’t tell them exactly what to do. Just give them free play and see what happens. Whether they pull out their old sidewalk chalk and use it on the driveway, or play tribe in the backyard, it’s great for the imagination.
Spring cleaning. I know this may sound dreadful, but you can give your kids some incentive. Most likely your kids have outgrown clothes that are buried deep in the drawers. They may be wondering, “Where in the world are a pair of shorts that fit?” Spring cleaning will help a great deal! Maybe after your kids sort through toys and clothes, you can go out shopping for what you really need for the next season. Or go out to ice cream to celebrate a clean room.
Service project. Is there something you’ve been wanting to do, but just haven’t made the time to do it? Whether it’s visiting a nearby convalescent home or writing a letter of thanks to military personnel overseas, spring break is a perfect time for service.
Cooking school. Cooking school at home, that is. Have your kids look through a cookbook and find an easy recipe they like. Help them with the ingredients and supervision, but let them cook if that’s age appropriate. You may be surprised by the pride they show when they serve up that dish. Younger siblings can act as the server, hostess, or busboy.
Craft time. My daughter Lucy received this craft box for her birthday last year. This was the perfect time to pull it out of the closet. Who knew it was so fun to make snowmen in the spring? We laughed so hard at this silly creations. I’m not a crafty person. But this I actually enjoyed!
Now, I will totally admit that screen time is a fun part of spring break for us. I checked out Season 1 of The Brady Bunch from the library. The kids love it and I do too. We’ve been watching one episode each night. I also introduced Anne of Green Gables to the kids on a rainy day. We watched the first hour on VHS. Yes, I still have a VHS player and own Anne of Green Gables (sadly) on grainy video. Oh well.
The key with watching a movie or TV is doing it TOGETHER. Co-viewing does promote closeness and can be a springboard to some pretty cool conversations.
What you don’t want is your child binging on Netflix for hours alone.
My oldest Ethan is in 7th grade, which means I only have 5 more spring breaks with him. Sniff, sniff. I better make the most of them!
