Monday, March 29, 2010

Spring Break Family Fun "Stay-cation" Ideas


Hey Friends! Happy Spring Break to you!

Spring Break for our family starts this Friday, April 2 - April 11th. Last winter we did the family Disney trip, so this year we'll be staying home in good ole Grand Rapids, Michigan.

No worries! I've come up with a Spring Break "Stay-cation" plan. I believe with some advance planning and creativity, we can make Spring Break as much fun as a week at Disneyworld (but for a lot less $$)!! Woo Hoo!!

(A quick disclaimer....I've tried to think of things that you could participate in regardless of the city you live in. For my Grand Rapids friends, many of the ideas have links that will lead you to more specific times and information. For all of the ideas, I tried to think of inexpensive ideas ~ if it costs more than $5 per person, I did not include it on the list).

Here are some Spring Break ideas from A to Z....

A - Apple Orchard ~ Head to the Apple Orchard in the morning, and then spend the afternoon making some yummy homemade apple goodies OR turn your backyard/garage into your own Art Camp (ideas here)

B- Bowling; Bike rides

C - Camp-out in the Family Room. Grab your sleeping bags, flashlights, and smores, and get ready for fun! (more camping ideas here)

D - Dance Party ~ Find some fun 70's or 80's music, crank it up, and let the fun begin!

E - Earth Day (celebrate Earth Day early this year, ideas here) OR Eat out (the food court at the mall is always a fun experience for kids)

F- Family Fun Night ~ Invite over another family for food, fun, and fellowship!

G - Game Night ~ Have everyone pick a favorite board game to play.
(More Game Night ideas here)

H - Hawaiian party ~ Host your own indoor luau! Grab a beach towel, bathing suit, beach ball, and any leis you might have around your house ~ and let the fun begin! You can even play Hawaii Bingo (More Hawaii ideas here)

I - Indoor picnic (don't forget your plastic ants ~ smile)

J - Jump rope (complete with your favorite jump rope songs here)

K - Krispy Kreme doughnuts ~ wait until the Krispy Kreme light is on, and then go in for your free doughnut!

L - Letterboxing ~ If you haven't tried Letterboxing before, you must! (Get started here or our family's letterboxing fun here)

M - Movie Night ~ Fun FamilyMovie Night ideas here or here

N - Nature Walk ~ Enjoy the beautiful weather with a Nature Walk! Give each of the kids a brown lunch bag with items listed on it to collect and/or discover. (Also, if you live in the Grand Rapids area, click here to join the Connect with Nature Challenge! It sounds great!)

O - Opposite Day ~ Do everything backwards! Eat breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast!

P - Pizza Party ~ Let the kids make their own pizza ~ more ideas here!

Q - Quiet time ~ head to your local library for some quiet reading and/or story time activities. (The link for Kent District Library events ~ here)

R - Road trip ~ Let the kids help plan a Road Trip! Depending on your financial situation and the ages of your children, you can plan a Road Trip near or far. Do you have a relative or friend you could visit? A park you've always wanted to experience? Maybe it's time for a Road Trip! Remember, part of the fun is in the planning ~ so let everyone look at the maps, write out the itnerary, pack the snacks, bring activities for the car, and more! What fun! :)

S - Sundae Night (our family's Sundae Night ideas here
) OR Spring Scavenger Hunt (ideas here)

T - Treasure Hunt (My favorite treasure hunt clues are found here. I use them all the time! My kids love Treasure hunts ~ so do their friends) or host a Tea Party (ideas here)

U - Underwater activities ~ Find a local indoor swimming pool and swim, swim, swim! Another idea...we sometimes go to priceline.com to bid on a hotel for the night. In Grand Rapids, you can stay at a nice 3 star hotel for $40. The kids love it ~ they swim for hours and hours!!

V - Volunteer. I usually invite a friend's 3 kids over for the day to provide free child care while she works. Or you could rake some leaves. Walk a neighbor's dog. Pick up trash. The ideas are endless...

W - Walk! Walk to the nearest park. Or walk around the block backwards. Get some fresh air :)

X - eXercise. Set up a family exercise experience! (Get started here)

Y - YMCA. Go to the YMCA or another local gym. Many will let you try their facility for free for the day.

Z - Head to the Zoo! :) (John Ball Park link here)


Woo Hoo!! I'm excited for my Spring Break "Stay-cation" already!!

What a perfect opportunity to enjoy our children and participate in many of the outings and activities we can’t fit into our school-day schedule. Let's make our ordinary spring break days "extraordinary"!! :)

So, what do you have planned for the week?? Any fun ideas you'd like to share?? I can't wait to hear more about your Spring Break "stay-vacation!".

Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*!

May your Spring Break be filled to the brim with much joy, laughter, and fun, family moments!!



P.S. A special thanks to Kaboose, Family Fun, Chocolate Cake Moments, Parents Magazine and more for letting me share some of your fun family ideas!

8 comments:

Michelle said...

Great ideas for a "stay-cation". Unfortunately, our "stay-cation" will be ruled by the toilet training. Maybe I can work some of the indoor home ideas into our "stay-cation".

Karen said...

You've got some great ideas! Thanks for sharing them with us.

Have a great week!
Karen

LeAnn said...

I love, love, love this list! Thanks for taking the time to put it together. It was a blast reading and got the creative juices going. Love it!

Theresa said...

What a fun way to present these fun ideas!

Letterboxing... that sounds like such fun. After reading your list yesterday the kids and I did a little research on it. We'd love to do something like this but the boxes in our area were mostly placed 4-5 years ago. Do you think they would still be around? Do members keep their boxes updated?

My oldest son, has been talking to his cousin in CA who does geocaching. The concept sounds similar but then again, I haven't looked into them both that closely.

Anonymous said...

Hi Cindy :-) Our Spring Break is this week . . . we usually don't go anywhere, but this time we went to a cabin in the WVA mountains with my parents, one of my sisters and her 2 kids. We stayed close to where my grandparents live and got to visit them once - they are both in their 90's and that was a huge blessing to see them. We're home how and feeling blessed! Joyous Easter to you and yours! Love, Jenny C. HE IS RISEN!!!

Sarah said...

Cindy. LOVE the ideas! Thanks for sharing. And sweet one, you and your gorgeous red hair won the giveaway. So, please send me your address

bedenkopatgmaildotcom

Hugs for your day,
Sara

Jennifer @ JenniferDukesLee.com said...

Ok, I soooo want to be your kid. Can I come over and play?

You rock, Mama!

Tonya said...

Thanks for sharing this A to Z stay-cation list!
Can't wait to do a couple of these before spring break ends!
I am going to add a new level of excitement about a trip to Krispy Kreme!
Woo-Hoo!

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