A lot of parents absolutely love the prospect of the upcoming Spring Break. School can be so difficult on kids with the pressures of homework and social hierarchy, so the time off is a time to breathe. For parents, it’s a time to get stuck into some quality time with their children that they don’t often get due to their own jobs and lives outside the home. The kids are also always excited for the prospect of no school, no homework and no teachers for a week and it truly depends on the age of the children as to what you get up to with them on their time off. Older teens sometimes prefer to sleep the days away and relax in the privacy of their bedrooms. Younger kids tend to need continued stimulation to burn off that childish energy.

Welcoming the break from the usual routine is often a time that most go on a vacation like this one, away from home to enjoy the weather at the coast. This isn’t something every family can afford, though, so you need to be well stocked with ideas of things to do locally and in the neighborhood. Thankfully, Spring Break tends to at least come with drier weather, meaning you can shed the winter coat and start getting active outdoors in the sunshine – even if it isn’t particularly hot! There are a ton of things you can get up to outside, and you don’t have to have a huge budget to do them, either. Check out our list of exciting outdoor activities you could get stuck into to keep the kids busy, refreshed and happy to be in the fresh air!

Nature Hunt: For younger kids, getting into nature doesn’t get to happen as often as they’d like. This isn’t any fault of yours as a parent, but of the lack of time! Between school hours and time at home, getting into nature is usually reserved for vacation time. Everything out the window is flowering and going green as the weather changes, so putting together a list of things for your little ones to treasure hunt can take so much time! A scavenger hunt in the local national park looking for certain flowers, trees and bugs isn’t just something to see, it’s a learning experience. Let them ask you questions about the trees that they can see and the landscape itself. Talk to them about where insects feature on the life cycle and give them as many facts like these as you can. Outdoor scavenger hunts always go down well and they burn energy along the way. Bring a picnic for a truly magical, nature-filled day.

Sports Day: At most schools, a sports day is held every summer to showcase the best athletic talent. Why not hold your own? Get the whole neighborhood involved and hold relay races, softball games, football sets and for the little ones, egg and spoon racing. For the toddlers in the neighborhood, some garden playtime with a couple of the mothers overseeing their activities could work well if the older children are indulging in healthy competition. Check out the reviews of these awesome trampolines so those who don’t want to compete still get some energetic activity going on in the garden https://parentingpod.com/skywalker-trampoline-reviews/. If you get the whole street involved, the community spirit is massive and all the children get some enjoyment out of it. Hold a pot luck picnic where everyone can bring something to eat or drink, which will save money all round.

Beach Day: You may not be able to take the whole family on vacation, but if you are fortunate enough to live close to a beach, you’ve just found an entire day’s worth of activities! Beaches aren’t just a place to sit and enjoy the breeze. Sandcastle building, swimming in the shallows and crab hunting are all brilliant activities for the kids to get up to. Pack the sunscreen and some towels and you have enough to do. It’s all about imagination and how your children use them so having a contest to build the best sandcastle can keep them busy for house. How about suggesting they all pool their ideas and make one giant sandcastle village? Scavenging for seashells and seaweed to decorate can keep them busy and when they get hungry, a trip to a local café goes down wonderfully.

Weather Warnings: Sometimes Spring doesn’t quite get the idea of sunshine and decides to be wet. This doesn’t mean you need to resort to indoor activities for a rainy day. Pull on those raincoats and galoshes and head out for muddy puddle jumping. Making mud pies hasn’t quite gone out of fashion, and while it’s nice to chill on the sofa with a tablet and a bag of Cheetos, it’s not the way to dispense childish energy. Messy play is fun and a little Spring shower of rain shouldn’t interrupt your plans, you just need to be creative. Splashing and squelching in the mud can give them a new appreciation for nature and how the rain makes the worms come out of the ground. It’s fun, educational and a way to ensure a great night’s sleep!

These ideas are all nature-centred, and there’s a good reason. Children need to burn energy to have a great rest, so remove the technology from the holiday. All these outdoor suggestions are memory makers and they’ll rave for years about that one Spring Break that you all got soaked in the mud and Dad fell over and got covered. Or they’ll remember how the whole neighborhood came together for a sporty afternoon and had a huge street barbecue. Perhaps you even let off fireworks. The thing is, these ideas can span any time of the year and if you want to make the most of the time you get with the children, going above and beyond is exactly what you need to do. Enjoy Spring Break and soak up that quality family time.

Happy travels!