Teacher Talk Tuesday

Spring Break Activities

Spring breaks can be a tricky time for families. Some families go on great vacations however, there are many families that do not go anywhere. In that case you're either faced with planning activities for your time at home with the kids, or arranging child care. My inital reaction when anyone asks for spring break activity suggestions is read and go to the library! However, kids also require activities that tucker them out during the day too. Here are some of my suggestions for fun spring break activities:

1. Look into the school aged child care provided by your school district or a local organization (such as the YMCA). This can often be an untapped gold mine for kids who have a lot of energy. Most programs schedule a fieldtrip each day during a break from school and if they don't go on a fieldtrip, they'll have plenty of activities planned on site. If your kids are old enough, let them choose 2-3 days they'd like to go and then give them a free day at home. You'll have to check the enrollment policies, but the program I worked for went on a day-to-day basis during school breaks.

2. Cook! Plan a meal with your kids and give them each something they can "make". Desserts are my favs to make with kids!

3. Put on a play. Take a trip to your local educational store (another untapped gold mine) and look for Reader's Theater teacher books (you can ask someone at the desk to direct you). These will have ready to go scripts and often go along with well known nursery rhymes and book titles.

4. Take a fieldtrip to a museum. Instead of taking your kids to one of the "main" museums in the area (which are most likely expensive and filled with the kiddie groups mentioned in option 1) look into some of the smaller or lesser known museums in your area. When my brother was little, his favorite museum was the miniature train museum! It cost $5 to get in and the kid was in heaven! There are also plenty of local history museums most likely located in a historical house in the area. You may have to drive a bit, but it'll be worth and you'll learn something new too. *Note: If you have young kids call before you go to see if they have a "food safe" area. Some museums are not as "kid friendly" as others and you know you'll be packin' some snacks for this trip!

5. Go swimming! This is the one sure fire way to tire out even the most energetic kids. There are so many cheap indoor pools now that have a waterslide or other forms of entertainment in the pools. You can plan a "beach party" and pretend you're somewhere sunny!

Happy spring break everyone!