The spring breaks of our college days meant either a week of rest at home, recouping from midterms while our parents made us meals, or a week-long party getaway to someplace warm while we shared a motel room with 9 friends.
As parents – if you aren’t taking the week to travel with the family– spring break means a week at home with newly energized kids whose skills and interests are growing along with all the plants outside. Whether you are a stay-at-home parent playing cruise director or a working parent spending the week attempting to work from home while your kids play around you, the demand for entertainment during spring break is high. Here are seven ideas for inexpensive or free activities to keep the kids entertained at home all week long.
Seed Tape
Spring means it’s time to get those gardens going. Seed tape is a great way to let kids help while getting in some sensory play, and setting yourself up for easy planting.
You will need:
Toilet paper
Flour and water
A cup
A paintbrush
Carrot, raddish, celery, onion, or spinach seed packets
Steps:
1. Make a 2 foot long strip of toilet paper and cut it in half lengthwise so that you have a pair of 2-foot long narrow strips
2. Mix 3 tablespoons each of flour and water in a cup to make a plant-friendly glue
3. Read your seed packet for directions on how far apart to space the seeds and mark the toilet paper with dots along those spaces (Ex. Place a dot every 1 inch for carrots)
4. Have your child paint a glue dot on top of every marker dot
5. Have your child sprinkle seeds on top of the glue dots
6. Fold the toilet paper in half and press it to seal along the glue dots
7. Wrap the seed tape around a toilet paper roll and store it in the fridge until you are ready to plant it
Toilet paper is biodegradable! When you bury this strip of tape, the seeds will take root and the toilet paper will disintegrate. You will have evenly spaced vegetables ready to grow!
Coffee Filter Butterflies
Celebrate the colors and creatures of the season by making butterflies to decorate your home!
You will need:
Coffee filters
Washable markers
A spray bottle of water
Clothes pins OR pipe cleaners
Steps:
1. Have your child color the coffee filters with vibrant designs
2. When they are finished, have them lightly spray the designs so that the colors run and make a tie-dye effect
3. Leave the coffee filters to dry
4. When they are dry, find the center of the filter and pinch and gather the top and bottom together, creating wings on either side
5. If using pipe cleaners, bend the pipe cleaner into a U-shape and place the fold in the center, along the bottom of the gathered filter. Twist the top 2 ends together and bend them up to look like antennae.
6. If using a clothespin, pinch the gathered filter from the bottom along the center. Use a marker or pen to draw a face at the top of the clothespin
Note: Consider using a drop cloth or old newspaper to protect your table from the markers and water.
Scavenger Hunt
Are you itching to go for a walk but having a hard time convincing your little ones to join you? Send them on a search mission!
You will need:
A piece of paper
Markers
A clipboard or book to lean on
Steps:
1. Think of spring-themed things you might see around your neighborhood. Think: budding flowers, growing grass, bunny statues, Easter flags, butterflies, robins
2. Make your child a checklist of these items
a. For very little kids, draw quick pictures of things to look for
b. For children who can read, write out an inventory
c. For bigger kids, think of more complex things to list out- specific types of plants, specific species of animals, different parts of the plant growing cycle to observe
3. Hand your child the clipboard/book and a pen and challenge them to find everything on the list. Head out on your walk and be prepared to stop and look along the way!
Bubble Experiments
If your kids are anything like mine, bubbles have been and continue to be a surprisingly captivating activity. If you find you and your children have become bored of them, or if you want to find a way to play with them that doesn’t involve dumping out the bottle or your toddler accidentally smooching a bubble wand, there are other ways!
You will need:
Bubble solution
Containers to pour into
A variety of recyclables and household items that have closed shapes, for example:
– Plastic net bags from produce or cheese
– The ring around the necks of juice or milk bottles
– The plastic rings from soda or seltzer can packages
– Butterfly nets
– Sifters from sand toy kits
Steps:
1. Pour bubble solution in to a variety of containers of different widths and depths
2. Experiment with different ways to make bubbles:
a. Try using different items to dip and blow bubbles through
b. Dip a net into bubble solution and wave it around to see what happens. Can you blow bubbles through it? What happens if you spin? What happens if you swing it faster or slower?
c. Can you blow bubbles through the sand sifter? What if you move it quickly back and forth like a fan?
d. What else can you find around your house that might be able to blow bubbles?
Note: This can get a little messy! Make sure no one is wearing their favorite outfit and consider wearing shoes that are ok to get wet.
Mud Kitchen
Is there anything more satisfying to a child than being invited to get messy? Let them explore in a mud kitchen!
You will need:
1. An area of your yard you don’t mind digging up. Think: under a raised deck, beneath a climbing structure, behind the shed
2. Shovels, cans, cups, spoons, old beat up pots, pans, or muffin tins. (If you don’t have ones you’re ready to get rid of, you can find these things inexpensively at Goodwill or Savers)
3. Water
Steps:
1. Gather anything you can find that is fun to dig with or fill with dirt
2. Plan to do this on a day after it has rained, or hose the spot down with some water
3. Invite your child to dig and play in the mud using their imaginations
a. Open a mud bakery!
b. Make a mudman instead of a snowman
c. Gather fallen leaves and twigs into a pot and make a potion! (This can be a great place to use a bouquet of flowers that has gone dry. Let the kids cut or tear them up into potion ingredients!)
Note: If you don’t have a good digging spot in your yard, you can provide all the same fun with a low sided plastic bin full of sand and water.
Draw from Observation
The world is turning more colorful and filling with beautiful things! Go get up close and use them as inspiration for art!
You will need:
Paper
Clipboards, books, or a lap desk to lean on
Marker, crayons, colored pencils, or paint
A mat or towel to sit on
Steps:
1. Gather your materials and head outside!
2. Look around together for something beautiful in your yard – Flowers, a blooming tree, a growing mushroom, a bush
3. Set your child up to sit near the beautiful thing and look at it closely. Ask questions
a. What colors do you see?
b. What shapes do you see?
c. How big is it?
4. Hand them the art materials you have brought with you and invite them to sit and draw or paint the item while looking at it
5. Keep picking new items to draw until you have a collection of nature drawings!
Balls or Cars and Ramps
Find hours of endless entertainment by letting your child experiment with creating inclines to roll things down
You will need:
Things that can serve as a ramp. Dig around the basement, pull things out of recycling. Think creatively:
– Long pieces of cardboard
– Tubes from posters
– Leftover pieces of wood, paneling, or molding from construction projects
– Blocks, bed risers, stools, or anything sturdy enough to hold up a ramp
– Balls and/or cars small enough to stay on the ramp
Steps:
1. Show your child how to use the materials at different heights and inclines by leaning and stacking things on one another. Have your child try rolling a ball (or car) down the ramp.
2. Invite your child to move the pieces around in different ways to experiment with height and speed.
3. Bring the materials out to the driveway if they are in need of running off energy.
Tip: Ping pong balls or golf balls work well here! But anything that rolls will do.
