Spring break is just around the corner for this homeschool mama and her four wild boys, and I’ve been thinking of what we can do to celebrate the end of our second term.
While the idea of going away does sound nice, I’m thinking that we may just stay close to home this year, so I’ve been searching for some spring break staycation ideas for kids that are both fun and entertaining.
Homeschool Breaks
We follow a traditional 36 week homeschool year which equates to three 12 week terms. Each term consists of 11 weeks for learning and one week for exams. We have a fall break week built into our first term. Our second term is split in two with a 3-week winter break. And finally, our third term has a spring break built into it.
We usually start school on the first full week of September, ending the week before the Winter Solstice. We pick up again in the second week of January and wrap up in mid-June, giving us an 11-week summer break.
Now, all of these breaks are totally flexible. Sometimes we take time off during the term for sickness or because we want to go somewhere. In that case, we can shorten one of our breaks if we need to. There have been times when we’ve taken a full week off for a break and other times we want to finish up early to have a longer winter or summer break, so we only break for a long weekend. Again, homeschooling is flexible, and we make it work for us.
Okay, so back to my spring break staycation ideas.
This year, we are not taking a full week off for spring break because we recently had a week filled with unexpected appointments, and we missed some school days that I’d like to make up during that time. Because of that, we’ll be taking a long weekend to do something as a family.
Below I have a list of 20 unique spring break staycation ideas that I think my kiddos would enjoy, and I’m guessing yours would too! The budgets for some of these ideas are all over the place, but my hope is that it will give you and me both some fun ideas of things to do with our kids.
Spring Break Staycation Ideas for Kids
- Rent a cabin by a lake or in the mountains and “rough it” for a weekend. Don’t forget the smores!
- Visit a theme park if one is close to you.
- Set a spending budget and distance guidelines and have a “Yes Day!”
- Visit historic sights in your local area — museums, homesteads, restaurants, etc.
- Go to a weekend festival.
- Take your kids to a concert and then out to eat.
- Give your kids a spending budget and take them to a local arcade for an evening.
- Go on a local road trip and make spur-of-the-moment stops wherever you want along the way.
- Spend a day kayaking or fishing in a nearby lake, creek, or river.
- Schedule a series of outings and playdates with friends — one for each day of break.
- Schedule a series of daily activities, such as going to a jump park, the skating rink, movie theatre, and bowling ally — one for each day of break.
- Go on a hike or bike a trail. Don’t forget to bring along some picnik food.
- Watch a play at a local theatre.
- Host a Great British Bake-Off with a different dessert bake each day of break. Don’t forget a nice prize for the winner and smaller prizes for participants.
- Take an art class from a local instructor.
- Take a food tour through your town, stopping to eat at various places from breakfast to dinner with snacks and desserts in between.
- Go on a scavenger hunt through your town.
- Go visit a friend or family member you haven’t seen in a while. Take a meal along as well as a little “we’ve missed you” gift.
- Participate in The Kindness Project and paint rocks with encouraging messages to leave around town for people to find.
- Make a list of selfie spots in your town and head out to to snap your way through the list.
Okay, friend. Hopefully, this gives you some fun spring break staycation ideas that you can do with your kids this year or next. I know it sure does me. In fact, I may use these ideas for occasional fun weekends regardless of whether it’s a school break or not.
Be sure you’re following me over on Instagram and are signed up to get my bi-monthly letters (giving you access to my free Seasonal Living Collective) to see which of these spring break staycation ideas we end up going with this year!
Love and light,
Meagan