Are you ready for the fastest, no BS, list of things to do for Spring Break? Most of these kinds of things exist in many cities all over the place, but I suppose this list is based on where I live in Denver, Colorado. That being said, there is probably a zoo somewhere near you too, even if you don’t live in Denver. Here we go:
- Go to the zoo.
- Go to the art museum.
- Go to the children’s museum.
- Go to the science museum.
- Go to the library, the big main one downtown.
- Go to their favorite playground (that one you have to drive to)
- Go to the closest playground… every day.
- Go to the swimming pool, the one with the waterslides they love.
- Go to the water park.
- Go for a hike.
- Watch TV (Hey, chilling, is chilling.)
- Go to a movie. (Not Frozen. Man, that was bad.)
- Go to McDonalds with a play land. Let them order a Happy Meal, or whatever they want (even ice cream). Let them stay as long as they want, no rush, no places to be.
- Pull out your inflatable raft (or anything big and inflatable and mostly unbreakable) inflate it in the living room. Fill with stuffed animals. Play.
- Setup a tent, backyard, kitchen, basement, it doesn’t matter.
- Go to a toy store. Say, yes.
- Pull out the bikes.
- Buy giant ball, go to biggest open grassy area you know.
- Buy stomp rockets, if you don’t have them. If you do, pull them out.
- Fly kites.
- Go to your local trampoline place. (Here in Denver area, try Jump City up in Westminster, or Big Air Trampolines out in Lakewood)
- Go to Chuck-e-Cheese. (Eat first, just play games. Kids hate having to stop to eat.)
- Sprinker? (If it’s warm enough. Probably not this year.)
- If you haven’t planted your garden, or flower bed, yet, pull out your sand toys and let your kids go nuts in the dirt.
- Download Scratch (kids based computer programming language from MIT), get them programming young. For boys AND girls.
- Legos. Pull out the old ones, build them, play with them. Then, on Friday, go buy new sets to compliment the old ones.
- Look at Pinterest for crafts to build (it sounds cheesy, but it totally works.) Here is my, unloved, needs me to put more time into it Pinterest for Dads / Parents).
- Ride the train. The light rail here in Denver still counts as a train raid for my young ones. Ride it downtown and then hop on the free 16th Street Mall bus. If your kids only ride in cars, this is fun, trust me.
- Go to one of the big hotels downtown, one with escalators and ball rooms. If nothing is going on, ride the escalators. Run around in the big hallways. Take the elevator to the highest floor and enjoy the view.
- Coloring books. You probably have a ton laying around. Pull them out. Pull out pages. Pull out crayons, buy a new box if your old ones are getting grungy.
- Read. Read to them. Have them read to you. Read the same book at the same time (be slow 🙂
- Computer games from their favorite TV shows. Then, educational computer games.
- Pull out the dollhouse or play kitchen or giant car ramps, or whatever they love but has been forgotten about in the corner.
- Bake cookies.
- Make jello. (Make green jello with pears in it.)
- Pull out all of your expired spices, bottles, and ingredients and let them make fake recipes in the kitchen.
- Hide and seek.
- Chase them. (Pretend to be funny zombie, or clumsy monster.)
- Make a tent out of blankets. Actually, use sheets, they are easier to keep up because they are lighter. Make it big. Then bigger. Add on rooms. Use all your sheets, and theirs.
- Take out their digital cameras, have a photo scavenger hunt. (Less messy than actually pulling out things.)
More too come, but my kids are ready to try some of the things on this list.