5 Ways to Spend Spring Break at Home

It’s almost here. You can feel it with the slightly longer days and the way the light is starting to peek through the windows earlier and earlier. Spring! Officially only weeks away, we are excited for warmer weather and – you guessed it – spring break!

Last week we tackled Tessera’s way of unplugging while you travel, but what about those of us that are planning a spring break at home with the kids? We have you covered, too! We have five fun ideas for making your spring break staycation one to remember.

Plan a Scavenger Hunt

A great way to spend the afternoon, a scavenger hunt can be created with as much or as little effort as you want to keep the kids occupied. Pick a list of items to find around the house a-la “I Spy” and print them out for the kids to find, or create a list of hidden clues that lead to a prize! If you have little ones on your hands, you can easily adjust this to be a game of color coordination – draw color splotches on a piece of paper, and have your kids find an item that matches that color. Finish the game with Show and Tell and see what creative things your kids have matched to the colors on their papers!

Throw a Pajama Party

Whether you’re parenting teens or your littlest is still in diapers, pajama parties are fun for the whole family. After a fun meal (breakfast for dinner, anyone?!), put on your pajamas, pick out a movie (maybe the winner of the scavenger hunt gets to choose!), pop some corn, and lay out a bunch of your coziest blankets and pillows on the floor. Bonus points if you create a fort! It’s a great way to spend the evening as a family, and a fun way to kick off the first (or last) night of your spring break. Warning: may result in sleepy children!

Host a Tea Party

Another great activity for the whole family, this is actually something I did over the summer as an anniversary surprise for my husband! We went to afternoon tea several times on our honeymoon in Ireland, and I was able to recreate the experience by brewing some Irish black tea, making scones with a recipe I found on Pinterest, and putting together a cheese plate. I set up a picnic outside with some Irish music playing in the background, it was *almost* as if we were back across the pond.

You can make it a fun activity for the kids by having them help you bake the cookies or scones, setting the table, or by having them pick the playlist. Make it a longer event by picking out your teas at a local tea shop ahead of time! Depending on the store, you may be able to do a taste test with the teas, or you can have your kids pick out their favorite smelling teas.

Plant an Indoor Garden

If you’ve been longing to get outside, but the weather just isn’t on the same page, bring the outdoors in with new plants! Venture out to Home Depot, or your favorite local plant shop and have the kids pick out some of their favorites. If you’re an amateur plant mom like me, start with something easy to keep alive. Good Housekeeping has a great list of plants here.

Make sure to grab some potting soil, pots for the plants, and gardening gloves if you don’t have any. Once you’re home, set up at the kitchen table or on the floor and get to work! Your kids can help put the dirt in the pots and water the plants once they’re good to go.

If you have toddlers that aren’t quite big enough to help with the planting portion, you can set up a paint station for them to paint the pots. You can also turn the whole experience into a science activity – use a magnifying glass or a clear glass with water in it (with your help) to have your little ones examine the leaves.

Later, they can help you figure out where to place the plants. If you have curious toddlers or animals on your hands, make sure to either hang the plants, or place them in a high enough spot that they can’t reach. This is coming from a mom who once walked in on her one year old scooping out handfuls of dirt onto the carpet. Oops.

FaceTime Date with Grandma and Grandpa

If you’re not able to see the grandparents this spring break, make their day by setting a FaceTime date with the kids! Our I Love You Grandma or I Love You Grandpa Journals make for a super sweet activity that can be done together with Grandma or Grandpa’s help. These Journals are the perfect way for your kids to practice their writing skills, and learn more about their grandparents. If your writers are toddler aged, you can help them by filling out the prompts while Grandma or Grandpa talks. There’s space in our Kids Journals for drawing, adding pictures, and stickers so your little one can truly make it their own!

Other great Tessera Journals for a Spring Break project? I Love My Dog and I Love My Cat! This activity would be a great reason to break out your Polaroid camera, or snap some iPhone pics of your child and their favorite furry friend. They can use the pictures to help fill their Journals, and create a keepsake you’ll love to revisit years from now.

No matter how you choose to spend your spring break this year, we hope it is one for the (Memory) books! We’d love to hear your plans in the comments below, or you can tag us @TesseraMemoryBooks on Instagram or Facebook for a chance to be featured!