So, just around the corner is spring break. Considering that the economic times are not the best we have seen, a lot of families are seeking inexpensive ways to celebrate the week with each other and not having to break the bank. How about instead of a vacation, try a staycation! Families are in luck, because whether you live in Florida, like we do, or somewhere else there are plenty of fun things to do that will not require an expensive hotel stay or a long drive.

Whether your families interests are outdoors or indoors, by seeking out some local resources you are sure to find something that fits your likes and budget. Here are some great staycation ideas!

For the families who are searching for outdoor fun, start at your county, city, and state websites. These websites typically have a slew of information about local events, parks, and trails. Perhaps have a picnic at a local state park then enjoy a walk or hike through trails allowing your children to investigate the local wildlife. If your family enjoys biking, or kayaking, or boating, find a local state park that has trails or a local lake that will allow your boat. Most of the state parks have nominal or no fees to enjoy them and have great wildlife to enjoy. For those of you that enjoy camping and have tents or an R.V., consider camping at a local campground for a couple days. They are most likely inexpensive, and some may offer a discount for local people that are staying. Camping fees are out of budget, why not set up camp right in your own backyard? Younger kids typically find this a lot of fun, and it can be relaxing for mom and dad too. Stay up late and grill out, enjoy outdoor games such as flashlight tag or naming constellations.

Perhaps you live in a city that has many tourist attractions, as we do living in Florida, if this is the case, staycations are convenient because you can scope out local attractions that fit in the budget and visit a different one each day, or visit two or three. Perhaps allow each family member to pick one place so that everyone gets to enjoy something they are interested in. If you have many to choose from and are having trouble agreeing, write them down on individual pieces of paper and place in a hat. Allow for someone to pull out of the hat, and that will be the destination. Always call ahead as some of these places might give discounts to local residents.

Your staycation could also be focused on volunteering for others in the community. This is free and a valuable experience, especially if you have teenagers that can actually participate in the activities. Check your local phonebook or do a search on the internet to find local organizations that your family is interested in helping, then call and ask if they need volunteers for the days you are available. Your family could help a different charitable organization every day, and then have a special day to discuss with your children the importance of the week, and what they enjoyed the most. I believe you might be quite surprised by the answers you will hear. Some places that are great to try are not-for-profit animal shelters, food pantries, habitat for humanity, boys and girls clubs, litter clean-up in local parks, or operation shoebox.

Some indoor activities that can also be free or inexpensive are visiting your local library. Spend an afternoon getting reacquainted with your library and the various free activities that they have to offer for patrons of all ages. Take a tour of a local university; this is especially fun for older children who are going to be off to college in a couple of years. Speak to professors, tour the library, eat lunch in the cafeteria, and talk to college students. Visit local museums, go to the local roller-skating rink, or spend a day at the bowling alley. However, if you are set on having to stay at home, that can be lots of fun too. Perhaps dig out some old craft books and let your younger children’s imaginations run. Have a movie and pizza day. Let each member of your family choose their favorite movie and watch all of them in a row. Order in everyone’s favorite pizzas and just crash in the living room. Spend the next day cleaning up as a family and discussing all the movies that you watched, why your children liked or disliked certain ones, and what did they learn or enjoy the most about the movie day.

I hope this list of ideas allows your family to spend spring break having fun and getting to know each other a little bit better. Have a happy staycation! You may find it was the best vacation ever.

Submitted by Lea:

Spring is one of my son’s favorite times. After a long cold winter, we look forward to spring fun like our long morning walks (weather permitting, of course – those spring storms don’t always make it easy!), time at the playground, and fun in the backyard sandbox. Bath days are his favorite days in the spring, because those are the days that he gets to go outside and get as muddy as he wants without getting yelled at by Mom!

Last year was the first year that he was old enough to really enjoy the time outside. We purchased one of those bubble kits that can create the really big bubbles, and Dad and I drew out some gigantic ones that he could chase across the yard. We even figured out, thanks to the instructions, how to blow little bubbles inside the big bubbles with a little bubble wand and the large bubble circle. A word to anyone thinking about doing this: not all dogs are friendly to bubbles in their yard. You might want to test bubbles on your dog before launching into a full-fledged bubble blowing session. Our son was so disappointed on the first day when we had to pack up after just a few minutes because the dog went bonkers. Luckily, we found leaving her inside with a huge rawhide chew would distract her successfully for enough time to get a lot of bubbles blown!

We also did a lot of hiking last spring. At first, we took him along in the backpack carrier…there were a lot of questions coming from up above about the trees, birds, and other nature that he was seeing from that vantage point! It was a great opportunity to get him in touch with the great outdoors, and we learned a lot too. Any question that we didn’t know the answer to, we would research on the Internet when we returned home. We found an amazing site that would help identify a plant just based on the descriptive characteristics. We started taking home some of the leaves and flowers originally to help us look them up online, but we ended up saving them and making a scrapbook of them throughout the hiking season. It was a great way to look back on the summer months when winter hit.

This spring, we’re looking forward to expanding our outdoor experiences. We’ve already purchased a kiddie fishing pole, and we’re looking forward to test driving that… plus, our son finally has large enough hands for his own ball glove! Swing, batter, swing!