This year we don’t have the luxury of being able to take off of work to enjoy a whole week off with our tween son.  I have been trolling Pinterest for ideas on how to still make it a fun spring break for him, and they got even more ideas rolling around in my mind!  Here are a few of the things that I think I’ll try!

1. Pitch a Tent… Inside!

If you have the space to throw up a pop-up tent, then do!  It will add some much needed “What?! Are you serious! You’re the coolest!” flair to bedtimes that still respect your wake-up-and-go-to-work times.

2. Pick-a-Theme Day

EVERYTHING has to fit that theme – food, clothes, entertainment, creative activities…  I’m thinking that colors or adjectives will work best for the theme, although it could be character themed (Avengers) or product themed (Lego, Minecraft, etc).  If I do this, I’ll definitely post pictures!

3. Books

Pick books to read – alone and together.  When you get home from work, spend time reading a story out loud after dinner.  We found that The Secret Zoo series by Bryan Chick is a really fun super-engaging page-turner series that is fun to read aloud!  It’s also a good idea to spend a day at the library before spring break to get set up with your book selection.

4. Meal Plans

Set a pile of cookbooks in front of them, and have them pick the meal plans for the week (mostly because I hate planning meals, and then they can’t complain what you made for dinner).  Give them requirements to meet, like “Every meal has to come with a side of vegetables,” or “You are responsible for preparing two of these meals.”  Take them to the grocery store, and let them take the lead on grocery shopping.

5. Arrange a Play Day

Do you know another family that has a parent available to supervise for the day?  See if you could take your kids there.  Arrange to join them for dinner at the end of work (you can offer to bring pizza over with you) and enjoy time with friends yourself!

6. Movie Marathon

My son LOVES the Marvel movies! And Star Wars… And…  So many of these movie hits have sequels and triquels and…  So let them have a movie marathon day!  I would advise just one day, though so you child doesn’t turn into a screen zombie for spring break.  Maybe even put this at the end of spring break as a lure to doing other off-screen activities the rest of the week.

7. Pajama Day

We love PJ Day in our house, so let them spend a day in their pajamas (bonus if you go to Walmart and they have the guts to go with you in PJ’s).

8. Flip through History

Give them old photo albums to look through.  They can write down questions they have about the photos and bookmark the albums to ask when you get home from work.  This will lead to a lot of laughter and a fond trip down memory lane.

9. Chores that Pay More

Definitely give them some extra chores to earn some extra cash, and get some much needed things off your to-do list.  If you don’t want to pay them cash, give them credit toward a paid family activity when you do have a day off.

10. Invent a Game

Create your own game, complete with concept, game pieces/props, clear rules, and twists.  Have the make a shopping list for materials they need and let them use the whole week to create the game, culminating in a family game night at the end of spring break.

11. Make a YouTube Video

YouTube videos are soooooo popular for this age range, so let them make one of their own – even if they don’t have their own channel.  It’s more of the concept of YouTube that will be attractive to them.  Tip: Make them pitch a couple ideas to you first with story boards.  This will be a multiple day project!

12. Science Projects

Pull out their science experiment kits or other educational games that I know you have stashed somewhere (Snap Circuits, Physics Lab, etc).  It used to require a lot of supervision on your part, but at this age they are old enough to read and follow instructions pretty well!

13. Cull Your Bedroom

What do I mean by that?  Have them go through the bedroom and make piles: 1) Gift it, 2) Donate it, 3) Throw it out, 4) Keep it.  Once the first three piles are moved out of their room, they can reorganize their room with the stuff they want to keep.  Chances are they’ll find things they’d long forgotten and get distracted for a few more hours of their long day!

14. Make Homemade Dog Treats

Even if you have to give them to a neighbor’s dog because you don’t have a pet, this is a fun way to get them in the kitchen practicing measuring and baking skills without it being real cooking.  Let them be responsible for finding the recipe and adding ingredients to the shopping list.

15. Spray Paint Projects

Especially if it’s nice weather outside, let them go to down with a can of spray paint.  Pinterest is full of ideas for things like this! One that I found useful and fun was to spray paint stackable crates for more toy/stuff storage in the bedroom.

16. Organize Nerf Guns

I can’t wait to try this!  EVERY tween boy has Nerf guns (because their cool and fairly inexpensive).  Build an armory wall for Nerf guns out of peg board and hooks and save yourself precious floor space or shelf space!

More Ideas

Oh, and if you have tweens (or young teens), here is my Pinterest board for more ideas: BeTWEEN Us!