Relaxing and Eco-friendly Spring Activities
By: Guest Contributor, Kimberly Grimms
Books are out and vacation is here! With children free from school, you’re probably in the quest for brilliant ideas to turn them busy and productive while at home. Admit it, it’s quite a challenge keeping vigorous kids at bay. But to strike out their idle period does not require you to cash out on expensive, yet fun and worthwhile activities during springtime.
Actually, you might be surprised to find out that springtime activities to enjoy with your family abound with just a little play of creativity and resourcefulness. Below are suggestions on how you may transform an otherwise soon-to-be the same old, boring and wasteful vacation into one filled with relaxing and environment-friendly things to do, sure enough to enrich your young ones during school-break.
1. Heads Up For A Home Make-Over!
Why not engage the family to flex some muscles with redesigning your home or apartment? While a new facelift for the home is a bit of a physical activity, all family members getting involved in the planning, decision-making and movement of things is definite to clear-off everyone’s minds from previous routines at school or work. This could also be most beneficial when welcoming some life changes like shifting to customized double-deck beds instead of the previous king-size as the older kids prepare for college. Or maybe it’s high-time now to replace those cutie teddy bear cabinets with more preppy design furniture as your kids cross-over to teen years. With environmental preservation strongly called for nowadays, you may as well integrate eco-friendly decor ideas when deciding to buy new pieces for the home.
Get more hands from the kids for your home redesign.
Photo courtesy of Michelle Hicks via Pinterest
2. Do-It-Yourself Miniature Garden
A miniature garden in your home is always a relaxing sight to behold. Start by hinting your kids on how to create a fish bowl indoor mini-garden. Other creative ideas by your children may spring from there. You may also want to grow with the kids low-maintenance succulent plants to start them up into the activity. A range of gardening options for your kids will allow them to get a feel of their green thumb, and in the end, to discover themselves more.
Possible gardening at your condo balcony or patio.
Photo courtesy of Camille McKen via Pinterest
3. Kiddie Sales Blitz
You may descend from an entrepreneurial lineage so why not hand this down to the kids? Woman’s Day suggests organizing a garage sale as another fun and eco-friendly activity during vacation. This ultimately de-clutters your home from old belongings to other bric-a-brac. By doing so, you’ve taken the first step already to 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. What’s more, kids can maximize their sales blitz with lemonade, pastries or candies booth right at the garage.
You could hold it in the community hall during one weekend and invite friends and neighbors to buy. Motivate your kids to assist in putting up the mini-neighborhood sale by directing the funds earned from their own stuff to create their own savings account. The kids may even find themselves enjoying later as they race up for a bonus award to the best sales achiever.
Teach kids the value of working for their own keep the fun way.
Photo courtesy of Sarah (W.D. Wolf) via Pinterest
4. Popcorn Movie Marathon Challenge
If your family is the movie bunch type, you would all agree easily in setting up a date for a movie marathon challenge and then awarding the winner with the most generous popcorn serving ever! This simple family get-together is a definite formula to unwind as you laugh, cry, sing or scare yourselves through the movie. Moreover, it cleverly saves on electricity as you all huddle up in front of one monitor instead of watching separately from different parts of the home.
Get together for a popcorn movie date night.
Photo courtesy of Randall Wood via Pinterest
5. No-Bake Kitchen Face-Off
One sure and easy way to win kids’ hearts is through sweet goodies. And what could be more fun than having them join you concoct no-bake desserts which beyond doubt they will enjoy eating afterwards. Cooking Light unlids sumptuous recipes for no-bake desserts from mouth-watering tropical sherbet to creamy peanut butter pie, etc. Not only is it easy-to-do, but no-bake cooking can be healthy and power saving, too, as no oven is required.
Cook up your way to kids’ hearts.
Photo courtesy of ADDitude Magazine via Pinterest
6. Art In A Bottle
There are very good reasons why you should keep those jars. On one afternoon session for arts and crafts, let your children think and experiment with what could be made out of old bottles. Start with candle holder, candy jar, potpourri holder, coin bank, pen canister, and so on. You would be surprised later that the list you’ve drawn up with them didn’t turn out short!
Tons of creative ideas on bottle art for kids.
Photo courtesy of Ashley Joye via Pinterest
7. Decoupage With Paper
Decoupage can be a fun and easy craft for your children to learn and do. It involves making tiny paper cut-outs, which can be recycled from back magazine issues, pasting them together to form beautiful pictures, and finishing off with varnish for added appeal and texture. Since it can be applied to anything, decoupage can be a decorating tool which promises limitless possibilities.
Decoupage is a fun and easy craft kids can learn and do.
Photo courtesy of Ellen Cooker via Pinterest
8. BBQ Cook-outs With Al Fresco Dining
Take much stock of the fine weather during school breaks to minimize on power consumption inside the home. Bar-B-Q cook-outs can be an enjoyable way to perk up your mealtime or spring parties at the patio or covered gazebo for a relaxing outdoor ambiance.
Fine weather is much too inviting for family meals outside.
Photo courtesy of Jean Luc Lutringer via Pinterest
9. Poetry Reading At The Park
If the Dead Poets Society held their poem sessions at hidden venues in the movie, dare to do differently! Come out to the open for poetry reading or story telling with the kids at the park. You can’t underestimate the difference made by simply lounging under the trees or sitting at the benches in installing a favorable setting for a poem. Aside from breathing the cool natural air outside, who knows, you may even bring out a writer or actor from your kids someday.
Conducive surroundings at the park creates the perfect setting for a poem.
Photo courtesy of Janet Mills via Pinterest
10. Bike or Hike Your Way To Tour
Have you ever thought of biking your way around in a tour? When a tour itinerary involves closely-woven sites, biking can be an attractive and feasible alternative transport mode. Much more if you have excess energy, you could even opt to go walking in your comfy footwear to visit tourist spots within near range. It’s healthy and what’s best, it’s fuel- and pollution-free.
Bike your way to tour with the family.
Photo courtesy of Cc C via Pinterest
11. Outdoor Sports Hour
If you happen to be a sports buff, you may be keen on allotting a regular time for outdoor sports among you and the kids. There can be several prospects – water fun, board games, team sports, etc. Outdoor sports assist greatly in conserving power and also lends a hand to proper health and value formation. Apartment Therapy lists brilliant ways to enjoy water sports with the kiddie plastic pool.
Outdoor play for kids can be real fun without being expensive.
Photo courtesy of Maghann Bass via Pinterest
12. Fly A Kite
Flying a kite seems to have been buried as an old-fashioned play in face of digital games from modern gadgets. But flying a kite creates a different bonding experience as you and your kids struggle together to keep the kite up in the air. Creating the kite is another thing as it summons a collective creative effort from your family.
Teach and join the kids to fly kite.
Photo courtesy of Veronica Savala via Pinterest
13. Fun Run Together For A Cause
Another way to bond with the family and at the same time contribute to a notable cause is by joining fun runs. These are common, especially during vacation time. Your family will end up not only getting more fit, but also more socially aware of various environmental concerns like river clean-ups, smart use of plastics, tree-planting, and similar advocacies.
Family fun runs can be eco-friendly, too.
Photo courtesy of Maria Barber-Katz via Pinterest
14. Wanted: Tender Loving Care (TLC)
Instead of going to far-off animal-theme parks or zoos, why not try extending more TLC towards the pets if you have at home? If not, try buying for a different experience a new indoor, low maintenance pet like a rabbit, small-breed dog, cat, or bird. Bird chatting or teaching the dog some new tricks together with the kids can turn out to be a hilarious bonding even just outside with natural light and ventilation.
Inspire kids to extend some TLC to pets at home.
Photo courtesy of Otaku via Pinterest
15. Ra,Ra,Ra! Ala Mardi-Gras
Numerous local parades and fairs are put up during school breaks along with the fine weather. Join in the excitement and revelry of local community celebrations like fiestas, trade festivals, and carnival fairs with your kids while you all get to appreciate more local culture and history.
Let kids cheer with the crowd from ladder seats during parades.
Photo courtesy of Gabby B via Pinterest
There may still be lots of activities you could think of for the kids’ school-break. Whatever your options may be, it’s important to keep learning and fun present in any bonding experience. But regardless of place, time, and resources, essential family bonding is achieved when everyone comes to spend time together.
Kimberly Grimms is a futurist who spends most of her time monitoring social behavior in search for new consumer trends. Connect with her on Twitter @kimberlygrimms
by Editor