5 Spring Break Activities for a Fit Family

The weather is warming up, flowers are blooming, and spring break is here for the Powell Pack. I love this time of year in AZ?the sun is always shining, and the temps haven’t yet reached the point of inhumane heat that keeps us crowded around the fans for comfort. But let’s be honest…having all 4 kiddos home for a FULL week is no easy chore!! With ages ranging from 2 to 11, and interests varying from electronics to fashion to sports, and attitudes that are?totally unpredictable, we might all need a break following spring break (per usual!).

So this spring break, I’m bound and determined to take full advantage of the sunny skies and nice weather in an effort to bond our family and save us from going crazy. 🙂 With all four of my littles home at once, and a full laundry list of…well, laundry and a few other things, it can be so tempting to just plop them in front of the TV or shell out an iPad time to keep them quiet. But with a little extra planning, we are on a quest to make spring break exciting, fun, outdoorsy,?and enjoyable for the whole fam. Here’s what we’ll be doing on?our week off…feel free to steal ideas:

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1. Picnic at the park: Our kids think it is quite the treat to go out to eat…and no joke, pretty much ask to go out every day. I think they think I’ve gotta say “Yes!” one of these days!! But honestly,?I’m not a huge fan of filling them up with sodium-laced and preservative-packed foods with ingredients I can’t pronounce! In addition, restaurant dining with our big brood can get extremely pricey. So to save some bucks (and the preservatives), we’ll be hitting up a local?park (or maybe just our backyard) for a picnic full of healthy, easy, and homemade snacks. Outdoor play + healthy eats makes for one perfect Powell Pack afternoon.

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2. Dance in the rain (errrr sprinklers): One of my favorite things to do as a kid was turn the sprinklers on full blast and run like a wild child through them! In fact, I don’t know a kid who doesn’t like to do this. Something about sprinklers or outside water games seems to beat the heat even better than a pool. AND…most importantly, for paranoid moms and dads like me, there is much less chance of a scary pool-related accident.?Yes…it’s?fun to take a dip in the pool, but “dancing in the (manmade) rain” is far more convenient if you don’t have a pool nearby and keeps all of the kiddos as active as can be.

PS: invest in a Slip ‘n Slide if you don’t have one already. The best thing ever. My kids could play on this thing all day long.

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3. Get your nails dirty: If you’re planning on planting a garden, now is the perfect time of year to do so. If you don’t have a a backyard to plant fresh flowers and veggies in, don’t worry about it! There are a surprising amount of vegetables that thrive indoors. Just grab a pot from a local dollar store, a little bit of soil, and some seeds, and you’re good to go. It may not provide immediate satisfaction, but your kiddos are sure to love seeing the fruits (or veggies!) of their labor. For a few tips on growing plants indoors + a list of plants than can be grown inside, head here.

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NOTE: I definitely have anything but a green thumb. In fact, it’s probably considered brown! But this doesn’t stop me from trying. For us, it’s more about the time spent together than anything.

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And yes…you are seeing this right. I bought PLANT FOOD instead of soil. Typical Heidi move right there (and partially why I have such a brown thumb). So instead of scratching the activity, I simply borrowed from my other pots!

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Dear Powell Gardener…please don’t kill me!!!

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4. Take a hike: With so many amazing mountains practically in our backyard (yes, AZ does?have amazing scenery), it’s no wonder our family LOVES to hike. You can definitely find us on at least one of the nearby mountains this spring break…backpacks and HydroFlasks in tow.

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We’re lucky to be so close to several amazing hiking spots, but if you’re not sure where a good destination is for you, you can find a trail near you here!

5. Water balloon fight: Super cheap + super fun + super active = WIN. This activity provides plenty of exercise in the BEST form?the kind your kiddos won’t even realize they’re getting!! I will admit, I used to limit how often water fights happened at our house because I absolutely loathe tying those pesky things, but I found this incredibly handy little tool to make filling and tying 100 water balloons at a time SO quick and easy. I am not kidding you…this is the?best invention ever. I will NEVER ever ever fill and tie a water balloon the old fashioned way. Try…you will die. Snag a Bunch o Balloons water balloon filler here!

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WARNING: Water balloon fights can easily become actual?fights between parents when one of them tags the other in the kidney with a balloon traveling at lightening speed. Eh hem…Chris. I accept Starbucks for apologies.

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I know what the Powell Pack will be doing this Spring Break, what does your family have planned? Tell me below!!!

Xoxo,

Heidi

Related reading:

Exercise…It’s a Family Affair!
Powell Pack Workout | Deck of Cards
National Take a Hike Day!
Helping Kids Get?and Stay?Active
The Powell Pack’s Cure for Couch Potato Syndrome!

12 Responses

  1. We have made a huge effort as a family to spend more time outdoors. I’ve always been active, but sometimes getting the kids on board is tough! We found that hiking/nature walks are a huge hit with the kids!

  2. I love these ideas, I do a lot of hiking and sometimes picnics and gardening, but usually by myself. I’ll have to try harder to invest my family and friends in a healthier, outdoorsy and fun lifestyle! #orbitbabygiveaway

  3. Love all these ideas! We also love hiking so much as a family. My son who is 6.5 begs us to go hiking every weekend and once new baby comes it will be much easier to answer the call! Mommy has been a little too waddly these days ?

    #orbitbabygiveaway

  4. I love these ideas!! Thanks with busy lives we forget the simple things like a picnic or hike!! Love it!

  5. As a teacher, and with the entire family on break- I requested a 2, 2, 1 week — 2 days everyone helps clean house & garage, 2 days personal choice,& 1 full family day – we were gifted 2 tickets to SF Academy of Science so we only have to pay for 2 more. Our family ranges in age from 13 (my daughter), 42 (her dad), 46 (my sister) to 51 (me). Since this is our first year without both of my parents, we are learning to be a family all over again. Battling grief and learning new family res means making time for balance and togetherness – we’ll do a picnic with lots of healthy snacks and probably end the night with dinner at Taco Bell on the beach in Pacifica.

  6. Hi Heidi,
    Great ideas. I was just wondering what sort of things you put in your kids lunches.
    Thanks
    🙂

  7. We love the Pogo Pass! It’s an affordable way to have things to do all year, so it comes in super handy when things like Spring Break roll around! You can go rock climbing, bowling, Enchanted Park, Castles n Coasters, Diamondbacks games, Phoenix zoo, skating plus lots more! All for free with your pass. It’s a great way to stay active and off the electronic devices! Plus you can get 60% off with promo code FRIENDSOFPOGO https://www.pogopass.com/?tracking=5388eaefe0a55&subid=springbreak

  8. What carrier do you use for your toddler? Id love to do hikes but my baby is not old enough to do it on her own just yet.

  9. Love all the ideas – with 3 kids ages 6, 11 and 14 (youngest being a girl) I have to get creative with our activities as we are cutting Tv and gaming time way down…. I live in Victoria BC where the weather can sometimes be .. well….. rainy!! So we do a lot of swimming at our variety of pools (we have about 6 choices) and my kids can do that for hours, we do indoor skating still….. when its nice we walk around a lake (10km loop) and a lot of bike riding. We try to stay outdoors as much as possible, but when its not so nice out, we definitely find fun things for indoors…. even bowling (which is a treat for our family)
    Trying to plan to take our own food now to cut costs and lessen the junk they eat. And they are loving it…
    p.s good luck with your plants, my 6 yr old and I just did ours…..

  10. 1. My kids and I make a backyard obstacle course, and take turns beating our own times!

    2. I look for a premade nature scavenger hunt online and we pair off in older/younger pairs to find the items

    3. Geocaching is a blast too

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