Photo Courtesy of Wix

If a vacation isn’t on your itinerary for the kids’ spring break, seven days to fill with fun can feel like a lot. But have no fear, we’ve got you covered with seven easy activities to make their spring break special while keeping you sane.

1. Put together a picnic

It’s surprisingly easy to make a day out of a simple picnic. Set up a sandwich station with a few meats, cheeses, and veggies, letting them assemble their own perfect snack. Add some juice boxes, crackers and cheese, veggie sticks and dip, strawberries and whipped cream – whatever you like! Now just pack up a few favorite toys, lay down a blanket and you’re all set for the next few hours. Not quite spring weather where you are? Set up shop in the living room just the same.

2. Explore your local library

Get the kids excited with a trip to the library. You can even throw together a reading challenge for the week, earning them a prize if they check off every book on the list. Try Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert or When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes to get them in the spring spirit.

3. Make movie night magical

Turn family movie night into something magical. You might pick out a few of their favorite Disney movies and create mini menus to go along with them. For example, you might pair The Little Mermaid with fish sticks, seashell shaped pasta, goldfish for a snack and cupcakes with blue icing for dessert. Write your movies and their mini menus down on sheets of paper, fold them up and let the kids pull one from the stack in the morning. Now you have a full day of getting them involved with grabbing ingredients, assembling dinner and settling in for your at-home movie night.

4. Check out a new park

Whether it’s warm or not, getting outside is always a great idea, especially during spring break. Try to find a new park they’ve never been to, making the adventure feel like a mini-vacation. Bring along a frisbee or soccer ball and they’ll stay entertained for hours. This could also be the perfect chance for that picnic!

5. Make spring greeting cards for the neighborhood

Depending on where you’re located, flowers may already be blooming. Make someone’s day while keeping the kids occupied with simple greeting cards. Fold a piece of construction paper in half and let them go to town with markers or crayons, drawing any flowers they can. Finish off the card with a simple “We like your garden!” or “Wishing you a happy spring!” Afterwards, you can go for a neighborhood stroll to leave the kind messages on nearby stoops.

6. Create beautiful cherry blossoms with soda bottles

This easy craft not only entertains the kids for a while, but leaves you with a piece of artwork that’s actually frameable. All you’ll need is large white construction paper, pink paint, black paint and a few empty liter soda bottles. Start by painting a simple tree trunk with empty branches using your black paint. Next, pour some pink paint onto a paper plate. Dip the bottom of the soda bottles into the paint and let your little ones stamp their flowers all over the branches. Just like that, you have a beautiful cherry blossom print.

7. Put together tissue paper cherry trees

If paint sounds like a disaster waiting to happen with your bundles of joy, try this alternative craft instead. You’ll need blue, brown and green construction paper, liquid glue and a few sheets of pink and white tissue paper. Have the kids rip the brown and green sheets into strips. Then, using a sheet of blue construction paper as your background, glue one long strip of brown paper down as your trunk. Add smaller strips as branches, then one long green strip on the bottom for grass. After letting them tear and crumple pieces of the tissue paper, glue them onto your branches. There you go – a beautiful cherry tree in just a few minutes.

Traveling somewhere new isn’t what matters most during your kids’ spring break. Even an otherwise ordinary day at home can be made magical in just a few minutes. Give them a special spring break without wearing yourself out by trying one of these easy activities.

Rachel Rebecca Smith is a graduate student at James Madison University. After earning a BA in Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication at JMU, she decided to return to the program for her Master’s. She will graduate with her MA in WRTC this May.