You don't have to go away for Spring Break to plan a fun vacation for your kids. Sometimes, staying at home can turn out to be the neatest vacation of all! Here's how:
Two weeks before the first day of Spring Break, call a family meeting. Announce that you're going to be going on a family vacation in your city, and it's up to each member of the family to help plan the activities. Give each family member a piece of paper and pen (assuming they can write), and ask them to think of one activity they'd really like to do. Remember, you're looking for an activity here, not necessarily a destination. Then, ask them to write down one or two foods (or meals) that they'd really like to have. Using this list and these meals, design a week-long (or even weekend-long) program for your family's vacation.
For example, if Timmy picked animals - on Day One you might go to the zoo (or a local farm, park with lots of animals, or, if desperate, visit a friend with a dog). On that day, you might have tacos for dinner, which is Sally's favorite treat. Karen loves seashells, so on Day Two you could order a few shells from a shelling catalogue, look through some shell books, and visit a local science museum. Dad could insist on his favorite meal of hamburgers, french fries and corn. And so on, and so on .... etc. One family who implements this regularly told us their kids really look forward to these "hometown" vacations, and they often cap them off with a night's stay at their local Embassy Suites for that "we got away" feeling.
