Day One of spring break and the living is easy.
Day Two of spring break and the excitement of being out of school is still fresh.
Day Three of spring break and the Easter sugar high is waning.
Day Seven of spring break and mommy is ready to carpool… solo.
Where are you on the spring break scale?
My daughter’s Catholic elementary school breaks for nearly two weeks around the Easter holiday. This is great if you are traveling to Hawaii; not so much if you are stuck home for the entire school recess.
If you are looking to preserve your sanity as you hit days seven, eight or nine of your child’s spring break, look to Mother Nature for some parental guidance.
With spring in the air the days are warmer and longer, which means you can send your child outside to burn off steam. What’s more, you and she can also make the most of spring break in the great outdoors by participating in a number of nature-based activities. For example, all kids relish the opportunity to get down and dirty sometimes, so why not give your kiddo a spot in the yard to plant a garden.
Very young children will be satisfied will a small patch of dirt which they can weed and water. Meanwhile, you can enhance the activity for older kids by allowing them to select a few flowers to plant, and teaching them the finer points of pruning, fertilizing and harvesting.
When my daughter was in preschool we planted a simple pizza garden. To this day I consider it to be one of our most memorable mother-daughter experiences. The garden is started by finding a flat area in your yard and inserting a stake in the ground. Next, attach a piece of string to the stake and walk around in a circle, while marking the ground to create a border. Depending on how large you want your garden, you can divide the circle into several equal-sized wedges. Generally, you want to plant at least three vegetables and three herbs to feature on your pizza; however, depending on the age of your child and his interest level and how much room you have, you can modify the amounts accordingly.
Our first pizza garden consisted of oregano, parsley, basil, onions, peppers and tomatoes. Feel free to flex your creative muscle when selecting different herbs and vegetables. For instance, you can plant up to 30 onion sets in your garden and use the leftovers for salads and pasta. Likewise, you don’t need to stick with basic green peppers. You could experiment with sweet bell peppers, or if you like your pizza hot and spicy you could plant a variety of hot peppers. The goal is to keep your kids busy in the great outdoors, and if you are lucky, they’ll learn a thing or two in the process.