Cure March Break Madness

With March Break just around the corner, your kids are counting down the days until they get a full week off from school. You’ll be watching the calendar, too — but for entirely different reasons. While some Canadian families use the break is an excuse to go on holiday, for families like yours, you’re left at home. Without a game plan, the week can quickly devolve into chaos. Keeping your kids happy and occupied becomes your top priority. You can’t just let them spend their days in front of the TV. If you’re struggling to think of activities and events to entertain your children, look no further. This guide has a list of simple and inexpensive ways to keep your kids off the couch this March Break.

Sign them up for music lessons

When you enrol your kids in music lessons you doing more for them than just finding a fun and educational way to spend the holiday. If they stick with it, it can become a lifelong hobby that improves their language, computation, problem solving, and socializing skills. Hold a family meeting and ask them what kind of instrument they want to learn. By giving them this bit of agency over their choice of instrument, you’re increasing the chance they’ll actually put in the time to practise. Most of the music stores in Canada that offer beginner music lessons will also provide instrument rentals in case you don’t want to invest right away.

Send them off to music camp

Depending on where you live, there are a variety of organizations that offer day- or week-long activities centred around music. The city’s library is a great resource when it comes to these events. Your local branch might run one of these programs themselves, and if not, they usually advertise community-based events near the circulation desk. Don’t forget to ask your librarian, too! They might just have something to share. The important part is to start early. These camps tend to fill up quickly.

Take a trip a local museum, art gallery, or historical site

Plan a day trip to one of the educational centres in your neck of the woods. The various science centres, galleries, and museums across the country will also have programs scheduled for kids of all ages during the March Break. Whether or not you take advantage of these activities, spending the day learning about the world is a great way to supplement the fact they’ll be off from school for the week.

Visit an indoor gym

It may have been a mild winter by our standards, but that doesn’t mean you want to spend March Break outdoors. Luckily you can get in some activity without braving the brisk late-winter/early spring wind. Indoor playgrounds are growing in popularity here in Canada, so you won’t have to look far and wide to find one in your neighbourhood. Many of them have drop-in hours, so you won’t have to make appointments. And as an added bonus, as your kids burn off some extra energy, they might just make a new friend.

March Break can be stressful if you don’t have a plan. Avoid a week of worry; get organized and figure out how your family wants to spend the break together. Whether it’s something from this list or not your future self will thank you.