Spring Break Survival Guide: How To Have Fun And Learn Too

Nine days. That's how many days my boys will be home from school next week for spring break. Yes, I counted. And, yes, I am worried.

I love spending time with my boys and I enjoy their vacations from school. But let's face it, if left to their own devices my boys would spend those nine days watching television and playing . I have no doubt that they will wake up at the crack of dawn, sneak past my room, tip-toe down the stairs and meet up with Super Mario before the sun, or their mother even rises.

It sounds ridiculous, but they have done it before so they will most likely do it again.

Instead of sitting around worrying about it, I have decided to be proactive and plan some fun and educational activities for that week. I'm not sure if we can do everything but we will have fun trying.

We are going to kick off their spring break with some scientific fun. Last year one of my favorite couponing websites, Groupon, offered a year-long family membership to the Franklin Institute for $50, which I, along with hundreds of others, snatched up quickly. The Franklin Institute is offering special spring break activities the entire week.

If your kids love science as much as mine do, then you will be thrilled to hear that there is a Science Carnival on Saturday, April 16, down on the Ben Franklin Parkway.  There will be over 80 exhibitors offering family fun experiments, games, food and entertainment.  My boys will be in heaven.  I will be a happy camper as well because the Philadelphia Book Festival is being held at the same time, only a few steps away on the Parkway. Happy boys equals happy mom. 

During the week, the is offering two spring break options, both of which still have openings. They both sound like so much fun that I haven't signed up for either one of them because it's such a hard decision.

First, there is a U.K. Elite Spring Recess Soccer Clinic on Monday and Tuesday, meeting from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at in Broomall. This would be an obvious choice for our family since both of my boys qualify to participate since the ages are from 5-12.

The second option is the Silver Knights Chess Camp. This camp runs Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Gauntlett Center. It's for children ages 6-14. Peter has been yearning to play chess for a while now, so this might be a perfect option for him.

On Wednesday afternoon the has scheduled a Lego Club meeting at 1:30 p.m. I have wanted to take the boys to this for a while now, but it never works with our schedule.

I spoke to some other local moms to get some fun and educational ideas for spring break. Almost everyone I spoke to said they were also heading to the Philadelphia Zoo. The zoo is having a special event that week to celebrate Earth Day called the Spring Fling: Party With Your Planet from Thursday, April 21^st – Saturday, April 23^rd. While others like local mom Gina Doney inspired me when she told me she plans to take her boys to Ocean City, NJ, for a day if the weather is nice enough.

Of course, not every minute of the day will be planned. I'm sure the boys will play their fair share of video games, ride their bikes, play with friends and, of course, have cotton candy at the Broomall Fire Company's Spring Carnival.