March break

Ok so im sure you all know march break is just around the corner and i will be fuller then usually as im sure we all will be........i was thinking of doing something different everyday.....re pj day, bring your favourite book to read ect need some great ideas to keep these kids happy......ages range from 4.5 to 9 years old.

thanks

What? I had conditioned myself to forget about March Break. Criminy, it's next weekend! My teenage sons are going to be home for a week after next weekend? Ugh...goodbye sanity, it's been swell.

I'm getting a glass of wine.

For your kiddies, murals are fun - giant paper on the wall, read or make up a story and they can use it as inspiration for the mural. We made pajama tops a couple times with old t=shirts from home and fabric paints. Tie dye is pretty awesome, then do a group picture. Baking never fails...never! Funny Face Sandwiches = bread spread with cheese or pb (if allowed in your place) and have different toppings out to make faces with - sprouts, shredded carrots, pepper slices, olives - you get the idea. Make believe beach day. You could set up a pretend circus with stuffed animals, etc and have ready as a surprise first thing in the morning. And I know it's against the rules, but a good old fashioned movie event is always wonderful. Pick a fabulous movie they'll love, make a giant bowl of popcorn and all cozy up for 90 minutes of quality time :)

LOL.....We will get through it (I Think)

Thanks for the great ideas love the mural idea.....baking is a must here we do it all the time...WHAT movies are against the rules I thought pa days and march break were definite exceptions lol TIE DIE defiantly doing this, BEACH day sounds super awesome......

IM gonna need time off after that week phewww!!!

Movies are usually out for us too, but once in a while we indulge. I did it recently with my group of 12-19 mos kids. I hadn't thought the popcorn out well. I spent the entire time frantically biting the hard bits off popcorn to leave fluffy bits for the kids. I missed the entire movie trying to keep up with the little oinkers and can't eat buttered popcorn to this day.

The tie die is great! Make one for yourself too, then have a group shot done when they've all been rinsed and dried. Looks tres professional! Fabric paint is one I've used many times, but more as Christmas gifts for the parents - big t-shirt, cover kids' hands with fabric paint, then do print on the shirt. I would outline the hand prints so they show up better. Do foot prints for wee babies. Then write whatever you want on the shirt. It's funny 'cause they have to wear them :)

I have been in denial about March break too LOL. I don't have school aged kids in care, but my own 4.5 year old will be home. I am hoping that the weather will be mild so we can get outside a lot. We may do a movie/pj day on the last day...by then we are all worn out from the week! We will definitely be repeating the Magic Milk experiment posted on this forum recently, but this time we will use the coloured milk to paint with afterwards. We will likely do baking one day as well. Haven't yet planned the other days, but I am thinking of having the kids help me make coloured ice blocks in various containers and then the next day taking them outside to play with in the snow. We may even freeze some little surprise objects inside the blocks and I will let the kids try to get them out (outside of course) by using salt to melt the ice etc....kind of like an archeological dig. Pinterest will take care of the rest I think!

Oh, another fun thing would be to have a camping day where you set up a tent inside and serve hot dogs and marshmallows...maybe smores. You could even have the kids help to make a pretend campfire out of cardboard (flames, logs).

My favourite theme for march break was always space. It appealed to the little kids with the stars and the big kids got into the aliens aspect of it. They can make rockets from boxes and space stations - which was only a dream of scientists back when my kids were on March break - or satelittes from assorted junk - can keep older kids happy for a few naptimes then hang in space from the ceiling.

March is a month of weired weather so our theme usually was weather since over the month you get everything from rain, hail, sleet, snow, wind, fog, etc. Rainbows are part of weather which leads into the leprechauns and their secret world at the end of the rainbow and then the sky where weather comes from leads into March break and a space theme.