To have a fun March break with your kids, include them in the planning. Send your older daughter to the library or your son to the Internet to find out what’s on in your community.
While it’s important to put some structure into the week’s activities, it’s not a good idea to “hyper plan,” says Alyson Schafer, a Toronto-area parenting expert and author, most recently of Ain’t Misbehavin: Tactics for Tantrums, Meltdowns, Bedtime Blues and Other Perfectly Normal Kid Behaviours.
“What a lot of families miss most is unstructured all together time, so that might be playing a board game or cleaning the garage.”
She stresses that kids prefer a family swim instead of being dropped off at a swim camp, even if you’re watching from the sidelines. “Kids really just want to be with mom and dad when mom and dad aren’t in a bad mood,” says Shafer.
Patience is the name of the game during this frenzied week. So prepare to stand in long lineups at places like the museum, and to cover only a third of the exhibits in twice as much time as any other week
“Maybe that’s the only thing you do that day, and the next day is a ‘stay at home’ day,” says Shafer.
Organizing activities for families with kids of different ages — say a two-year-old and a ten-year old — takes some creative planning.
Shafer suggests the family head for a destination (a local ski slope, for example) where one parent takes the older child (down a bunny hill) while the other entertains the younger one (in the chalet). “So even though they did different things while they were there, there’s still a common memory.”
