Spring Break is Right Around the Corner

With Spring Break nearing, families are clamoring for a literal break from the busyness of daily life while kids are in school.  Forget lavish plans for traveling, although that is fun too, but most families just want a pause from the never-ending rat’s wheel of catching the bus, trying to not catch school germs, and trying to catch your breath for a moment.  Homework and after-school activities that incinerate any free time your family has is just not going to happen in the week of Spring Break and that is a welcome change.  So just what do you have planned for Sping Break 2025?

Do Nothing

This might not be the choice of your children, who will want to fill their time with exciting adventures to have and to share on Instagram.  But letting everyone sleep in, making a late breakfast or early lunch, watching reruns of whatever interests you are a great nod to how most of us spent Spring Break in our youth.  Parents need to remember that it is okay and sometimes wonderful to feel boredom.  Of course, there will be resistance to kids who want entertainment but is that what they really need?  Or should we give their nervous systems and mental health a break from all of the status quos and expectations that kids are rammed with these days and just let them feel bored.  Give it some thought, it’s pocketbook friendly, also.

Get Campy

Every parent’s friend at some time or another is the guide of local camp options, because sometimes, structure during the off-school times is really what you are after.  Thankfully, kids in our area can do everything from touching and caring for sea critters at Mote Marine Day Camps (Sarasota) | Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium to learning to kayak and much more with All Around NBP Spring Break Camp<br>March 17th – 21st.  If you have a budding chef in your kitchen, consider Young Chefs Academy Kids Culinary Classes + Camps + Events | Young Chefs Academy.  Baking is the tasty theme for this Spring Break Camp.  Our area offers so many camps tailored to your little’s likes.  For a comprehensive list of Sarasota County school break camps, visit Events and Activities Guide | Sarasota County, FL. 

Become Sarasota Explorers

Day trips that require nothing more than jumping in the car with your crew, snacks, and water are a parent’s dream.  Our area is ripe with destinations that combine excitement, fun and engaging in our rich history.  An afternoon spent on Sarasota Bay at The Bay Park | Visit Sarasota County is inspiring for all ages.  Bring your bike, take a hike, have lunch, sit under the banyan trees, and discuss what life must have been under these same trees 100 years ago. 

Head on over to the Circus Museum Circus Museum – The Ringling and feel the magic and heritage Ringling bestowed on Sarasota so long ago.  Circus memorabilia galleries, digital masterpieces, miniature replicas, and interactive displays bring the legacy of Ringling, Barnum, and Bailey to life.

Spend a day at the Sarasota Celery Fields The Celery Fields and spread out, exploring wildlife, bird-watching, and recreational activities like hiking and fishing.  Bring a picnic and marvel over the fact that native settlements are believed to be on that same site.  Teach your kids how Mrs. Potter Palmer was instrumental in developing not only the Celery Fields, but many areas around Sarasota.  She was a female leader in a very male-dominated time and her imprint in Sarasota can be found throughout. 

Lastly, if you have not visited Welcome to Big Cat Habitat you must.  Perhaps you heard the roar of a tiger while at the nearby Celery Fields.  Whether it is the love or curiosity of wild animals or wanting to support such a great rescue organization as Big Cat Habitat, visiting is always fun and informative.  Over 350 animals spanning 60 species means your kids can view in real time animals they have never seen.  There is nothing quite as exciting to a child than feeling the presence of such a creature.  This intimate setting between guest and animal will make for thrills and chills on a warm Spring Break day. 

Photos courtesy of Big Cat Habitat and Young Chef’s Academy Facebook pages.