A Kiddo Staycation + a Playlist
Words by: Maggie Laubscher | Music by: Abby Yemm
It feels like a chill spring break season, doesn’t it? While some of us can travel, it’s still a lot of staying at home right now. Staying home can be restorative, but it can also get stale. We are trying to feel grateful and take it all in. And sometimes to do that, we need some fresh ideas. Especially if small children are at our feet as we type.
In case you are home with young ones this spring break, here are 10 of our favorite, go-to ideas on making the most of it. Bonus points if you whisper while doling out instructions - it’s just weird enough to make most kids giggle and then join in.
1) A Room-Wide Fort
Challenge your kids to make an entire room fort. Without you. You pick the room - ideally one with the fewest breakable items. And then let them gather all the non-bed linens in that room and go to town. It takes awhile, it’s collaborative, and it’s (mostly) independent. Bonus, at the end you can curl up in the fort with them to read books or nap.
2) KCK Taco Trail
We mentioned this one in last week’s newsletter. Beyond Kansas City being named the Taco Capital of the U.S., KCK has a Taco Trail app. It makes for an easy adventure and one involving food and culture. Done.
3) Tour the Darker Side of KC
A friend recently recommended this self-guided audio tour of KC. The driving tour dives into our city’s history of housing segregation. You drive around in your car while playing the voice tour, which winds you through the city in an approachable way. The tour starts in the Shawnee Mission East High School parking lot. It’s a sad and dark spot in the city’s history, but also one worth knowing about.
4) Trick Shots
Dude Perfect, the YouTube comedy group, has more trick shots than you can watch. Many are unreal amazing, but some are more doable. Our friend’s kids mastered one trick and then had their mom text it to some of their friends to try as a challenge. It was a hit and also addictive. Place a few kitchen pans upside down on the floor, with one final pot face up. Then try to bounce a ping pong ball into the final pot, with it hitting the other pans one after another. So hard and so fun.
5) Balloon Ping Pong
A classic ‘I’m bored’ solution right here. That works! And we love that it’s not loud. Blow up one balloon and hand each kid a paper plate. Then let them play ping pong or catch or ‘snow ball’ fight, etc.
6) Stuffed Animal Lineup
Whisper to the littles that their stuffed animals look bored. Then challenge them to find every stuffed animal in the house and line them up by order of size. In addition to an activity, it makes for a very cute photo at the end.
7) Trail Mix Extravaganza
Our sister turned us onto this one. It’s a make your own trail mix that benefits them and you. Pour random kitchen snacks and treats into bowls with spoons. Then give each kid a separate bowl. Then let them make their own trail mix. The combinations will possibly disgust you and for sure delight them. Also, if they make a good one, you now have a snack for yourself, so there you go.
8) Scavenger Hunt, Reversed
Have the kids plan a scavenger hunt for YOU. Tell them to hide five or more clues for you, with directions on each hidden paper as to how to find the next clue. Give them an example like, ‘Clue #1: You will find your next clue in the room where we make food. Check in the coldest spot.’ (Answer: Freezer.)
9) Movie Theme Month
Our latest artist profile gave us this lovely idea. KC writer and teacher Rebekah Taussig mentioned that her family does movie theme months. ‘We pick a movie a week to watch, all around the same theme. And then we make a snack that correlates with that movie,’ she says. ‘Let's see, one we watched was Clue. We made a snack with mustard sauce for Colonel Mustard. And we did cookies and milk for Mrs. White. Things like that. We don’t always pull it off, but we try. It’s something to look forward to.’
10) The Easiest Cookie Decorating
Dolce Bakery typically has sugar cookie decorating kits right at the cash register. They are cute, themed, and delicious.
A Fresh Abby Yemm playlist for you…
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