31 Mar
Ten Ways To Create Springtime Memories With Your Family
Springtime is a wonderful time to plan family outdoor activities with children and grandchildren. It’s also a perfect opportunity to begin creating memories, starting a new tradition, and to just get out of the house in the sunshine and leave those gray winter days behind!
Here are ten ways to create springtime memories with your family:
- Road Trip Back to Childhood
You may have certain locations that hold special and personal meaning, such as where you got engaged, your first job, the first house you lived in, or your elementary school. Choose one or two local places from your history and visit them with the family to share unique stories from this place in your life. - Get Out and Garden
Whether it’s your garden or someone else’s, take the kids outside and get planting. Gardening is a fun way to teach kids about science, but it also shows them the wonder of making something grow. It’s fun to dig along with the kids, plant seeds and use a watering can. - Your Local Zoo
Take the kids or grandkids to the local zoo where they can see and pet animals. Look for zoos that have animals in a natural habitat so kids can understand how they live in the wild. Be sure to check out the special, daily educational programs that might be offered. - Tour an Outdoor Museum
Find out what outdoor museums are in your local area. There might be living history museums where you can participate in activities of days gone by or museums that offer gardens to stroll through. With some of these, you’re even allowed to picnic, so consider packing a lunch and head on out. - GeoCaching
Geocaching is a fun scavenger hunt where you use a GPS-enabled device, like your phone, to navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. You never know what might be stored inside! Leave the treasure there or add your own to it. There are millions of geocaches around the world and likely many hidden ones around you just waiting to be found. - Head to a Farm
May and June are perfect times to pick strawberries and raspberries. Check out your local farms where you can pick-your-own fruit. It’s fun for kids to see where fruit comes from, not just from the grocery store. - Nature Walk
Bring the family to a nearby park and check out the spring sights and sounds of nature! Find a natural area near your home that offers woodland paths and takes the kids on a nature walk. Even better, give the kids each a disposable camera and inspire them to be nature photographers. Make it a scavenger hunt and give them a checklist of how many things in nature they can find and photograph. Besides being fun, it’s also a great way to get kids interested in learning about the natural world around them. - Ride Bicycles
Take a local bicycle adventure together to somewhere you’ve never been. Research the bike paths in your area and pack snacks or lunch and make a picnic out of it, or plan to get ice cream afterward. This offers the bonus of getting in some exercise too! - Plan a Day Camping Trip
If an overnight trip sounds like too much planning and production, take the kids or grandkids on a day camping trip. Check out the campgrounds within an hour’s drive and set up a tent. Pack a cooler of food, drinks, and games and see what fun you can create. This could even become an annual tradition. - Lunch Date
Plan a lunch date at a restaurant that offers outdoor dining with a view. Be sure to make reservations ahead of time requesting outdoor seating if you can. This is a great opportunity to spend some one-on-one time catching up on the activities and events in your family’s life. And don’t forget dessert! Sweet memories can be made over a dish of ice cream or a slice of pie. An after-lunch walk can energize you after eating and provide more time to connect.
Creating memories with family members not only strengthens our bond to those we love but provides hours of fun that we’ll remember forever. Springtime is the perfect time to start a regular tradition of planning family time together.
