Ask An Expert: Spring Break Staycation Activities For Kids In Baltimore
Community College of Baltimore County Summer Learning Adventures Camp
800 South Rolling Rd.
Catonsville, MD 21228
(443) 840-4700
www.ccbcmd.edu
LaVerne "Cookie" Robertson coordinates health, fitness, wellness and CCBC Summer Learning Adventures Camp for the Community College of Baltimore County. She has over 25 years of experience working with youth ages 5 to 17, both in the community and in her career. At CCBC, LaVerne teaches ACDV 101 (Academic Development), youth cooking classes, jewelry making, sewing, paper art, organizational study skills and more. LaVerne continues to design youth classes, promote and train youth in leadership, conflict resolution and cultural diversity/art. She is the mother of an adult daughter and son. The Community College of Baltimore County's State Certified summer camp program focuses on the STEAM model (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) of classrooms.
"The more, the merrier," the old expression goes. Having a house full of children may seem like a handful, but children entertain one another, and there is nothing like having company to excite your kids and get them up and active. Try providing the kids with some pre-made activities. Give them a box of old clothes to play dress-up, and shoot a fashion show together on your camera, tablet or smartphone.
It's spring! Get everyone out and into nature. Pack a lunch, some snacks and water, photocopy or print a map of the trail, mark it up with colored markers/pencils, pens and glue sticks, and give everyone a blank journal purchased at the Dollar Store. Stop along the trail to journal your experiences. Your kids can draw pictures or add a leaf or flower they found on the trail. Take some pictures for later, and enjoy memories talking about things you found on your adventure.
Kids love to cook, so make some healthy pizza and pretzels from scratch with your youngsters, then afterwards let them eat their creations. Look up kid-friendly recipes online and make things like pretzels and pizza in different shapes, such as hearts, flowers and animals.
You can use cardboard egg cartons, a bag of organic soil, popsicle sticks, markers, different seeds and plants. Put the soil into the egg carton, poke holes in the dirt with the popsicle sticks, and push in the seed of your choice. Then insert the popsicle stick at the end of each row with a label indicating which plants are planted in that row. Put your indoor garden near a window for best growth. You can also visit a local farm or farmers market, purchase some of the vegetables you are planting, and make healthy snacks to give the kids a preview of what they will be harvesting. Talk to your kids about what makes their garden grow.
Technology and passive entertainment have become such an enormous part of children's lives that it's almost epidemic, but there is very little time available to do something truly active with the children. With the free time spring break provides, try some of these outdoor activities with the kids: roller skating, volleyball, kickball, obstacle courses in the park, baseball and bowling. Since spring in Baltimore is notoriously windy, make some kites together, then go to the park to fly them. Focus on getting the kids away from technology and getting everyone up and moving.
