The teen years are racing by so I know as parents we want to help our teens make the most of their spring breaks. Here is a list of brilliant spring break ideas to choose from to make spring break fun but also productive and inspiring. A little bit of planning during spring break can also make future summer and college plans less intimidating and more exciting!
10 Brilliant Spring Break Ideas for Teens
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You have heard me say before that I love balance. I like that sweet spot! Being “balanced” is a bit of the myth. However, I do love to strive for the balance of work AND play.
So as your family makes plans for spring break, I would love to share with you all some spring break activities that are both fun RIGHT NOW plus some ideas that will make life FUN in the FUTURE too! Right? Because, as parents, we want our teens to enjoy their high school years and make memories. But we also want our teens to put thought and work into creating a bright FUTURE!
So find the perfect mix below of fun now and excitement for the future!
Visit a College over Spring Break
Road trip!! Have you seen that hilarious movie College Road Trip with Martin Lawrence? It is so funny, and most moms (and dads) can relate to the pangs Martin Lawrence’s character experiences seeing his little girl growing up.
Pack up the van and take a road trip, or stay close to home. The important thing is get your kids on a college campus. Most teens don’t have a clue what they want in a school. And some may just dismiss the idea of college based on their “ideas” and not actual facts. So getting on campus can be very helpful for teens to begin to understand what they want in a college.
Check out this post on 30 Must Ask College Visit Questions from Almost Empty Nest!
So when we get our kids on campus, we give them a context to put all the information and their ideas. As your teen sees several campuses, they will begin to have a MUCH better idea of the huge variety to colleges!
Go Camping as a Family over Spring Break
Get outside! Spring break is a perfect time to go hiking and camping. Before the summer crowds and sweltering heat hits, spend some time outside.
There is nothing better than camping to really slow down and TALK! Camping can be work to get packed, but now that you have teens you have lots of help carrying everything to and from the family vehicle!
10 Great Books to Read on Your Next Family Camping Trip
Take a Family Day Trip During Spring Break
Did your kids get tickets to a museum for Christmas? Spring break is an opportune time to use them.
One Christmas, my younger brother and my sister-in-law bought our whole family tickets to see the Titanic exhibit! While the kids were on spring break we took the time to go to the exhibit. It was such an amazing learning experience. And since the kids were all off school, we were able to afford the luxury of spending the whole day at the museum, enjoying the exhibit and not feeling rushed!
So check out the local museums for an exhibit everyone would enjoy or go to the IMAX theatre!
Brainstorm about Summer Jobs
I always say the perfect time to talk to your teen about the next BIG thing is BEFORE it’s here.
Talking about a summer job while summer is still 4 to 6 weeks away is way less stressful than discussing it in the beginning of summer.
So save yourself the headache and stress and have a more casual conversation about how they might enjoy making money this summer.
Read my guest post on Inspiring Entrepreneurship in Kids!
And please don’t fall into that trap of waiting til your kids are 17 and driving til they get a job. If they aren’t 16, they may be more limited on job selection, but even a few hours a week can help your teen began to create good work habits.
Some questions you can chat with your teen about:
- What place would you be interested in working?
- If you created a small business what you love to do?
- Do you want to be outside or inside?
- Is there a skill you would enjoy learning?
Go to a Job Fair
Some places like amusement parks or vacation/camping resorts know they need to hire A LOT of teen and college kids for the summer. So they began hosting job fairs early in the spring to start gearing up.
In our experience, when one of our sons worked for an amusement park they were very flexible with his schedule. Though he started working in April and May, they didn’t give summer hours until he was out of school for the year.
Think about the local parks or resorts in your area. And then look online to see if they are hosting a job fair. Psst…Going to a job fair also gives teens great interview experience!
Apply for a Summer Job
Thinks have changed, haven’t they?
Back when I was applying for summer jobs everything was paper and in person! Not so much anymore.
This was a steep learning curve when I began helping our boys apply for summer jobs. Personally, I hadn’t applied for a job over the computer up to that point. As an adult even, all my recent jobs had been through personal connections (it’s who you know, right?). But now, even your local pizza place or grocery store use online only applications.
So if your teen decides on a place they would like to apply, sit down and help them fill out the application.
They may be able to do it all themselves. But most teens will appreciate some help, and you can explain and learn (both of you:) as you go. You may wish to break it into several steps.
Also, if you know someone who works at the place your teen is applying you may ask for tips. For instance, we learned that College Boy’s application, to a food chain, wasn’t even going to be looked at since he put down that he didn’t want to work Sundays. Apparently, Sundays was the stores biggest shopping day!
Go on a Family Vacation for Spring Break
Kids all older? Now can be a great time to take a more relaxing vacation!
Vacations can actually be enjoyable for everyone when our kids are older. So perhaps now is the time to take the family on that big vacation you all have dreamed about doing. Enjoy time away at a resort or cruise.
Make some fun memories as you all explore and experience some rest and relaxation together!
Plan a Teen Day Trip with Friends
My parents actually let me drive down to Florida with a group of friends our senior year. Fortunately for them, I was way smarter at 18 then I was say at…22! Ha! But I don’t know if Little Red will ever be allowed to do that!
Anyhoo…if your budget or common sense does NOT allow you to send your teen off on a week-long excursion, what about them planning a day trip or overnighter with friends?
As a teen, I surprised my friend for her birthday one time taking her to a Victorian bed and breakfast just a few hours away. We felt so grown up to be out on our own. Our parents felt fine knowing that we were in some small quaint town only a couple of hours away!
If this sounds like fun to your teen, help them think of a place they and their friends might enjoy visiting or seeing. Would they like an outdoor adventure like hiking or canoeing? Or would they refer to go to stay indoors.
And just think of all the things your teen will learn as they have to search for places, check prices, create a plan and navigate finding or making food!
Apply for Scholarships over Spring Break
Scholarships! You hear about scholarships, but when you start to look into them it can be a bit overwhelming. Find a few trusted sites and begin to read. Spring break offers a time to either begin to look for scholarships or fill out a few applications!
Monica at How to Win College Scholarships has some great tips for this time of the year, with her Spring into Scholarships post here!
Lee Binz is also a friendly and practical source on scholarships and good record keeping for homeschoolers. Check out her tips on understanding scholarships and winning here!
Or check out Lee Binz’s booklets, like The HomeScholar: College Admissions and Scholarships below!
Brainstorm about Graduation over Spring Break
Do you have a senior in the house? Graduation parties in the Midwest are a big thing! Use spring break to start planning your grad’s graduation parties. We invited over 120+ to our sons’ parties. There was a lot of planning involved. But both the parties ended up being wonderful days!! So special!
With my boys, they were not super interested in being involved with a lot of the details. But I did want their imput to make sure I was creating a day that would be fun and memorable.
Things you may wish to ask your teen:
- What colors do you want? (our oldest actually wanted a red, white and blue instead of school colors)
- What kind of food sounds good?
- Which of your favorite candies would you like me to incorporate?
- Do you want the event at our home or somewhere else?
- What pictures do you want included in your graduation video?
- Would you pick 3-4 of your favorite songs to include in the video? (thankfully, College Boy made his own video! Done!)
- Is there anyone special that you want me to include on the guest list?
10 Brilliant Spring Break Ideas for Teens – Don’t Forget to PIN and Share!
So how would you love to use your teen’s spring break? Do you have a teen in high school right now? Comment below!
These are all so good! I love how they’re the perfect mix between fun and functional. You truly have such a gift at encouraging us to look to the future! I think we’ll get started on scholarships this spring break. And what an awesome day trip you took your friend on! It’s be great to be able to do that now as wives and moms:)
Ha! Yes, moms need day trips and overnighters too:) So glad you found the post helpful and practical!
These are great ideas! My oldest grandson is about to leave his teens. However I have four more grandchildren that are just entering their teens. I’ll share this with my son. ?
Thank you Ci! Glad you loved the ideas. Appreciate you sharing:)