Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
Find fun March Break activities for kids in Ontario. Avoid boredom during the school break with these budget-friendly ideas.
Canadian school holidays include Spring break, also known as March break, which closes down schools for one week.
When is March Break?
March Break in Ontario runs from Monday to Friday, during the second week in March.
Parents who work must find March break activities for their kids or take time off work.
The last thing you want is for your kids to find themselves bored turning to the television or computer to keep them occupied.
Like other holidays, March break will increase prices because businesses know that consumers are out there and most people spend money to keep the kids happy.
Our budget doesn’t reflect March break since this is our first one with our little guy in school.
Unless you have to pay extra for babysitters, day camps, or other activities where you can’t be around, it’s essential to budget these as projected expenses.
This way, your budget won’t get hit with a hefty bill you aren’t prepared to pay for when March rolls around.
Fun March Break Activities
Whether you go away on holiday somewhere hot or plan for a week of indoor/outdoor activities with your kids, having something to do is essential even if you’re not around.
Not all kids off for March break want to hang around their parents because they’d rather chill with their friends.
The wee ones, though, want to get busy doing something, mainly if they are used to the daily hype of going to school.
Unfortunately, in my line of work, I can’t take March to break off, which means we will be working around my schedule, but we’ve created a blueprint so our son doesn’t feel left out.
Free Swims and Skating
I’m betting that almost all Ontario cities with rec centres will host free skating and free-swimming time for the kids over the March break.
The only way to find out is to search your local community guide or call up organizations in your community.
You may also find lots to do by exploring Facebook events in your area.
Free Arts and Crafts
Explore your local community centers or the mall to see what free March break activities might be hosted.
I know at our mall, there will be a reptile display that the kids can visit for free, along with arts and crafts tables on the lower level where the kids can explore.
Start Your Spring Garden
March break is the perfect time to get your Spring garden seeds growing, and what fun it would be to do it with your kids.
Our son is old enough to understand growing plants, and we’ve got about ten packs of seeds ready for planting next week.
We also have a community garden that we participate in by purchasing a plot.
Around March, I start purchasing the seeds I’ll need to begin the growing process in our basement.
Visit The Local Library
The library is always free to visit; some even have a play centre for the kids like ours.
You can play on the computer, read books, rent video CDs, and meet other kids and parents.
Bringing your child to the library also reminds them of the importance of quiet time, reading, and exploring.
Try Kid-Friendly Recipes
This will happen in the CBB kitchen because we love cooking and baking.
Our son enjoys mixing and dumping ingredients, so anything we make becomes a dump recipe. Haha.
I’ll keep you updated on what we make, but it will have some chocolate ingredients.
Outdoor Scavenger Hunt
For this activity, you have to list items you know are outdoors and print out a checklist.
Once you leave the house, please have your child try to spot the items on the scavenger hunt list to bring awareness and education about our environment.
Download and print a free scavenger hunt from Canadian Budget Binder.
Bird Watching
We’re a bird-watching family, and perhaps that might sound super geeky to you, but we love it.
Our son thinks that Canadian Geese are all Eagles, but we continue to work on educating him.
The bird feeder has many birds visiting the house daily as we have them hanging outside for the winter, which runs into Spring.
We plan to create a bird feeder oasis in our front garden so we can watch them all year long.
So far, we’ve seen a red cardinal, a green cardinal, and a black-capped chickadee visiting us.
Spot the birds with your kids and see if you can take photos.
Use the free Merlin Bird App to determine what birds are in the area.
Later, come home and try to identify them if you don’t know what they are when you spot them.
Kids love to use the camera, so if they have a keen eye for photography, now is a great time to get out and explore.
Related: 7 Birds you will see over the winter
Playdate With Friends
It doesn’t get any easier than arranging a play date with your child’s friends alternating at your house and theirs to keep the mess equal. Haha!
If you’ve done play dates before and your kids are a bit older, you know how quickly the house can turn upside down.
Alternatively, we visit a McDonald’s play center after lunch for an ice cream treat and free play time.
It may cost you a kiddie cone (some don’t charge for them), and the fun is free.
Science Experiments
This can be fun and messy, but as long as your child learns something new, who cares?
We do one science experiment in our house each week to keep up with our son’s adventurous mind with tinkering and mixing.
So far, we’ve made baking soda bath bombs in a pan and magic milk.
The magic milk was fun because our son loves colours, so to see his little face light up was priceless, and he enjoyed it.
Plus, we will make a rain cloud in a jar this coming week for our March break fun.
Magic Milk March Break Fun
If you are looking for a simple science activity with the kids, look no further!
This magic milk science experiment is perfect for you! It amazes the kids and is super easy to do, too!
Just grab a few household supplies and have a blast with magic milk!
- Milk
- Liquid food coloring – gel doesn’t work well
- Dish soap
- Cotton swabs
Sugar Bush and Maple Syrup Events
How Maple Syrup is made in Canada
If you’re looking for some March break trip ideas, why not take the kids to the maple sugar bush to see how maple syrup is made in Canada?
The sap is flowing, and if you haven’t been (I haven’t) been to the sugar bush before, now is the time to do so.
Maple Syrup Festivals and Events are in full swing across Ontario and Canada.
Festivals are a great way to educate children about early settlers and how maple syrup is made in Canada.
The ultimate list of maple syrup festivals, events, and activities up north in Ontario!
Check out these sweet festivals, events, and activities.
These are Maple Syrup Festivals near and far north of Toronto, depending on how long you want to drive. It’s all doable!
Indoor Camping
Whether your kids are tots or teens, there are day camps available throughout most communities in Canada for March break.
If you have to work like me, indoor camping fun might be a cost-effective alternative to hiring a babysitter.
Not only will the kids stay active in body and mind, but it gets them out of the house and do something that keeps them motivated rather than at a sitter.
Day camps offer camps that range from sports camps such as soccer, volleyball, hockey, and basketball to arts and crafts, gymnastics, and even cooking camps.
If camping costs are out of your budget, talk to your community organization to see if they subsidize indoor camping based on your income. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
Have a great March break, everyone, and share your photos and fun with us; we’d love to see them.
Discussion: What budget-friendly March break plans do you have?
Share your comments below.
CBB Home and Blog Update
This past week has been a write-off for us as our son was sick on Monday, which triggered a horrible response for the rest of the week.
He made it to school just fine, but after school, he was tired and grumpy and, after a cry, went straight to bed three days in a row.
We hope to bring him back to life after March break so he gets back into his routine.
It does get super draining when a child is ill and their emotions get high.
I’ve been thinking about our life insurance most of the week because we still haven’t sorted that out.
As I mentioned earlier in the year, we considered transitioning to permanent plans.
I will work on a blog post about this to help anyone contemplating moving from term to permanent life insurance.
I’m An Income Tax Fraudster
Nothing too exciting apart from being arrested for income tax fraud, so the person on the other end of the telephone told me yesterday.
If I don’t pay up, they are coming for me.
Just be aware of the Revenue Canada scam going around again in full force, as it is tax season.
Remind those you love about scams, especially if you feel they are vulnerable to falling for these people who prey on those who will be scared.
I’ll be starting my garden from seeds soon, so if you have any tips or photos you’d like to share in my blog post, please email me right away.
Share your garden landscape with the CBB fans, and tell us what you do to get it started and how you maintain it throughout the season.
Source: Calendarpedia.com
Have a great couple of weeks, and Happy Spring Forward this weekend, Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 2 am.
The sun will set later, and we will enjoy more vitamin D.
Common Question: When is the first day of Spring 2024?
This year, the first day of Spring will be Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
MR.CBB
CBB Posts You May Have Missed
You can catch up on these blog posts I’ve written over the past two weeks if you’ve missed them.
If you don’t already, please subscribe to the blog, and you will get my posts to come straight to your email. Ta-da…CBB in an Instant.
- How to Catch Up With a Late Payment Plus (Sample Letter) February Budget Update
- Is Parenting Easier for Wealthy Parents?
- Baked Pepperoni Chips and Queso Dip (Keto, Low Carb)
- How your Budget is Affected by your Social Circle
- How to successfully host a Winter Open House for sale
Finance Read or Video Of the Week
Kerry Taylor makes a good point about rewiring your brain to master money because, in essence, that is what you MUST do to become successful with your finances.
There’s no half-job when it comes to your money.
Either you do it or fail terribly, even the common sense stuff such as budgeting.
The problem is humans are not always logical with money.
Rational humans would agree it’s sensible to save a portion of income while avoiding debt.
But with the national savings rate dipping to 3.4% and our household debt at 171% – meaning Canadians owe $1.71 for every dollar of disposable income – it would appear something is getting the better of us, and our money.
Frugal Recipe Find
With St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th, I thought I would hit you all up with a cool green treat you can make for the family or bring to work.
I found this excellent Luck of the Irish Cake Balls: green in the middle, white on the outside, and with colour.
Doesn’t it remind you of Spring? I love them.
Ingredients
- One box of white cake mix
- Eggs and Oil as per cake box instructions
- Green Food Colouring one ounce
- One cup plus two tablespoons of white frosting.
- White candy melts or almonds bark up to one pound.
- Optional green sprinkles.
Mr.CBB’s Motivational Corner
Whatever life throws your way, whether good or bad, treat it like new beginnings rather than dwell on what you can’t change.
Saturday Search Term Giggles
Every week, thousands of people visit Canadian Budget Binder because they have searched online and found my blog. (SIC) This means I’ve copied the text exactly, but it has spelling errors.
Most times funny, sometimes severe.
- Best No Need Buns– No need to, but you need No knead. Say that five times.
- Anyone caught stealing from Save On Foods– Why are you planning on being the first?
- Keto peanut butter soup– If that doesn’t sound disgusting …
- How big can fish get?– This BIG!