The first day of Spring in New England is not quite what one might expect. There aren’t many tulips, the sun may or may not be shining, and the temperature can hover right around freezing. While the snow continues to melt and the ground hopes to thaw in the coming weeks, I like to give spring a little push with these fun traditions that can happen in any weather! If you can’t have your spring celebration outside, don’t worry! There are plenty of fun indoor activities that you can use to celebrate the season.
Start the day with Color! Do I need an excuse to eat pancakes? Certainly not! Pancakes are the kind of food that you can have any time of the day. The best thing about pancakes is that you can make them a zillion different ways and never get bored. We love these Flax Jack Pancakes made without dairy or grain. Since spring makes me think of beautiful blooming flowers, I figured that I would make some blooming pancakes in rainbow colors! Simply use your favorite pancake mix or recipe and separate the batter into a few small bowls. Add some color and plate them up! Suddenly ordinary pancakes become beautiful and colorful. You can also add some sprinkles if you’re feeling extra sweet. If you’re extra brave let the kids help with the food coloring. (Note: I assume no responsibility for subsequent havoc that may ensue).
Decorate Your Mantle (or tabletop, window, etc). I love love love decorating my mantle. It’s the first thing I see when I walk into my house. I change it about every month to reflect the season or holiday so I always feel excited about celebrating something. On the first day of spring, I wanted to do something that was floral. Since Easter is so early, I figured I could incorporate my Easter décor with lots of blooming flowers and pastel colors. Don’t have a mantle? No problem! You can decorate a side table, bedroom dresser, or even your coffee table as festive as you would like. I grabbed a whole bunch of inexpensive decorations at the dollar store, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby. Watering cans, colorful bottles, plastic eggs, colored stones, silk flowers, and baskets can really brighten up any room and you don’t have to spend a fortune on them.
Craft with the Kiddies: I’m not a very crafty mama, so I like to choose crafts that don’t require too much artistic ability. We love using stickers and paints and anything that mom doesn’t have to draw, Lord knows what those would look like! Again, I stock up with plenty of inexpensive supplies, sit at the kitchen table and have some fun. If you aren’t into stickers, you can create a simple picture using some spring crayons or paints. I also really liked this Spring Flower Fine Motor Tray activity which is pretty mess-free! We used Easter eggs and flowers, but you can simply use flowers if you prefer. The best thing about the foam stickers are the sticky peels on the back. They make a great fine motor activity for little hands as well.
Play Time: Maybe our local pond is still frozen, but who cares! You can have your own super cool duck pond right inside your home. Grab some of those little rubber duckies (you can toss them after the game is over if you’re worried about yucky mold forming inside), some colorful rocks, and some sticks or driftwood. Fill a bin with some water to create the pond. I strongly suggest doing this in the kitchen with lots of towels just in case. If you want, you can add some food coloring to create a “blue water” effect, but clear water works just as well. Let your child splash around and have some fun. You can incorporate some counting and sorting of the objects to make it both fun and educational. You can also add some frogs or turtles if your pond is heavily populated! The possibilities are endless! We got lucky with a pretty warm day, so we were able to take it outside. I used a boot box, some bath animals (from Target), a bunch of glass stones (from the dollar store), and some leaves from outside. Inexpensive and lots of fun. My daughter keeps asking to go outside and play with our duck pond.
Spring is all about the warm weather, beautiful colors, and having fun. No matter what the weather, you can create beautiful colors and some fun right in your own home.
What are some fun spring-related activities you use to celebrate the first day of spring?
