Spring break boredom busters

"I'm bored. There's nothing to do."

Those words are enough to make a parent's heart sink like a stone. Spring break is just around the corner and a week of unstructured time could be a kid's recipe for boredom. However, a little planning around your personal time and budget, and you can craft a unique and interesting Spring break plan for your family. Check out the ideas below to get you started.

1. Involve your children in the planning
Kids are more likely to actively engage in the activity if they have had some say in it. Have everyone write down their interests and then pull together lists of activities to do based around those interests.

2. Check out what's available in your community for day camps
Working parents often scramble to work out childcare arrangements over Spring Break. Check out community leisure centres, the library, planetarium and zoo for day camps that meet your child's interests.

Community centres will often put together special Spring Break programs, as well. Spring hockey, dance, cooking, writing and art camps give parents and children a wide scope of activities to choose from.

Again, this is an opportunity for kids to take some ownership of their time and interests. Older kids can do Internet research for themselves to find programs that appeal to them.

3. Put together an activity jar
Injecting a little fun and excitement doesn't need to be time consuming or expensive. Draw up a list of activities that your child enjoys (a trip to the park, paint-by-numbers, Cranium, Monopoly, an afternoon story, a trip to the movies) and put them in a jar. Then have your child pick an activity each day. It doesn't really matter if they are activities you might do anyway -- it's fun to pick out of the jar and be surprised!