The Ultimate Guide To Planning a Family Spring Break

As the snow melts and the temperatures rise, families start trying to take advantage of the beautiful weather. A spring break trip is the perfect way to take a break from work and school and make some memories as a family.

The trick to planning any family vacation is to choose a destination and experiences that everyone can enjoy. Don’t let the stress of booking lodging or planning travel routes ruin your trip before it even begins. Instead, make the experience easier with our ultimate guide to planning a family spring break. With these tips and ideas, you can create an experience everyone will cherish for years to come.

Get the Whole Family Involved

The key to planning a successful family vacation is to make sure every member of the family is involved. Surprising your kids with a destination they don’t enjoy will lead to grumpy passengers, arguments, and an overall stressful trip. When you let the whole family help plan, you give everyone a better sense of control and anticipation about the trip.

As you start looking at potential destinations, let everyone have their input. While kids—especially younger kids—won't have the best grasp on what is and isn’t plausible, letting them help plan the trip is a great way to make sure they have fun. Don’t limit input to just the destination, either. Ask everyone what they’d like to do on the trip. Does someone want to spend a day at a museum? Is someone else interested in a local park? Make a list of what your family wants and try to fit in an option for everyone throughout the trip.

Don’t Exhaust Yourself

Traveling can take a lot out of you—even if you’re having fun the whole time. Even when you’re traveling alone, it’s important to plan for some downtime to make sure you don’t exhaust yourself along the way. This is even more important with kids, who get tired faster and are more likely to grow grumpy or frustrated when they’re exhausted.

Putting downtime in your itinerary helps everyone enjoy the trip more. Try to shorten travel days—especially when you’re traveling with younger kids—to avoid restlessness and boredom in the car. If your vacation lasts more than a couple days, make sure you plan for a quiet morning or afternoon to give everyone a chance to rest and recuperate before continuing the fun.

Keep Your Budget Flexible

Vacations are filled with unexpected expenses. If someone forgets a jacket, you have to buy a new one. If you find a new museum, park, or other attraction you want to visit, you’ll have to spend money on tickets. If you find the perfect souvenir in a gift shop, you deserve to buy it. While it’s possible to find ways to be thrifty and travel on a budget, it’s nice to have a little extra wiggle room to enjoy the unexpected.

As you plan your vacation, look for deals on the big things—like lodging, plane tickets, and other details—so that you can save more money for these smaller travel expenses. In addition to being able to enjoy unexpected treats, having a little extra money will help you travel with better peace of mind.

Make Travel Days Fun

Whether you’re flying or driving, you want to make sure everyone is comfortable during travel days. If you choose to drive, be sure to plan stops so everyone has a chance to stretch their legs and get rid of some of the restlessness that comes from spending all day in the backseat. You can also look for roadside attractions or other quick, fun stops to break up the trip.

It’s also a good idea to bring toys, movies, or other forms of entertainment for the kids. Having something to do will alleviate the boredom of hours of travel and help kids enjoy the journey and have a better time throughout the trip.

Remember To Cherish the Moment

Planning can be stressful, but once you’re on the road, let yourself enjoy the experience. Don’t worry too much about the inevitable mishaps and focus instead on the time you get to enjoy with your family.

Try to keep technology at a minimum. If you take pictures to remember the trip, don’t worry about posting them on social media until you’re back home. When you focus on being in the moment and cherishing this time with your family, you’ll come away from the trip with incredible memories that will last for the rest of your life.

Choose the Perfect Destination

With this ultimate guide to planning a family spring break, you’re ready to pick the perfect destination for your family. The last thing you want is to drag the kids through a destination they think is boring. At the same time, you don’t want to do something fun for your younger kids and have your teenagers complaining the whole time.

Finding a destination everyone wants to visit is the key to planning a great trip. If you’re looking for incredible family-friendly vacations in Colorado, here are a couple of our favorite destinations to help you start planning your spring break:

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

Take the family to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve to play in over 30 square miles of massive sand dunes. The towering dunes—which can get up to 750 feet tall—are a perfect place to sled or sandboard down the slope. It’s a family-friendly adrenaline rush that everyone can enjoy. Even better, spring is when the snow begins to melt and fill the appearing and disappearing Medano Creek. Visit in late April or May to splash through the glittering mystical waters.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg

Do you have wild animal enthusiasts in your family? If so, there’s no better place to see some of the world’s most awe-inspiring creatures than the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado. A mile and a half of elevated walkways stretch over nearly 800 acres of natural habitats. Here, you’ll find hundreds of free-roaming wolves, bears, lions, tigers, and more.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary is the perfect place to see some of the world’s greatest predators in their natural habitats. Even better, the sanctuary rescues its animals from illegal or abusive situations so that they can roam freely as they would in the wild.

Between incredible outdoor adventures and bustling urban opportunities, Colorado has everything you need for an amazing family spring break. Pick up your favorite souvenirs, like our women’s Colorado trucker hat, and pack your bags for these and other fantastic family-friendly destinations.