According to recent magazine article, a Swiss company will take the ashes of a dead relative and turn them into a synthetic diamond that you can wear for less than $10,000. That is a little creepy.  But that’s one way to be remembered, I suppose.

I know many of us can’t take off all week and be with our children.  But Spring Break is upon us and this is a great week to make memories with your kids that will last a lifetime.  And you can do it without the “break” in Spring Break be the breaking of the bank!  In fact, some of the ideas won’t cost you a dime!

Spring Break week ends on Friday the 13th here in Humble, TX. So, here are 13 memory-making things to do with your kids this week:

1. Make a fishing pole with a stick and string. Tie a magnet on the end and fish for paper clip fish.
2. Use sidewalk chalk to draw a city complete with roads. Use toy cars and trucks on the roads.
3. Spray paint two-liter bottles and use for bowling pins. Put a little water in the bottom of each one to weigh it down.
4. Have your children create books about themselves. They might want to include their birth date, handprints and footprints, drawings of themselves, and their families and a story about themselves. These are wonderful keepsakes.  They will also give you incredible insight into your child’s mind.
5. Read and act out one of your child’s favorite stories.
6. Put a sheet or blanket over a table and make a tent, dollhouse, fort or secret hiding place. It’s also a great place to take a nap or have a picnic lunch. This may work really well if the weather is bad outside.
7. Write crazy commercials and perform them for each other.
8. Make a sponge garden. Soak a sponge in water and place it in a shallow dish. Sprinkle with alfalfa or rye grass seeds. Keep it moist and watch it grow.
9. Dress up and serve dinner by candlelight one night this week.
10. Have a sock fight. Roll socks into balls and throw at each other.  Watch out for the lamps!
11. Play the “Message Game” at bedtime: Draw letters on your child’s back and have him or her try to decipher the words.
12. What’s missing? Place a group of common objects on a paper plate and give your child a few moments to study the collection. Ask the child to turn around and then remove one of the objects. Ask, “What’s missing?”
13. Find a quiet moment at the end of the day and call a family “Pow-Wow” to talk about what happened that day. Find out who has a funny story to tell or something new to share.

And here is a bonus idea for you.

Huddle up with your kids tonight and ask them, “What is the most fun thing you have done with me in the last few months?”

If they can’t come up with something right away, you may have a greater need for this list than you know.

Ask them the same question this coming Sunday night before bedtime. And hopefully you will get a very different answer.

Photo credit: Erik Starck / Foter / CC BY