Note: The dates below are from 2015; however almost all of the events happen annually. You can check the business websites for updated dates and information!
Staying around town this year? You don’t have to travel far to enjoy time with your family!
1. Mainstay Farm in Cleburne (south Fort Worth)– This is a great place to take the whole family on a beautiful day next week. They offer many activities such as: jumping pillow, 100 foot chute slide, hay rides, 3 story tree house, Flying Fox zip line, Pedal Karts, wood maze, Little Farmer Acres (toddler area). They truly have something for children of all ages and they’ll be open from 10am-4pm Thursday, March 12 through Saturday, March, 14. Adults are $14. Children over 2 are $11.
2. Dallas Arts District / Nasher Sculpture Center / Dallas Museum of Art Visitors during spring break will enjoy half price admission to the Nasher Sculpture Center, including free access to the new exhibition, David Bates. Admission during spring break is only $5 for adults, $3.50 for students and seniors, and FREE for members and children 12 and under.
Then on Saturday the Dallas Arts District will be hosting an event called Spring Break Kickoff—it’s a block party for the arts district – Starts at 10am on Saturday, March 7th — they’re closing the streets and the Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, and Klyde Warren Park will host special activities for families.
3. The Rory Meyer Children’s Adventure Garden at the Arboretum has only been open one year and a lot of people haven’t had a chance to see it yet so Spring Break may be a popular time. They do daily puppet shows, mystery shows, science experiments and bird/nature exploration activities. Bethany wrote all about her experience at the new children’s garden here. I recommend packing a picnic lunch and planning to spend the day there.
If your children are a little younger – you may just want to do the children’s garden or if your school-age kids have more stamina – purchase the children’s garden as an add-on ticket to a main garden pass. General arboretum admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children and the Children’s Garden pass is an additional $3. The museum is open from 9am-5pm daily. But, to visit the children’s garden it is strongly recommended that you pre-order your tickets online – you will have to choose either a morning (9am-1pm) or afternoon (1pm-5pm) time slot to visit the children’s side of the museum.
4. The Frontiers of Flight Museum is a fun find, located right at Dallas Love Field Airport. Dallas Moms Blog held a play date there just yesterday and all of my children (ages 2 through 7) had a great time. Adults get in for just $8. Students are $5 and children under 3 are absolutely free. For Spring Break they have different activities daily ranging from Open Cockpit Day (sit in a cockpit of a Southwest 737) to helicopter day and a scavenger hunt on Friday. The museum also features a flight simulator which is a big hit with older, aspiring pilots as well as fun for moms and dads! We’ve had lots of fun at this museum in the past and you can learn more by reading about our other experiences at Frontiers of Flight here. (We love airplanes and this museum so much this also made our original list of Spring Break ideas Krystal wrote about here!)
5. Visit Klyde Warren Park and ride the FREE Trolley Here’s our idea: The park is beautiful and there will be lots to do an enjoy there. But, if there are too many people there or the lines at the yummy food trucks are a little longer than you’d prefer, we recommend walking from the park to catch the trolley in front of the Dallas Museum of Art. From there you can ride the Trolley to uptown. Get off, walk around, grab some pizza or sit down for a nice dinner, and then head back to where you started.
6. Perot Museum The Perot is always a popular Spring Break destination. We’ve blogged about the children’s museum here and about the other museum exhibits here. They are staying open until 7pm next week for Spring Break but are expecting huge crowds! If you want to see it next week I recommend buying your tickets in advance online. To avoid the crowds – try to arrive early in the day and see the exhibits first and then crash at the IMAX theaters when the crowds peak. Adults are $15 and children over 2 are $10. Are you a memeber? Take advantage of their special EARLY hours from 8:30-10am on Saturday, March 7 & Monday, March 9-14 or 10am-12pm on Sunday, March 8th.
These are our ideas!
What are your FAVORITE staycation ideas?
Check out kayaking down the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. We run 22 miles and have 4 river runs. Great for families or groups. Just come to our location in Coppell