If you’re skipping the travel this year, there is still plenty of at-home spring break fun to be found around Charlottesville. Forget whining and boredom. Whether your kids prefer day trip adventures or at-home activities, we’ve got a list of seven crowd-pleasers to keep the whole family entertained and learning all week long. And the best part? Many of them are low-cost or even completely free! You might also enjoy our guide to Spring Break Day trips in Central Virginia or Spring Break Camps.
7 At-Home Spring Break Activities in the Charlottesville Area
1. Nature Scavenger Hunt
Looking for a local, no-cost spring break activity? You’re in luck, because Charlottesville is full of amazing parks and outdoor spaces. If the weather cooperates, a spring break at home is a great time to get outside as a family. You can just go to a park and hang out, of course. Or, if you need something a little more organized, you can challenge your kids to a scavenger hunt.
Compile a list of items you would find locally, such as wildflowers, green leaves, brown leaves, bugs, streams, round rocks, birds, or feathers. Invite the kids to challenge other family members by adding their own ideas. If you have non-readers in the family, you can include pictures as well. Print out the list, give everyone a copy, and head out to a park to explore.
Trying to decide where to go?
Spanning 280 acres, Pen Park is the largest park in Charlottesville and provides plenty of space to explore, including both a playground and a 1.5-mile nature trail. Older kids might even be interested in the Pen Park Fitness Trail, which runs alongside the Rivanna River and includes 20 exercise stations. Additionally, Pen Park prides itself on being adapted for individuals of all ages and abilities. It can even be a whole family affair, as dogs are allowed on leashes.
If you have little ones and Pen Park is a bit too much ground to cover, take your scavenger hunt to Greenleaf Park. Located in the Rose Hill neighborhood, this spot offers a playground area with equipment for kids over age 2, as well as relaxed trails and a picnic shelter.
Check out more kid-friendly hikes near Charlottesville.
2. The Ultimate Outdoor Game
If getting outside sound great, but you’ve got kids who like a little more competition, try playing a round of disc golf. If you have never played before, or have younger children, a good place to start is at Meadowcreek Gardens. The 9-hole course is woven throughout the wooded natural setting, with plenty of space for stopping to explore and to let more experienced players pass through.
If you are familiar with disc golf, and have older kids, Walnut Creek Park is another great option. This 18-hole course in the Blue Ridge Mountains can be a full-day excursion if you pack a picnic and plan to linger. No matter which course you choose, we recommend reviewing the rules of disc golf before you start so the competition can stay fun and friendly.
3. Richmond Day Trip
Get out of Charlottesville for a day and make the quick trip to Richmond to visit some of its award-winning sites and family destinations. Check out the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, one of the largest art museums in North America that offers free admission to its extensive permanent collection in which admission is free, as well as special exhibitions which require paid admission.
For kids who love to climb, move, and play, head to the Children’s Museum of Richmond, which provides kids with the opportunity to learn through interactive play. Or you can enjoy hands-on educational activities at the Science Museum of Virginia. And if the weather is too beautiful to stay indoors, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden has been voted America’s #4 public gardens by USA Today.
Need more at-home spring break ideas? Check out our recipes and family fun for other local activities to do as a family!
4. A Day of Amazing Adventures
Another fun day trip for a spring break at home? Just a short drive from Charlottesville are several popular children’s museums.
An hour and a half drive will take you to Amazement Square in Downtown Lynchburg. This , a multi-disciplinary and interactive children’s museum motivates learning through creative play, allowing kids to paint on walls, create a rainstorm, float a boat, perform on stage and much more. There are indoor play structures, mazes, ladders, tunnels and even a zip-line.
Or you can head a little farther to reach Explore More Discovery Museum in Harrisonburg, another spot that nurtures children’s learning through active exploration. The exhibits and programs involve auditory, visual and tactile experiences for children to enjoy and grow.
5. Revisiting History
If you’ve got a budding history buff, the Frontier Culture Museum is perfect activity for spring break in Charlottesville. This outdoor, living-history museum in Staunton captures the lives of people who migrated from the Old World to the Shenandoah Valley, telling the story of these immigrants and their descendents through live-action demonstrations and educational displays.
Visit the blacksmith, learn how wool is spun into yarn, help clear the weeds from a frontier garden, see how cows are milked, and more. The museum even reproduced traditional buildings from England, Germany, Ireland, West Africa and America to represent the Old World, while further capturing and teaching the archaeology, architecture, cooking, fashion, dress and more of the early Shenandoah Valley.
Find more history day trips in Virginia just a short drive from Charlottesville.
6. Creating a Family Garden
Another low-key, low-cost spring break activity that you can do at home? Get your family outside to work on a garden together. If you don’t have a yard of your own, you can claim a plot in a community garden and experience the satisfaction of creating something as a family.
Root crops like carrots, beets, radishes and peas are best planted in March. And if you want to keep your kids motivated, show them what their seeds will turn into at one of Charlottesville’s many farmers markets. The Farmer’s Market at Ix Art Park is held on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., and the market accepts SNAP benefits.
Read more about gardening with kids for tips and ideas to get the family involved.
7. Getting Creative & Crafty
A spring break at home is the perfect opportunity to nurture children’s creativity and encourage them to lean into different modes of self-expression. Visit the Scrappy Elephant, a creative reuse store in Macintire Plaza, to stock up on steeply discounted art supplies. Then you can schedule art sessions as a family throughout the week or simply keep the materials out and available to encourage your kids to dive in on their own.
Creativity can also come in the form of baking and cookie decorating, song-making, whole family performances, or even making and using a flower press.
No matter what interests your kids, the Charlottesville area provides plenty of low-cost outings and free activities to keep the whole family entertained for an at-home spring break.
is a graduate of the University of Virginia and loves capturing the beauty of Charlottesville.