Delaware County, PA - Ideas for a Spring Break Family "Staycation"

My family has chosen to take days off from work and enjoy a vacation, without actually going anywhere. We chose to do this because of financial reasons and because it is hard to travel with young children. We chose to do all free activities with our children to save money, yet it was big on fun! If you are planning a "Staycation" in Delaware County, PA, here are a few ideas free ideas you will want to consider.

Our family decided to get outdoors and enjoy nature on our "Staycation." We packed a picnic lunch and headed out for a hike and picnic at the beautiful, Ridley Creek State Park in Media, PA. The address of the park is: Ridley Creek State Park, 1023 Sycamore Mill Road. Media, PA 19063-4398. You can get additional information at their website. The Park is free to enter and offers many things for families to enjoy! They offer miles of hiking trails. My family hiked the white trail and it was quite a workout. It was very hilly, but was lots of fun as it winded along the creek bed and up the side of hills. If you are planning to push a stroller, they offer a 5 mile paved trail for walking, biking and running. The park has some historic buildings, beautiful gardens, picnic tables, bathrooms and a playground area for children. It is a peaceful and quiet place to spend the day relaxing with your family!

During one day of our "staycation", we headed to Springfield Mall for their free children's program called "Giggle Gang". The mall is located at 1250 Baltimore Pike in Springfield, Pennsylvania 19064. During the 1^st and 3^rd Thursday of the month, the mall holds a free children's program. The program starts at 10:30AM and runs for about an hour and a half. The program was fun for our children to attend this with both their mommy & daddy. We attended a program where several people came from the Franklin Institute. They gave a presentation about air - launching rockets, paper airplanes and balls into the air. Our children were amazed, and it was also pretty entertaining for the parents. At the end, the children were allowed to create their own paper airplanes in a craft and got to try some of the stomp rockets and air machines. It was a nice way to learn and spend time together!

On one of the other days of our "Staycation", we took the kids on a playground tour. We used the free playground finder on the "Fun Things to Do with Kids in Delaware County Website" to find some neat playgrounds we have never been to. Our favorite was the Castle playground in Concordville Township. To find out about that playground and more, go here.

The entire family enjoyed these three things we did on our days off. They didn't cost any money, but we all spent time together and had fun. Consider these ideas next time you plan a "Staycation!"