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Taking the Kids: Where To Go for Spring Break

By Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Media Services on

Here are five of our 2013 ideas that are sure to please:

1. Opt for an eco-adventure somewhere you've never been. Consider Nicaragua, where eco-friendly resorts like Morgan's Rock (www.morgansrock.com) have become a private nature preserve. Check out those monkeys in the trees! "Nicaragua has turned the corner and is quickly becoming the next great vacation spot," says adventure outfitter Dan Austin of Austin Lehman Adventures (www.austinlehman.com), which is now organizing special family Nicaragua trips that might include zip-lining, cloud forests and surf lessons. "The best value in Central America," Austin said, "is the amazing scenery, interesting history and activities the kid in all of us will love." Add 'locals' that are warm and welcoming and you have a winning formula."

Thomson Family Adventures suggests Guatemala because besides plenty of fun in the sun, you can take a chocolate-making workshop, visit a fair-trade coffee plantation and explore Mayan ruins.

2. Go to Washington, D.C. The nation's capital (www.washington.org) has more free attractions -- and more spies -- than anywhere in the country. Since so many of the museums and memorials are free, you don't have to worry if the kids get antsy after an hour or two in one of the Smithsonian museums, for example. And there's always the chance to fly a kite on the National Mall, stop in to meet your congressman or visit Ford's Theater after seeing the new "Lincoln" movie.

3. Opt for fun in the snow. You'll find plenty of late-season deals -- and sunshine -- from New England to California and plenty of off-the-slope options whether you want to snowshoe, dogsled, zipline, careen down a mountain coaster, go to a concert or indulge in a spa day -- or two. "March is typically the snowiest month in the mountains and most of the storms roll through overnight, leaving the days warm and sunny," says Ski.com's Dan Sherman, noting there are great deals across ski country on ski.com with savings as much as 30 percent off on lodging. Get a third night free at Heavenly Lake Tahoe, for example (http://www.skiheavenly.com/Plan-Your-Trip/Vacation-Deals-and-Packages/.) Kids ski free all April at Aspen's four mountains (www.aspensnowmass.com).

4. Play ball! Take your favorite Little Leaguer to see his or her favorite baseball team during spring training. The games are much cheaper, of course, than during baseball season and you might even get that coveted autograph. We've gone to spring training games in Arizona (www.cactusleague.com), as well as Florida (www.floridagrapefruitleaugue.com) and love the informal atmosphere at the stadiums, as well as the options to hit the beach in Florida and the mega resort pools in Arizona after the games.

 

5. Show your kids that history can actually be fun. Tour a civil war battlefield or time-travel back to another era at a living history museum like in the Historic Triangle of Virginia. (Check out the website for kids on the Colonial Williamsburg site, http://www.history.org/kids, where the kids could dress up like colonists and play 18th-century games at Colonial Williamsburg, learn the true story of Pocahontas at Jamestown and visit a Continental Army encampment at Yorktown Victory Center (www.historyisfun.org).

Can you feel the sunshine yet?

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For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com. Also check out Eileen's new kid's guides to NYC and Orlando from Globe Pequot and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where she welcomes your questions and comments.


(c) 2013 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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