Moms get creative keeping kids busy during chilly spring break

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More than 300,000 Bay Area students have the week off from school for spring break, but the weather has thrown a wrench into some parents' plans to head to the beach.

A forecast of rain and cooler weather throughout the week has many families looking for fun indoor activities. Katie Isaac, a mother of three and a writer for the Tampa Bay Moms Blog, said she had to change her plans on Monday.

"We were looking forward to doing some things outside, like playing at the park with our friends and going strawberry picking, but with the weather, we had to look for some alternatives."

Isaac researched activities and attractions online to help other parents from stressing out over finding ways to keep their children busy. She shared her ideas in a blog post, "5 FUN Things to do In Tampa for Spring Break."

"After a few days, you kind of get cabin fever and you want to start doing something," Isaac said.

She recommends parents consider day-long camps offered at several Tampa Bay museums.

"The Glazer Children's Museum has some things going on for specific age groups like five to six year olds," said Isaac.

Little ones can learn about the food, culture and languages in countries from Australia to Mexico. For older children, the museum offers a robotics program, teaching them how to use math to build toys. STEM-focused camps are also being offered at MOSI in Tampa.

"My kids enjoy going to the library. We enjoy going through books and doing story time. They have songs and games that the kids can play," said Isaac.

Public libraries across Hillsborough and Pinellas County offer free daily family events. Checking out books only requires a library card.

"There are some really fun spas in the Tampa and Clearwater area for little girls and boys to go, and then you can do some fun things at home, like have friends over and have a movie day, pajama day, or even cookie and cupcake decorating day with friends," explained Isaac.

Other indoor attractions include the Tampa and Clearwater Aquarium.

On Thursday at 5:30 p.m., United Skates Tampa is bring back its "Troll Skate," where children can skate with characters from the movie troll and enter to win Troll DVDs.

Isaac said keeping children busy inside often times doesn't require much effort or money, just creativity.

"Kids enjoy the simple things, not always going to big museums and big days away. Sometimes they just enjoy staying at home, doing arts and crafts, things that they don't normally get to do on a day-to-day basis," said Isaac.

For more ideas on family-friendly events happening throughout Tampa Bay, visit http://tampabay.citymomsblog.com/