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Spring break ideas for those stuck at home

Some of us may be headed out on that great vacation this week. For the rest of us ... there's plenty to do around here this spring break.

Posted Updated
Triangle Aquatics Center in Cary
By
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

There are those of us who have left town, or will be leaving town, for spring break. And then there's the rest of us still here at home, wondering what to do with school out for the whole week.

Faye, the WRAL Smart Shopper, offered some ideas to keep you busy the other day. Here are some more:
Check out the Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education. If you homeschool or your kids have been on a field trip here, you might just know about the wildlife education center on N.C. State's Centennial Campus. But too many people have never heard about it. The indoor center tells the ecological story of our region. Many of the displays rely heavily on technology with a lot of fun, interactive displays. Great especially for grade-schoolers and up, but my preschooler has enjoyed it too. Open Monday through Friday. And it's free!
See the exhibits at the Carolina Basketball Museum. If you've got a kid at home who loves basketball, take a drive out to Chapel Hill to see the Carolina Basketball Museum. You'll see a brief video (on a screen shaped kind of like a basketball) before you walk into the galleries where you'll find lots of memorabilia over the years. There's a whole case of Michael Jordan memorabilia, including notes to the superstar from coaching legend Dean Smith. The museum on the Carolina campus is open Tuesday through Saturday. It's free. And even this proud Virginia grad enjoyed the visit.
Head on down to the Clemmons Educational State Forest near Clayton. The state forest features exhibits and trails, including the Talking Tree and Talking Rock trails. Yes ... the trees and rocks actually talk ... if you press the button to start the recording. It's a gimmick, but one that will get the kids to keep on walking/running and teach them a little something as well. Plenty of picnic tables for lunch. It's free and open Tuesday through Sunday. There's a similar state forest at Jordan Lake as well.
Robot fans might want to head over to the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh April 2 and April 3 for the 2010 FIRST NC Robotics Regional Tournament. The high school robotics tournament features teams from around the country and as far away as Brazil. And it's free. There also will be a barrel racing competition at the horse complex April 2 to April 4. Spectators are free.
Go swimming. It might be a little cool still to swim outside, but there are lots of indoor pools in the Triangle. Check our Public Pools resource page for all of them. It's not free, but it's usually a pretty cheap way to exhaust the kids.
Finally get to Raleigh's new indoor playground at north Raleigh's Greystone Recreation Center.
And there are many more places to explore in the Triangle. Check our other resource pages, which include listings of museums, bookstore storytimes, in-store events, regular performances, parks, playgrounds and more. 

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