Things to Do on Spring Break in St. Pete-Clearwater for Families

Your guide to Spring Break activities in Pinellas County

Looking for things to do during Spring Break in the Clearwater-St. Pete area? Whether your a local family staying at home for break or visiting our area, we’ve got ideas to help you have fun this Spring Break.

We are two moms local to the Clearwater area, having grown up in the area and now here with our young families. This site was born out of my own searching for things to do with kids near me and our giak is to help other families in Pinellas find kid-friendly fun.

There is so much more to do during Spring Break in our area than Clearwater Beach (in fact, as locals we avoid Clearwater Beach during spring break season because of crowds!). Below you’ll find a wide variety of ideas so there’s something for everyone.

We also highlight a lot of free things to do in Pinellas for those hoping to do Spring Break on a budget.

Let’s find some Spring Break fun!

Seasonal activities

Here are a few activities to do during Spring Break that only happen during March. If you’re looking for more March activities, check out our list of our top 10 things to do in March in Pinellas too.

Spring training

the entrance to the TD ballpark in Dunedin

We’re lucky to have two teams spend Spring Training down in the Clearwater area. There are Spring training games happening all throughout March, making them a fun local Spring Break activity.

Garden

Spend some time gardening this Spring Break. March is a great time to enjoy butterfly gardens in our area.

Pick strawberries

a bowl of strawberry shortcake with a huge amount of whipped cream

March is the tail-end of the commercial strawberry season which means that many farms open up for U-pick. Check out our list of strawberry farms with U-pick near Pinellas.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

Depending on the timing of Spring Break, you can catch some fun events leading up to St. Patrick’s Day. For example, the Dunedin St. Patrick’s Day street party happens on the last day of Pinellas Spring Break in 2024. We also have a list of fun St. Patty’s activities for kids if you need more ideas.

Free things to do during Spring Break

Spring Break doesn’t need to break the bank. Whether you’re doing a staycation or looking to save some money on a visit to Clearwater, here are some ideas for free Spring Break activities.

For even more ideas, visit our list of free things to do around Pinellas county.

Go bird-watching

bingo card of birds with a title that says florida birds bingo

Bird watching is a surprisingly big hit with our kids. So much so that we made a local Florida bird bingo game that you should definitely try out this Spring Break.

Nature Parks

There are a number of free nature parks in our area (bonus: they’re great places to find birds on your bingo cards!).

Moccasin Lake Park has nice hiking trails and an injured bird sanctuary. McGough Nature Park is a great place to spot turtles and has a nature center and bird enclosures. The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary is another rescue center that you can visit for free.

Pier 60 Sunset Festival

Okay, I know I said we avoid Clearwater Beach during Spring Break (and we do! sooo much traffic…), but we’re still adding the Pier 60 Sunset Festival to the list for those looking for a quintessential Spring Break moment.

Ride the Jolly Trolley

Clearwater's jolly trolley car decorated with dolphins wearing Santa hats

The Jolly Trolley offers free rides during Spring Break from their park-n-ride locations. The Spring Break special runs from 2/25/2024-4/27/2024 (source: their website).

Walk a causeway

The vehicles, the water, the novelty — this is a slam dunk activity for my kids. Our favorite is the Courtney Campbell (because it has the most big trucks for my toddler) but the Dunedin Causeway and Clearwater Beach Memorial Causeway are also great options.

Kids Eat Free Deals

Kids Eat Free Deals are a fun way to get a treat while staying on a budget. I’ve always been super frugal so kids eat free specials are my new favorite part of parenting now that my toddlers eat more. We have a whole list of St. Pete-Clearwater kids eat free specials — my kids and I really love the Greek City one.

Florida Botanical Garden & Heritage Village

the sign for the majeed discovery garden at the florida botanical garden

The Florida Botanical Garden and Heritage Village are right next to each other and share a parking lot. This makes them easy to do together as a whole day activity.

This pair is a real slam dunk day for families. The botanical gardens recently opened a children’s garden with lots of cool interactive elements. My kids went wild for the “big sticks” area and the water pump. And they really loved Heritage Village too, which was a huge surprise because they’re so little.

Outside Spring Break activities

Spring Break is a great time to get outside because its warm but not scorching summer days yet. Here are some of our favorite outdoor activities in our area.

Sand Key Park

If you want the Clearwater Beach Spring Break experience but don’t want to fight the crowds for parking and beach space, hit up Sand Key Park instead. It’s just south of Clearwater Beach, has lots of parking and it just as beautiful.

ZooTampa

ZooTampa is an awesome zoo that is definitely worth the little extra drive from Pinellas. I love that the zoo includes rides as part of admission so kids can ride free without having to worry about buying tickets.

And the zoo knows its audience because they offer extended hours for Spring Break! We’re both members of the zoo and recommend it highly.

Check out our guide to ZooTampa at Lowry Park!

Kid-friendly breweries

Breweries make the list for when you want a little taste of what Spring Break was like before kids (but still have to bring your kids with you). Check out our favorite kid-friendly breweries around St. Pete-Clearwater.

Splash Pads

splash pad with fountains on but no kids in the picture

Spring Break in Florida is warm enough for water activities and many of our local splash pads open up just in time for Spring Break. We have a list of all the great Pinellas County splash pads you should check out.

St. Pete Pier

St. Pete Pier is an awesome place to take kids. There is ton of space to run around, a small beach area, a splash pad, and an absolutely amazing playground.

I know, you wouldn’t expect one of the best playgrounds in our area to be on a pier, but it’s truly one you can’t miss. Plus, there’s an outdoor cafe & bar next to the playground and splash pad so you can relax with a drink while the kids play.

Inside Spring Break activities

Looking for some indoor activities this Spring Break? Below are some of our favorite inside things to do near Pinellas. We also have a full list of even more indoor activities in our area you should check out.

Aquariums

We love aquariums around here so we always recommend an aquarium trip. You can find our guides to the Tarpon Springs Aquarium (a very interactive small family aquarium — our favorite!), the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and the Florida Aquarium.

We also have a list of all the aquariums near Pinellas, including some free options like the Florida Electric Manatee Viewing Center.

Library Museum Pass

Pinellas County Libraries offer free museum passes for select museums in our areas. We love this program and take advantage of it often. In fact, I used library museum passes to visit the next two places on this list for free!

For families, Great Explorations and the Glazer Children’s Museums are obvious picks (more on them below). We also really liked the Palmetto Collection of old cars. On select days of the week, you can ride their model miniature train!

Great Explorations

Great Explorations is a children’s museum down in St. Pete that is highly interactive and fun. It is a great place to beat the heat and has activities for kids of all ages, a cool climbing structure and a whole mini-village for kids to explore.

Check out our full guide to Great Explorations.

Glazer Children’s Museum

Glazer Children’s Museum is Great Exploration’s big brother in Tampa. It has a mini-kids village plus so much more, like a room-sized water table, a fort building section, and so many STEM & building areas.

Here’s our full review of Tampa’s Glazer Children’s Museum.

Dunedin Children’s Art Museum

dunedin fine art center children's museum exhibits

While Great Explorations and Glazer Children’s Museum are awesome, we think you get your best bang for your buck at the Dunedin Fine Art Center’s Children’s Art Museum.

It is much, much cheaper than the big children’s museums while still being super fun and interactive for kids. And as a bonus, it is soooo much less crowded than the big museums.

Here’s our review of all the fun things at the Dunedin Children’s Art Museum.

Arcades

There are lots of arcades around Clearwater-St. Pete, such as:

Replay museum
Cici’s Pizza (that’s why it makes our list of kid-friendly restaurants in Pinellas)
Starlight Arcade
Reboot Bar Arcade
Southern Lights Brewery (its arcade games earned it a spot on our kid-friendly breweries list)
Celebration Station
Fun Zone Arcade

Indoor Playgrounds

Something about indoor playgrounds just hit different. Plus, sometimes you’re just not up to facing an 80+ degree Florida day outside.

The premier indoor playground in Pinellas can be found at the Highland Recreation Center but that’s definitely not the only options: check out of list of indoor playgrounds around Clearwater-St. Pete.

Ice Skating

You know you’re a Floridians when going ice skating over Spring Break sounds awesome 😆! There are three local ice skating rinks around Clearwater run by Tampa Bay Ice.

The novelty of ice skating makes this such a treat for kids. I still remember being so jealous of everyone ice skating at Countryside Mall when I was little.

Day trip ideas

Go the Sponge Docks

spongeorama sign of a sponge dock diver's helmet in Tarpon Springs Florida

You can easily make a trip to Tarpon a full day trip activity. We love going to explore the sponge docks (here are our favorite things to do at the Sponge Docks) and the Tarpon aquarium is a favorite around here (our guide to the Tarpon Aquarium).

And if it’s a hot day, the Tarpon Springs splash pad is great and we’ve found it to be less crowded than other popular splash pads in the area.

Visit a nearby Children’s Museum

If you’re traveling around Florida during Spring Break, there are lots of cool kid-friendly museums to hit up. We have a full list of the best museums for kids in Florida, including many ideas that you could visit on a day trip.

Hit a theme park

The epcot ball lit up with red strips at night

We’re in Florida, land of theme parks, so of course this one has to make the list. Busch Gardens and Adventure Island are around the corner (and you can get theme park preschool passes so kids under 6 can go for free!) and Universal, Legoland, SeaWorld and Disney are a short drive away.

That said, we are Disney annual passholders and we skip the parks over Spring Break because of crowds. If you’re going, we recommend getting there early or staying late to have the best chance at less crowds (and don’t forget to pack some of our favorite Dollar Tree items for Disney to save some money!).

Kennedy Space Center

The Kennedy Space Center is a very family-friendly destination that could make a fun Spring Break trip. We went last Spring Break and were surprised to find it not overly crowded given the time of year.

Check out our full review of Kennedy Space Center with small kids

Check out our lists of things to do in March and fun April activities in our area.