Each summer, we put together a list of summer holiday activities that we would like to do together. It’s always a mix of simple activities with a couple of bigger activities that have been planned for the holidays. I find it having a list of ideas at the start of the holidays helps with trying to keep the children entertained and gives us some fun activities to look forward to. If you’re trying to find things to do in the summer holidays, here are 60 ideas for fun summer holiday activities with kids:
Fun in the garden
- Have a garden sports day – what events can you come up with?
- Camp out in the back garden.
- Build a tepee.
- Make mud pies.
- Make daisy chains.
- Blow bubbles in the garden or make a bubble snake.
- Make an obstacle course in the garden.
- Have a toy hunt in the garden.
- Make a dinosaur swamp in a tuff tray.
- Make a fairy or wizard’s potion.
Outdoor art and crafts
- Do some footprint painting.
- Make bark boats and sail them in the paddling pool or in a stream.
- Make sun print pictures.
- Do some shadow drawing.
- Do some pavement chalk drawings.
- Make a nature journal.
- Do some rainbow leaf printing.
- Make fairy houses.
- Paint pebbles.
Fun learning activities
- Make a solar oven and bake cookies or ‘smores in it.
- Make a sundial.
- Grow a rainbow.
- Set up a moth trap and see how many different ones you can see.
- Make oobleck.
- Raise caterpillars and watch them transform into butterflies.
- Make a bug hotel.
- Race balloon rockets.
- Make a mini volcano and watch it erupt.
Out and about
- Do a rainbow nature hunt.
- Fly a kite.
- Watch an outdoor show.
- Spend a day at the beach.
- Follow a treasure trail.
- Visit a theme park.
- Visit a museum.
- Hunt for geocaches.
- Go fruit picking.
- See how many different wildflowers you can spot on a walk.
- Play Pooh sticks.
- Visit a castle or stately home.
- Go on a minibeast hunt.
- Build a den in the woods.
Water play
- Splash around in the paddling pool.
- Have a water fight.
- Go pond or river dipping.
Rainy day activities
- Set up a reading den and read stories together.
- Play board games.
- Bake cakes or biscuits together.
- Have a movie night.
- Make a shoebox theatre and put on a mini show.
- Make a rain gauge.
- Dance in the rain.
- Raid the dressing up box and enjoy some imaginative play.
- Play card games.
- Learn some magic tricks.
Simple summer fun
- Make ice lollies.
- Have a picnic
- Watch the sunset (or get up very early and watch the sunrise!)
- Build a sandcastle.
- Lie on a blanket and see what shapes you can spot in the clouds.
Hopefully this has given you a few ideas for ways to keep the children entertained during the summer holidays. If you have any other ideas for summer holiday activities please do let me know in the comments.
Fantastic list for the summer, always love reading other people’s ideas for inspiration x #mmbc
Thanks Sam – I do too.
I love how creative your ideas are, especially the outdoor fun ones! Thank you for sharing 🙂 #fortheloveofblog
Thanks Becky, we’ve had fun doing a lot of them and are looking forward to trying some new activities this year.
I love the puppet theatre. I loved puppets and still do – have watched them in France and Sicily etc. My kids however, never got into them. Despite being dragged to wonderful shows and having a million at home. I don’t get it at all….#FortheloveofBlog
I used to love puppet shows as a child although haven’t seen any for years. Sophie had a lot of fun with her shoebox theatre – we made it almost a year ago and it’s still going strong!
Aww! What lovely ideas! I miss my girls being little and being into fun arts and crafts. Now I have to drag them outside away from electronics. x
Thanks for sharing these awesome ideas! I have 2 little girls, so will have lots of fun doing some of these things outside this summer! The treasure trail sounds particularly fun 🙂 #fortheloveofblog
Hope you enjoy doing them. The treasure trails are great, we always have fun doing those.
What a fantastic list Louise! Definitely going to be using lots of these over the summer. Thanks for linking up with #ForTheLoveofBlog.
Thank you Talya. Hope you have a lovely summer.
So many beautiful activities. I love the shoebox theatre, how creative to use the toys as an audience.
We will definitely be trying some of these so thank you for the fab ideas Louise. x
The shoebox theatre was so much fun to make and Sophie still uses it a year on.
Some really fab ideas here. My kids love to make mud pies and dens #MMBC
Thank you. Mud pies and dens are always good fun 🙂
I loved reading your list. One of my fondest summer memories, when mine were little, was making a tee pee each year. They would paint the outside and sleep out in it. Cloud watching is something I still enjoy doing with them. #mmbc
Thank you Cheryl. I love that your children slept out in the teepee. I don’t think ours would be so good for that but it is fun to use during the day!
I always find the free activities are the best and most memorable rather than big days out – love these ideas! #fortheloveofblog
Free activities are definitely the best!