60 ideas for summer holiday activities

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:

 

Thomas playing in a tuff tray dinosaur swamp; a sun print of leaves; Sophie picking gooseberries; Sophie flying a kite; Sophie and Thomas in a tepee in the garden; rainbow leaf prints; Sophie and Jessica doing footprint painting; a bark boat; Sophie and Jessica holding up their rainbow nature hunt sheets - "60 ideas for 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.

 

Thomas and Sophie in a tepee in the garden

 

 

Sophie stirring the fairy potion

 

 

Outdoor art and crafts

 

Sophie doing some shadow drawing

 

 

 

Fun learning activities

 

Sophie squishing the oobleck into a ball

 

 

 

Out and about

 

Desert Chase - Legoland: the best bits (from my preschooler's perspective) - Little Hearts, Big Love

 

 

Sophie with her punnet of gooseberries

 

  • 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.

 

Sophie standing in the river looking into her net

 

 

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.

 

Sophie putting on a show in her shoe box theatre with small toys making up the audience

 

  • 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.

 

Clouds in a blue sky

 

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.

 

Country Kids linky

 

 

Kids and Kreativity linky

19 thoughts on “60 ideas for summer holiday activities

    1. Thanks Becky, we’ve had fun doing a lot of them and are looking forward to trying some new activities this year.

  1. 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

    1. 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!

  2. 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

  3. 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

    1. Hope you enjoy doing them. The treasure trails are great, we always have fun doing those.

  4. 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

  5. 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

    1. 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!

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