Whether you’re a parent who will have children home with you all summer, or you’re an educator looking for new ideas for activities with children, we’ve rounded up 30 fun ideas that are perfect for summer!
Our number one activity with children is always getting musical, so feel free to sing songs while you’re trying out some of these activities too!
- Hit the beach: A classic but always a day of fun. Get creative with your sandcastle building skills!
- Head to the aquarium: Some much to see and learn! Good for those days when it’s too hot to do much outside too.
- Go swimming: A life skill that’s also very enjoyable, hitting the local pool for a swim is always a winner. Bonus points for a water slide.
- Create a puppet show: Finger puppets or sock puppets can perform any story children wish. Create the characters and story and get performing!
- Get cooking: Find a simple child-friendly recipe or two and work on familiarising children with the kitchen. Start super easy with a fruit salad or pizzas but keep working on it.
- Fly kites: Whether you choose to make or buy a kite, getting it up in the sky is an exciting feeling for any child. Schedule some kite flying for a day with a good breeze.
- Do a scavenger hunt: Set children the task of gathering a range of objects on a nature treasure hunt. Depending on what you have children find, a craft activity can follow.
- Visit the local library: An endless source of fun and education, the library is a must for children and can be a good place to cool off on the super hot days. Make a regular habit of going and borrowing books to encourage a passion for reading.
- Playdough fun: Make a batch of play dough with children and make some amazing shapes.
- Practice bike riding: Feel the wind in your hair with a bike ride. Training wheels or not, it’s a wonderful, environmentally friendly mode of transport that is also lots of fun.
- Explore the local community: Check the local council website and find a fun local activity to try. There are many events held over the summer that are family friendly.
- Watch the sunrise: We’re often so busy (or tired) this doesn’t happen often but make a point of getting up to see the sunrise in the morning. Too early? Taking notice of the sunset is special too.
- Chalk drawing: The driveway can be the perfect spot to get artistic and do some chalk drawing. A simple hopscotch is a fun starting point.
- Make smoothies: A healthy snack that children can make too, create a delicious family smoothie recipe. Bonus points for giving it a name!
- Get gardening: Gardening a fantastic sensory activity with many benefits. Whether it’s veggies, herbs or plants, get gardening together.
- Camp out the back: Create a camping experience in your very own backyard. Set up the tent or swags, tell stories and sleep under the stars. What a great memory to make.
- Create a summer journal: Encourage children to draw pictures and write notes about what they get up to over summer. You can even take pictures and print them to add and they’ll have a special memento of a special summer.
- Explore those nearby parks: Instead of visiting your usual park, head to a new one for something different.
- Get scientific: Science experiments are fascinating for children (and adults to be honest!). Head here for a few great kid-friendly science experiments to try.
- Discover a new skill: Get children to identify a skill they’d like to learn. Maybe it’s a musical instrument, how to hula hoop, kick a goal, skip rope… Then practice practice practice and make note of progress.
- Eat breakfast for dinner: Those hot summer nights make big heavy dinners less appealing anyway, so have a little fun with it over the holiday period and set a day for having breakfast for dinner. Children find it very funny.
- Go out for ice cream: Ice cream dates are many children’s dream come true. It can be fun at home too, with your own cones.
- Start an activity jar: Write a bunch of fun activities on pieces of paper, put them all in a jar and any time someone is feeling bored at home, they can simply find a random activity from the activity jar.
- Do painting: Best done outside, set up some paper and paints and let children explore their creative sides. Perhaps you could even do a painting of each other!
- Clean windows: A chore for parents, but actually children often enjoy doing this.
- Bushwalks: There are many trails to be explored, so get your best walking shoes on and explore nature. Add in some wildlife spotting too.
- Make paper planes: Make and decorate paper planes, then race them and experiment with shapes and styles to improve flying technique.
- Family movies: Share a few of your childhood favourite movies with children and let them choose some too.
- Experiment with new hairdos: We all tend to style our hair the same quite often, but why not see what else you can do with your hair. You could even do each other’s!
- Get meditating: The festive period, in particular, can be hectic. Give children the tools to unwind with meditation and yoga.
So, there you have it! And if you have any extra ideas, share with us on Facebook. We’d love to see pictures if you try any of these ideas over summer too!
Don’t forget, if you’re a parent who will also need to work, don’t forget to explore the school holiday programs available to you in your area.