Summer activities ideas for children

There are lots of things you can do to keep your children entertained during the summer months. Here are some ideas for cost-free activities to try with your family.

• Create a scavenger hunt around your local area. Talk to your child to agree on what to look for. This could be anything – a house with a red door, a blue car, a bungalow, a bird feeder.
• Start a collection. Think about your child’s interests and start looking for related objects when you’re out and about. You could try stones, pebbles, feathers, or different leaves for example. Your child might like to start a museum shelf to display the items they’ve found. Or they could decorate an old box to store their discoveries.
• Spend a night out of your own beds. Build a den in the living room, pitch a tent in the garden or even make your bathtub into a cosy sleeping space for a night.
• Become a nature explorer. Get outside and count the different birds and bugs you find. Make a scrapbook with photos or hand-drawn pictures. Or use wood and sticks to build a bug hotel.

• Invite your child’s friends and their parents to meet at the park or a garden for an afternoon picnic.
• Set up an activities or party day. Include a mini assault course or create a crazy dance moves competition. Play games like musical statues.
• Organise a sports day for the family. Read our article for tips.
• Meet friends and go for a walk together outdoor to make the most of the warmer weather and longer days.
• Have a disco. Get dressed up in your party clothes. Find your favourite songs or put on the radio or a music channel and get dancing and singing.

• Start a building game. Use bought building sets like Lego, wooden blocks or old recycling. Get everyone in your family to come up with ideas for what to make. Or each build something and get the rest of the family to guess what it is.
• Challenge your family to a drawing competition. Make a game of it or find an official competition to enter.
• Make a scrapbook together. This could include family memories, favourite recipes or descriptions of days out. Or make a book of things you’d love to do together in the future.