Ideas for family fun and games during the school hols (at home or away)

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We’re at the height of the school summer holidays and sometimes that means the excitement has worn off and boredom has set in. But don’t worry – it’s time to bring on the fun with some easy activities and entertainment that kids of all ages can enjoy this month.

It can be a great time for combining educational elements within fun activities, such as crafting, or you can simply enjoy some laid-back entertainment with movie nights and games. Here are some ideas for things the whole family can enjoy while you’re at home and away on holiday…

Fun and games while you’re away

For my whole childhood, we always enjoyed a caravan holiday during the school summer hols. It was beside the seaside and we stayed at the same place every year – but it never became repetitive, in fact, we really enjoyed the trip, knowing what activities we could look forward to.

Do you have a holiday home that you regularly visit? Perhaps you have a caravan or chalet within your family that you can all enjoy? I love the idea of all chipping in to buy a little seasonal holiday home together – then you could have a family getaway whenever you like and the only costs you’d need to cover after the initial investment are some static caravan insurance and the park maintenance fees.

If you’ve got a family to entertain when you’re staying in the UK, let’s start with the travelling process – a long journey can be made infinitely more enjoyable with some travel games. A handheld ‘play anywhere’ game like Tension (currently on offer on Amazon) allows everyone in the car to take part in the game without requiring a table or playing board. It’s a pocket-sized pack and the snap buttons keep the score so no paper or pencils are required.

Another option if you’re travelling with teens is a quiz like Travel Wild Guess? It’s suitable for ages 12+ so the parents can join in too. The good news is that there isn’t really a ‘right’ answer in this quiz – the questions are about fascinating facts and figures so you simply make a guess and it doesn’t have to be exact as the person who guessed the number closest to to actual answer wins.

These are also great to keep kids entertained during the odd rainy afternoon in your accommodation too. And, if you’re staying at the seaside, a small card game with a pirate theme like Skullduggery seems appropriate. It can be played by up to 6 players so all the family can join in the fun. I remember playing card games for hours with my brothers when we stayed in that static caravan each summer!

Entertainment and activities when you’re at home

If you’ve already enjoyed your summer break and are staying at home for the rest of the school holidays, you’ll want to keep youngsters entertained so that they don’t resort to scrolling screens. You could try getting them involved in a creative activity like decoupage – I’ve previously shared my tips for this cheap children’s craft activity so be sure to check out the article for the things you’ll need and what projects kids can create together.

Plus, there are some fantastic family-friendly films coming out this summer so you could plan a movie night with tickets, popcorn and cinema snacks. This is an especially good activity to do during rainy days and you could stream a movie like Lassie: A New Adventure, which has just been released on digital in July – perfect for a lazy afternoon at home.

Or you could actually go out to the cinema and watch the latest release. Tomorrow, on the 9th of August, Gracie and Pedro: Mission Impossible comes out in UK cinemas. It’s a lovely cat-and-dog themed animation featuring the voice talents of Bill Nighy, Susan Sarandon, Alicia Silverstone, Danny Trejo and Brooke Shields – so it’s a star-studded film. I think the adults will enjoy this one as much as the kids will!

Make a day of your cinema trip by travelling to your local town and exploring the area – maybe even take a picnic to the park first. Pack up sandwiches and keep drinks cool in an insulated b.box bottle so that you don’t have to splash out on expensive cinema drinks. You can save money on film tickets using the offers available with Meercat Movies and Octoplus rewards so it doesn’t need to be an expensive day out.

Finally, why not encourage your family to make a record of their summer of fun? Do you remember creating scrapbooks of tickets, photos and leaflets when you were a child? I’m sure we did this every year as a family when I was little – and now I have those little notebooks to look back over as an adult and remember the fun we had in the sun.

An easy way to get kids involved in this is to encourage them to print their photos of their summer adventures at the end of each day and to spend the evenings adding to their scrapbooks. It’s easy to print photos from photos using a Photo Creator Instant Pocket Printer – this prints pics or graphics onto sticker paper so children can easily peel and stick the images straight into their book. Plus, it’s really small so can be taken away with you on day trips or holidays. This will give youngsters a bit of quiet, wind-down time after an exciting experience and serves as a journalling process to help kids reflect on the day too.

You can also make this classic scrapbooking idea digital after the holidays by collaging your family’s photos, screenshots of entry tickets, online maps etc and have them made into printed booklets. This is a great way to get teens involved in the idea of recording their summer activities. While little ones are happy with glue and glitter in a sugarpaper scrapbook, giving older kids the chance to use their digital design skills helps them to be creative and get involved in this family activity.

Let me know what other activities and entertainment you’ve got planned over the school summer holidays. I’d love to hear your money-saving hacks for fun days with the family so please leave your tips in the comments below.

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