With the school holidays coming up at the end of May, and the long summer vacation stretching ahead in July and August, I thought it would be handy to share some of my favourite ideas for days with my family.
I love spending time with my nieces and nephews, who range from 0-years-old to teenagers, and I enjoy coming up with fun ideas to entertain them whenever I’m babysitting during the mid-term break or school summer holidays.
Here are some ideas that I know kids will enjoy – and I bet you will enjoy them, too!
1. Make the most of the sunshine: Outdoor adventures on two wheels
Celebrate those rare-but-glorious British sunny days by encouraging youngsters to hop on the kids’ bikes they got for Christmas and go cycling. There’s something special about the joy of exploring local parks, seaside promenades or woodland trails by bike – it’s such a wholesome activity, the kind of thing we would have enjoyed when we were children.
Of course, there are many benefits from going on a bike ride with the kids: fresh air, independence, confidence-building, and sneaking in some healthy movement without it feeling like “exercise”. This could be a family ride to a new playground, where they’ll spend even more time running around and climbing.
Plus, you can make it into an adventure. You could create a treasure hunt on wheels, with a map and a reward at the end. For older kids and teens, it can be even more exciting if you search for geocaching locations using the Geocaching app.
2. Back garden festival day
Here’s an idea that I’ve done myself before – even without the kids! Create a mini festival at home in your garden: put up bunting, play music, get out the face paints and power up a bubble machine.
I’ve even pitched a tent before and have slept outside. Kids of all ages love the excitement of camping, but at least this way you’ve got a lovely clean bathroom you can use in the house plus, you can all head indoors if it unexpectedly starts to rain!
Add simple craft stations to make a full day of “festival entertainment” and construct a DIY photo booth backdrop with a colourful sheet on the washing line. You can also create a “snack shack” with homemade treats that they can eat alfresco, just like the street food you’d find at a festival. And in the evening, you can toast marshmallows over a (carefully controlled!) campfire.
This is a lovely party theme if your child has a birthday over the summer holidays. But even if there’s no birthday to celebrate, you can still encourage your kids to invite friends over and make it a social day without the cost of going to a real festival.
3. Creative playdate magic
For children of all ages, a brilliant way to spark imaginative group play is to have your little ones’ friends bring their dolls over for the day – a bit like a teddy bear’s picnic, but with the kids dolls instead.
A “Doll Day Out” could include setting up mini cafés, hair salons, fashion shows, or even a doll-sized “school lesson” conducted in the living room. To make this activity even more creative, kids can design outfits for their dolls from scrap fabric and build cardboard houses to scale.
They could even create a stop‑motion movie starring their dolls. My family are very much into creating animations with their robots, dinosaurs and Lego figures, so I know that older kids and teenagers would love to set up a tripod and press “action” on the camera. There are plenty of free stop-motion apps available to make it super easy to record and edit the film.
Also, we love to build an entire Lego scene, such as a music festival in the summer or a North Pole village at Christmas. To capture the city coming to life, I like to set up the camera and get a time-lapse of the scene growing – and the kids love to watch it back afterwards and take lots of photos and videos of their hard work. This weekend, we’re working on a space scene using an Artemis rocket set from Brick Borrow and we’re all super excited!
4. Around the world in a lunchtime: try new foods together
When it’s time for lunch, don’t just stick to the same old sandwiches. Why not introduce a “global tasting day” where kids try small bites of foods from different countries? Here are some ideas of options that kids will enjoy trying:
- Japan: sushi rolls or edamame, or try a sweet option from a Tokyo Treat snack box
- Mexico: quesadillas or guacamole – nothing too spicy!
- Italy: mini pizzas and pasta dishes, plus I’m sure gelato would be happily enjoyed by the little ones
- India: a fragrantly spiced dish with lentils or naan bread – keep it mild
Encourage kids to help prepare the dishes – it boosts confidence and makes them more likely to try new flavours. Spending the morning in the kitchen preparing lunch is a great way to spend a rainy day over the school holidays. Also, you can make it fun: create passports, stamp each “destination” when they try the food, and learn a fact about each place.
5. Nature scavenger hunt
If you’re going on a walk to get some fresh air and enjoy the summer sun, let’s make your relaxed stroll into a fun scavenger hunt. Create a printable list of things to find: a feather, a smooth stone, something yellow, a heart‑shaped leaf and so on.
This works well in parks, beaches or woodland – it’s amazing what kids will find when they start looking. Also, you can even just do it around the garden at home. Add in some optional challenges, such as taking a photo of a bug, drawing a flower, or collecting natural materials for a craft project later, such as creating a fairy garden like this one.
6. DIY craft morning
Do you remember doing “junk modelling” at primary school? I loved those sessions and I’m sure it’s what got me started on my upcycling journey! It’s such an easy activity to arrange – simply set up a craft table covered in newspaper for a quick clean up and hand out the aprons!
Then, kids can use bits from the recycling bin to create something new, such as cardboard castles, decorated jars, robots, handmade kites and rockets etc. All they need are some paints, stickers, glue and scrap fabric to complete their creations. Planning a fun decoupage session will keep kids entertained for hours!
7. Mini gardeners: plant something together
Here’s something I’ve recently learnt – kids love watching things grow. My nephew (and actually, the whole family) enjoyed decorating some plant pots when I arranged a painting session for them during the school hols. After we finished our pot painting party, we planted the terracotta pots with seasonal flowers and strawberry plugs that he could take home and care for.
Some super easy plants to grow from seed are sunflowers, herbs or cress. You can line up some pots and get the little ones to fill them with compost and sow the seeds. Label the pots so that the children can monitor their own plants during the coming weeks. Turn it into a challenge: whose sunflower grows tallest by the end of the holidays?
8. Local Adventures That Feel Like Big Days Out
It’s often the case that we overlook things that are going on in our local area. When we’re on holiday in a new location, we’ll probably hunt out a gallery or stately home to explore, but rarely do we make the most of our nearest tourism spots.
So, why not visit a nearby museum, nature reserve, or heritage site? You’ll be saving on transport costs if you’re not travelling further afield and perhaps you can even walk to your nearest lifeboat station or bird hide. Look for free workshops or kids’ trails – many places offer them during school holidays and add a “travel journal” activity, where youngsters can draw or write about what they saw on their local day out.
9. Rainy Day Rescue: Indoor Obstacle Course
Okay, here’s an idea I know you’ll like, because I still love it – an indoor obstacle course or, for a calmer approach, den building. Cushions, chairs, tape lines on the floor, tunnels made from blankets, clothes airers and pegs – these are all acceptable building materials when you’re creating a cosy den to snuggle up in or an obstacle course route.
Once you’ve built the course, time each other as you complete it or create silly challenges, like hopping or carrying a cushion under each arm. Imagine playing “spy mission” theme music as you do it – that’ll be so funny, and even teens will want to get involved.
And finally, you can all relax inside the den with duvets and pillows. Take in a mug of hot chocolate (the ultimate treat for kids, am I right?), or you could keep one side of the den open so that you can see the TV. That way, you can all watch a movie under the sheets with a box of popcorn.
10. End‑of‑Holiday Memory Scrapbook
Let’s round off the holidays the only way I know how: making a memory scrapbook. I’m sure this is something that all children did during the school break – or was that just me? I still have sugar-paper books with glued-in ticket stubs, maps and photos from my childhood!
Part of the process could be pressing flowers they’ve collected from their nature walks, and they could add doodles they’ve drawn of local landmarks they’ve visited. An end-of-holiday memory scrapbook is a lovely keepsake and a calming activity for the final weekend.
I hope these ideas have given you some inspiration for days with the little ones over the school holidays. Please let me know your own tips in the comments below, I’d love to hear how you keep your children entertained and perhaps steal some of your ideas for days out with my own nieces and nephews! 🙂
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