Are you looking for holiday activities to keep the kids occupied during the school holidays? This is often a daunting task for any parent. If you need some activity ideas or inspiration for your children during the school holidays, then I hope you find this guide useful.
I have included a wide range of activities to suit all ages and hope it will help to inspire you and keep the kids entertained during the next school holiday.
I will be keeping this guide up-to-date going forward so please check back from time to time or if you have any recommendations, you would like me to add drop a comment below or get in touch.
This one is for the parents – Have you read my blog post 52 Summer Date Night ideas
Before we get into the fun activities, you are probably thinking, “this is great, but how do I get my children away from screens and taking part in family activities?”
A good way to start is to limit screen time to set hours per day, creating a list of tasks that need to do before any screen time is allowed, for example:
Most importantly lead by example and put down your mobile devices, maybe a screen detox for the whole family at set times could be the answer.
Be a good role model and encourage your children to be active. Keeping active is vital for children and young peoples development. Children aged 6 years + should be active for at least 60 minutes per day, and this can be throughout the day, it doesn’t’ have to be done in one go. The NHS Change4life website is a great place to start for the whole family.
Over the years, I have found keeping my children in a relaxed routine has been the key. It can make your family a lot happier, and it may also help when you are trying to get the children back into a routine for school.
Planning can be just as important, especially if you have to go to work or have any appointments which you need to attend.
Childcare can be expensive, especially during the long 6 week summer holidays! Not everyone has family members on hand to help out. Why not partner up with other parents at school in a similar situation this could help cut the cost of taking it in turns to have the children on different days
Creating a summer holiday activities diary will make sure nothing gets missed, and everyone is on the same page. When planning family days out always leave yourself some room to move the days around, especially for any weather permitting activities.
Always remember to set aside some time so that you could meet up with friends, go on a date night with your other half or maybe a little self-care night to relax and unwind.
The 6-week reading challenge is a favourite of mine, and I have enjoyed getting my children involved with this over the years.
It takes place every year during the 6 week summer holidays the challenge is great for encouraging children to read at least one book a week of their choice.
There is also lots of fun activities and competitions to take part in on the reading challenge website. You can sign your children up for the reading challenge at your local library for free.
Have a look online to find out what is going on in your local area.
Netmums is also a great website full of information of what’s going on along with online communities where you can reach out to other fellow parents.
Here are a few free activities to check out:
Playdates there is something about kids having their friends over to play they love it! It is also an excellent opportunity for parents to have some adult conversation, why not make afternoon tea. Check out These 10 easy snack ideas Which are perfect and fun for an afternoon playdate.
Building indoor dens, fill a basket with sheets, blankets and cushions. How to make a den
Capture the Flag at your local playing field park round up all your mum friends take a big picnic and let the kids run off all that extra energy. For more inspirational ideas check out my children’s craft and children’s activities. & 10 Fun Summer Holiday Activities your children will love
You don’t have to spend a lot of money on arts, and craft bits and bobs, Poundland and home and bargains are fantastic for picking bits up for a busy box. Make use of all your recycling and let the children make their very own junk monsters.
Giant chalks always went down well when my girls were little, making our garden look colourful and pretty.
Let your children make their very own boredom buster jar
When planning days out be sure to check out your local radio stations and newspapers for special offers and discounted tickets. If you are heading further afield check out the local media stations for discounts and special offers.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a great day out.
Here are my family’s favourite places to visit in our local area 10 Free Places to visit in Yorkshire
You can tie in educational activities with screen time by using educational sites like
Activity Books You can pick these up in your local bookstore for your child’s age group.
Go Ape Explore the forest via the treetops ropes course.
Energi Lesure Parks have multiple leisure centres all over kids love trampoline parks.
Live For Today Adventures Ripley with 20 outdoor activities including paintballing, escape the island with high ropes archery and much more.
Xscape – Lots of different activities and entertainment under one roof. From climbing walls, ice skating, dry ski slopes, Lazer tag and mini-golf, bowling. There is something for everyone
There are a lot of out of school clubs that provide holiday activities for kids covering a wide variety of activities. This holiday, my daughter will be attending gymnastics once a week.
Super Camps is an excellent website for finding camps.
One for the parents have you read my blog post 6 reasons why date night is important?
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I think it’s an excellent idea to limit screen time on a daily basis. Your kids will then be more interested in doing other healthy activities.
Great links to even better resources for parents looking to up their summer engagement game! The LIVE FOR TODAY link looks like fun for whole family, too.
These are great suggestions. I struggle with figuring out how to limit screen time with my 3yo, but your post has given me some ideas to get started!
One of my kids’ favorite activities to do while they are on break is create things using recyclables. They use cans, bottles, etc to make all sorts of contraptions outside. It’s hours of fun and doesn’t cost a thing!
Great mix of educational activities to keep their little brains working over the holidays and physical activities to make sure they don’t become couch potatoes!
Keeping kids active is key! Getting outside and playing with the hose, and riding bikes. It reminds me of my childhood. It’s so much fun watching my kids enjoy simple ways of staying active and away from screens. Thanks for the great ideas! I love your boredom buster jar idea!
OMG… Limiting Screen Time! Yes, I would cut it to zero… but that’s probably mission impossible, right?
This is a great guide for keeping kids entertained during the breaks which as you state can be challenging. You’ve seemed to master it.
Great ideas to keep kids busy on their free time! Definitely try those above to engaged our kids to such things. Thanks for sharing
I always try to engage in something that is educational and entertaining, thanks for these tips (:
Wow you have really provided a ton of ideas of how to keep the kids busy. I like the planning things out, if we got a calendar and filled in dates of some of the ideas you presented here, I calendar would be full of fun things to do! Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I agree with you. There are so many fun things to do and limit screen time. Thanks for the amazing tips!
I am a proactive mama when it comes to limiting screen time. I always incorporate some things to do for my daughter so that she will be occupied to play and explore. She is now 10 months and loves to play cups stacking!
I don’t have to do too much as my son loves his outside activities. But I do cut off his video game time when I need to!
There are a few that would be great!!!! If i could get my 2 year old to stay still for long enough lol she has ants in her pants but maybe when she gets a little older and settles a bit more but i will be mindful of this list.
I can’t imagine how hard it must be to be a parent and have to keep your kids entertained, especially during the summer months. This guide is so helpful, and honestly has helped me figure out a way to entertain my nieces when they are over!
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