The summer holidays are a great chance for children to relax and unwind, but six weeks of downtime can quickly turn into six weeks of screentime and squabbles. Here are some summer activities for kids to keep them occupied during those seemingly endless summer days.
Keeping children’s minds and bodies active supports their physical health, mood and sleep, and helps them return to school in September ready to focus. It’s also a wonderful way for families to spend some quality time together and have FUN!
Keeping active doesn’t need to involve lots of resources or expensive trips out. With a little creativity, everyday moments can become fab opportunities for learning through talk, play and exploration.
Here, we’ve pulled together 12 simple, fun activities from our programmes that require little to no equipment and can be enjoyed by children of all ages. Give them a go!
Summer activities for kids requiring no resources
1. Alphabet Game
Look around you and find something starting with each letter of the alphabet. Take turns to find something beginning with A, then B, then C, all the way to Z. 
2. Numbers & Shapes
Look for numbers around you, starting from 0. What is the highest number you can find? Or look for different shapes. Count the sides and corners. Is it round or straight?
3. Horace's Cat
Try to make each other laugh! Take turns asking a question. If the answer is a person or animal, say ‘Horace’s Cat’. If the answer is ‘yes’, say ‘no’. If the answer is ‘no’, say ‘yes’. Anything else, say ‘Cucumbers’! Easier version: answer every question with ‘Cucumber’.
4. Chair in the World
One person thinks of a chair everyone has sat in — think of places you have been together. Everyone else asks yes-or-no questions to guess which chair it is. Keep going until someone guesses correctly, then it is their turn!
5. Fortunately / Unfortunately
Tell a story together. One person starts, e.g. ‘One day Jessie went to the park.’ The next person makes it go wrong: ‘Unfortunately, there was a tiger on the swing.’ Then the next fixes it: ‘Fortunately, the tiger wasn’t hungry today.’ Keep taking turns and see where the story goes!
6. Car Cricket
One person is the batter. They pick a car colour to spot — every matching car scores a point. Everyone else picks a vehicle that will catch them ‘out’, like a police car, bus or a motorbike. If you see the ‘out’ vehicle then it ends their turn. Whoever has the most runs at the end wins!
Activities using things from around the house
1. Den Building
Work together to build a den. Use a sheet, table, or chair — anything you have! Put cushions underneath to make it cosy, and share a book together inside. You could even have a picnic or snack in there. If you have a torch or lamp, make it extra dark and pretend it’s night-time! 
2. Under a Sheet
Get a bedsheet and take turns going underneath it to perform an action — like hopping, jumping, skipping, dancing or twirling. Everyone else has to guess what you are doing. Whoever guesses correctly goes next!
3. Patterns and Symmetry
Fold a piece of paper in half and draw a line down the middle. Take turns drawing a shape on one side — the other person copies it to make it symmetrical. You can also try this with toys or objects from outside instead of drawing.
4. Crab Football
Get into a crab shape (hands and feet on the floor, tummy up) and try kicking a ball to each other. Set up a goal and see who can score! Or try Crab Teddies — balance a cuddly toy on your tummy and see how far you can crab-walk before it falls off.
5. Picture Consequences
Fold a piece of paper into four equal sections. One person draws a monster’s head, folds the paper so it can’t be seen, then passes it on. The next person draws the body, then someone else the legs, then the feet — each time without looking. Unfold the paper to see your silly monster!
6. Charades
Act out a book, TV show or film everyone knows. Write down a few ideas on paper and pop them in a pot. Take turns picking one — without showing anyone else, tell them how many words it has, then act it out. If someone guesses correctly, it is their turn next.
Try mixing a few of these activities into your week and see what sticks; you might just find a new family favourite.
Most importantly, have fun with it. The best summer memories rarely come from perfectly planned days out, but from the small, silly moments in between.
Check out some more fun activities you can try at home:
