Fight that summer-time boredom and avoid * whispers * too much screen time, with our 5 most brilliant and popular summer holiday club games and activities that YOU can easily do at home – ta-dah!

All our activities are pretty darn educational even if we say so ourselves. At Practically Family we love to bolster your kid’s knowledge whilst throwing in a giant dollop of fun. The kids are oblivious. Clever, eh?

 

Mini Olympics

Make these as competitive or as non-competitive as you wish.

Balancing, climbing, jumping, crawling and catching -who doesn’t love a bit of pretend Olympics? Make up your own family challenges and obstacle courses or simply stick to the traditional faves like egg & spoon, sack races, and hopping races. Playing games increases motivation, boosts self-esteem and teaches turn-taking which is why we love them so much. Getting kids moving is not only good for their well-being but having the freedom to be able to run, roll around and be loud means they use up their abundant energy.

Don’t restrict your Olympics to one day, keep it going over the summer. Try different events and challenges each week. Keep a tally of scores (if you’re going for the competitive version) and get the kids involved in making the podiums. Cheap medals are easy to buy but we find those of the chocolate variety seem to go down best – can’t think why!

 

Would You Rather?

This one is always so much fun and we are always in fits of giggles with the answers. Requires no props or arduous prep and it’s great for long car journeys.

It isn’t mastermind so these don’t have to be philosophical, often they are better when they are downright silly, gross or just plain weird.

1. Would you rather wear the same socks for a month or the same underwear for a week?


2. Would you rather be Batman or Spiderman?


3. Would you rather be eat bugs or drink puddle water?

You get the gist. Despite the rabbit hole of grossness that you may descend in to (we are talking kids after all), this game is wonderful for children to let their imaginations run wild. It boosts their confidence in language skills, listening and reasoning – of course it’s only right we want to know WHY swimming in a pool of beans is better than a pool of honey for example. It’s memorable and mentally challenging.

Don’t rush the answers, let your little one come up with their best thought-through answer. It’s essentially a sneaky work-out for their logical thinking shhhh.

 

TEAM Summer

Love our SUMMERSTOCK and want to bring those festival vibes to your own garden? Get the kids involved right from the start by thinking up their very own festival name (from silly to sublime). Decide who is attending and get creative with VIP lanyards or wrist bands for those oh-so important guests. Garden decoration is key, with funky bunting, bright flags, fairy lights balloons and bubbles. Check out these brilliant DIY bunting options here.  Less is not more in this situation!

Every festival needs a line up. So, get the kids to think up some activities and a schedule for the day. Garden games, face/glitter painting, plus home-grown performances from the kids – dance routines, musical instruments or drama. Let them decide and then go away and practice before the big reveal.

Don’t forget the all-important dress code -wellies, hats, fancy dress or fairy wings even! These wands are oh-so-fun to make and perfect for swishing around to the music!

There’s so much for the kids to plan which is fabulous for their sense of ownership, design and organisation skills. If you’re feeling ambitious, set up your tent for the night camping or glamping (whatever is your vibe). It’ll be a festival they won’t forget any time soon!

 

Go Wild!

It wouldn’t be summer if we didn’t embrace the great outdoors. We know that outdoor nature-based learning helps grow resilience, independence and those important gross motor skills.

Think mud war paint and awesome den building by collecting loads of sticks and branches. Create camp names for your den and attach it to your structure. Eat a picnic inside or even better, a sweet treat!

Go on walks in the woods and create journey sticks by collecting memories from your walk (leaves, flowers, feathers etc) and then tie them to your stick. Maybe even paint or carve pictures on your stick afterwards. The idea being you can retell the story of your walk through everything you’ve collected for your stick. Its lovely stuff for building those fine motor skills plus its creative too!

The fun doesn’t stop there. There are trees to climb and mud pies to be mixed. Create flower crowns with simple daisies or by stringing lots of leaves together. Collect, paint and hide kindness rocks with lovely words on them for people to find. Ahh, we’re wild with excitement for you. Outdoors is SUCH a sensory wonderland.

 

Alternative Art

Let them embrace their inner Jackson Pollock and get their creative juices flowing. Outside summer art is the perfect place to trial, test and experiment with all things creative this summer and the clean-up is soooo much easier. Think scooping, pouring, sifting and squirting galore!

Grab an old sheet and fill water guns with paint. Let the kids create their own modern art by shooting the sheet.

Use chalk on the pavement or patio. Draw boxes so they can create their own comic strips. Create crazy hopscotches, or design portrait galleries for passers-by to see.

Fill up water balloons with paint and let them make splatter art. Let them use a pendulum to paint (and talk about the science behind it) or use a salad spinner with paint and use phrases like centrifugal force. The opportunities really are endless.

So why not try some of our suggestions? They’re tried, tested and 100% kid approved!  We love educational activities for kids that allow them to have a blast whilst learning awesome new things!

What will you do this summer?