I’m sure everyone agrees that the summer holidays should first and foremost be a time for kids to relax, have fun, see friends and spend time with their family but if you would like to keep their brains ticking over without getting into any major homework-related battles, here are 100 small, simple ideas and activities you can try with your children this summer. Some are more suited to younger children, some to older children so you will need to choose accordingly. You could always make a game of it and have your children pick out an activity at random that they have to do, or let them choose themselves.
- Write numbers from 1 to 100.
- Find an object in your house that begins with each letter of the alphabet.
- Write 10 sentences. Use a number word in each sentence.
- Make something in the kitchen involving the use of measuring cups.
- Go outside and find things for every colour of the rainbow.
- Write a story about your pet or a pet you would like to have.
- Write a letter to someone.
- Write the names of five friends, now make as many words using the letters of their names as you can.
- Make a scrapbook of animal pictures. You might want to choose an animal you like. See if you can find some old magazines or calendars to look for the pictures.
- Read a story to someone.
- Count the money in your wallet or ask mum or dad to give you some coins to count.
- Keep a journal of what you do during the Summer. Write in it at least 2 times each week.
- Write numbers from 101 to 300.
- Write the alphabet three times in your best cursive writing.
- Go outside. Find things for the sense of touch, things that are smooth, rough, prickly, sharp, hard, soft, dry, wet, etc. Make a log book of what you discover.
- Correctly spell as many colour words as you can, try some of the harder ones too like turquoise and burgundy.
- Write numbers by 5’s to 100 and then to 1000.
- Make little signs to name things in your room. Put them up in your room.
- Draw a picture of something outside. Write 5 or more sentences about it.
- Write all the number facts that will add to 10. (6 + 4 = 10, etc. )
- Go on a nature hike. Collect things and put them in a picture.
- Pretend you are a giant. Write a short story about it.
- Write numbers from 301 to 500.
- Cut out words from the newspaper – one for each letter of the alphabet
- Use the letters in the word UNITED KINGDOM to write as many words as you can.
- Find a recipe that uses a colour word in it’s title and help your mum or dad make it.
- Count out loud to 1000
- Write 10 sentences. Use a colour word in each sentence.
- Write numbers by 2’s to 100 (2, 4, 6…)
- Write a fairy tale. Then read it to someone younger than you.
- Write a poem about the weather, an animal or a plant..
- Plant something outside or help take care of a garden.
- Imagine that you have an alligator as a pet. Write a story about it.
- Cut apart the squares of a comic strip. Mix them up. Rearrange them in the correct order and then rearrange them into a funny mixed up story.
- Compare your bike with a friend’s bike. How are they alike? How are they different? Then do a safety check on both bikes.
- Make a sandwich. Cut it in half and then in fourths, see if you can cut it into eighths too.
- Make a list of everything you can find that is orange.
- Cut out words from a magazine. Make sentences out of them.
- With your parent’s permission, find one person on your street who is elderly and offer to help them with their garden work one afternoon.
- Write any ten numbers between 1 to 100. Cut them out and mix them up. Arrange them again from smallest to largest.
- Cut out a picture from an old calendar. Cut it into puzzle pieces and then put it back together.
- Choose a flower out of your garden, learn everything you can about that flower.
- Make price tags for several objects in your room. Make some play money and use it to buy the things in your “play store.”
- What would you do if you lived during the time of dinosaurs? Write a story about it.
- Write numbers from 501 to 700.
- Draw a map of your garden, put a treasure (a small box with a few treats) somewhere in your garden and mark it on your map. Invite your friends to try to find the treasure.
- Find objects around your home that begin with the sound SH . Draw a picture of each of them or have someone help you write them down. (sheets, shoe, etc.)
- Write your name. Cut out each letter. Arrange the letters in A,B,C, order.
- Pick anywhere in the world and find out more about that place by going to the library or searching on the internet.
- Read 26 books, starting with a book in which the authors last name begins with A, and then B until you get to Z.
- Write numbers by 10’s to 500.
- Go to the library and check out some books about space.
- Go outside and find 3 different kinds of leaves. How are they alike and different? Try to find out what types of leaves they are.
- Write numbers from 701 to 1000.
- Go outside. Learn which direction is north, south, east, and west. Walk 10 steps north and then 5 steps west. Where are you? (Stay out of the street!)
- Volunteer – ask your mum or dad to help you find someplace in your community where you can volunteer once or twice a week to help (places like the library, a veterinarian clinic, a senior’s home).
- Do something nice for your neighbourhood – pick up some litter, water some flowers or just make it look nicer.
- Write all the names of animals you know and have a friend do the same thing. Who can write the most names in 5 minutes. Have your mum time you. .
- Find pictures of objects that when matched will make a compound word. Suggestions: a horse and a shoe; a nut and a shell; a tree and a house; a cow and a boy. etc.. Then have a younger relative try to match all the pictures.
- Look for rocks in your garden. See if you can find 10 unusual rocks.
- Visit 3 tourist spots in your hometown or area.
- Make a picture journal of your Summer. Each week take 3 or 4 pictures of some of the things you are doing then put your photos into your journal and write a description about each picture.
- Find out if any of your local museums or libraries have any summer programmes just for kids.
- Memorise a poem and recite it for your family, or have everyone in your family memorise a poem and have a family poetry night.
- Count out loud from 400 to 500.
- Have a game night each week with your family, try some indoor and outdoor games.
- Make a list of everything you can find that is the colour red.
- Make kites with your friends out of newspaper.
- Play the “What’s Missing?” game with someone. Find 5-10 objects inside your home. Arrange them on a tray. Have someone look at them for 5 seconds and then cover eyes while you take one of the items away. Can they guess what is missing? Then let your friend remove an item and you try to guess what is missing.
- Have a paper aeroplane contest, who can make a paper aeroplane that flies the furthest.
- Find a yummy recipe for a dessert and have your mum or dad help you make it..
- Write a thank you letter to someone who has done a great job or helped you in some way.
- Plan a picnic with your family, make up the list of items you want to take and games to play while on your picnic. Then help your mum and dad get things ready for the special day.
- Think about a job you might like to do when you grow up. Write a letter to someone who works in that job and ask them questions about their job.
- This is the year 2015. Write down 2015 words you can spell or read. You might want to work at this over a few days.
- Cut out food pictures from magazines. Make 4 category cards – Dairy Products, Meat, Fruit and Vegetable, and Bread and Cereal. Arrange the pictures under the correct category.
- Draw a map of your house and label all the exits you would use in case of a fire. Plan a meeting place with your family in case there ever was a fire and what talk about what you should do as well.
- Measure things in your house. Make up a chart. Measure the items by the length of your finger, hand and arm. Then try measuring using a ruler. Record the results.
- Play the “Direction Game.” Have someone tell you three directions and see if you can do them correctly and in the right order. Example: Clap your hands 5 times. Go look out the window. Write your name on a piece of paper.
- Make up some bubble solution and find some objects around the house to blow bubbles with, try some unique things using straws, string, and other objects.
- Practice the times table. Day 1 do the 1 times table, Day 2 do the 2 times table and go as many days as you can.
- Go to the library or look on the internet for a craft project you could make. Ask your mum or dad to help you find all the materials.
- Sign up at your local library for their Summer Reading Program.
- Get a book about birds and spend one afternoon seeing how many birds you can identify that live in your backyard.
- With your mum or dad’s help, go through your old books and donate them to a hospital for sick kids to be able to read.
- With your mum or dad’s help find some “good” old toys and clothes and donate them to a shelter in your town.
- On a piece of paper write the dates for 20 days during the Summer months. Beside each date write the name of a fruit or vegetable you ate on that date. See if you can have 20 different fruits or vegetables on your list.
- Choose a sport you like. Either find a way you can play that sport or write a list of new things you have learned about it.
- Write a letter to your last teacher. Tell your teacher the best things about your class last year. Give your teacher one new idea you think next year’s class would like to learn. Take the letter to school on your first day back to give to your “old” teacher. If they have moved away, ask the school’s secretary if they could send the letter to your “old” teacher for you.
- Write all the number facts that will add to eighteen.
- Lay down a blanket in the garden and go star gazing.
- Plant a sunflower seed and keep a journal about how it is growing.
- Create a sculpture using rubbish.
- Write a play and have family and friends perform it.
- Get a skipping rope and count how many times you can skip without missing. Try it again. Can you beat your record?
- Make a list of 10 things you could NEVER do in the summer.
- Make a list of 10 things you could NEVER do in the winter.
- Write a joke and tell your mum or dad the joke.
- Pretend to be a pirate and imagine an adventure.
- Write an adventure story and read it to a younger child.
