We know that being a parent can be difficult at times, especially when it comes to keeping children entertained during the long days of summer.
We’ve put together a paddling pool full of easy, low cost (or free) ideas that we hope will inspire happy holidays for the whole family – parents included!
Read on for our simple screen-free summer activities for kids…
Pop to your local park
FREE – ALL AGES
A trip to the park is the go-to solution for many of us when we’re on a budget or pressed for summer activities for kids – and there’s a reason why! There’s something there for all ages – from toddling around on the grass to playing in the park/recreation area or having a game of football.
Consider taking a football or frisbee with you for older children. And if you want to make a day of it, take a picnic for you all to enjoy when you get hungry – or at the very least, go prepared with snacks and water in case they’re needed.
Keep Britain Tidy manage the government’s “Green Flag” scheme which recognises well managed, accessible green spaces. This interactive map lists the Green Flag parks in your area, as well as what facilities are available.
Make a day of it by taking a picnic for you all to enjoy when you get hungry.
Free entry museums
FREE – ALL AGES
A great option for getting out and about cheaply – and especially on a rainy day – is free entry museums. Lots of cities across the UK have museums and art galleries that are free to enter.
Museums might not always seem like the most child friendly locations, but many of them are now set up with children in mind. One example, the Discovery Museum in Newcastle, has a “hands on” Science area and soft play section and lots of the other exhibits are interactive too. The Museum of Modern Art in Glasgow has a dedicated art room for children and runs free art clubs for little ones.
You can find similar attractions for children of all ages at museums across the country. Simply search for ‘free museums’ online and you might be surprised what you’ll find right on your doorstep.
Build an indoor den or secret base
FREE – PRE-SCHOOL AGE PLUS
Building a den in your front room (or child’s bedroom) is always popular with younger children. They really enjoy the sense of building their own world – as well as flouting rules about what’s normally acceptable inside their real home!
Children can turn chairs to face each other and lie larger sofa cushions between them to make roofs and tunnels, which saves you work.
Children love to sit inside their creation, so encourage and help them to design something with a viable ‘indoor’ space.
This is another great chance to engage your child’s imagination. Prompt them to consider what kind of base they’re building. Is it a castle? Pirate ship? Space station? Superhero headquarters? You can then help with exciting suggestions. For example, “every space station needs a radar” – even if this is only a paper plate with a pencil pushed through it!
Building a den in your front room (or child’s bedroom) is always popular with younger children. They really enjoy the sense of building their own world – as well as flouting rules about what’s normally acceptable inside their real home!
Chalk drawings
CHEAP – ALL AGES
This is great fun and can be surprisingly engaging for older children, as the idea of drawing on the floor or walls outside can feel a little like breaking the rules. That said, it’s worth pointing out the law is unclear regarding the use of chalk in public spaces. As such, it’s best to stick to your own outdoor space if you have some. And don’t worry – a little rain or a full kettle will wash away even the most ambitious masterpiece!
You can often find money-saving multipack sets of chalk in pound shops or discount stores. Save sibling arguments about colours and get two sets (or snap chalks in half), so everybody has all the colours they want – and none of the rivalry!
Although this isn’t real graffiti, why not take inspiration from some of the better examples of graffiti art and encourage your own mini Banksy. For instance, your child could try using a few bold colours to create patio artwork – just don’t forget to take a photo before it rains…
Make your own puppets and robots
CHEAP – ALL AGES
Challenge your child to make a model out of things you have around the house, including things that would otherwise go in the rubbish or recycling! You can make puppets, robots and even models of family members. It’s a lot of fun and doesn’t cost much at all, especially if you keep hold of things like toilet roll inner tubes, boxes and lolly sticks, and use paints and markers to decorate.
The creative aspect is really useful for helping children develop their imagination – and after you’ve made the puppets, you could tell each other stories about them. Time to let your imagination run wild!
Build an obstacle course
FREE – ALL AGES
If you need an activity that can harness your child’s pent-up energy, try building a simple obstacle course. This can be done inside or outside on a nice day. And even better, it costs absolutely nothing!
Try to make it work on different levels, with some higher obstacles (if it’s safe to do so!) and some that are low to the ground. For example, you might suggest your child uses a low wall as a balance beam. And a blanket makes a surprisingly effective ‘net’ for your child to go under.
Try and work in skill challenges. Examples include making a basketball or football shot, or walking with an egg and spoon.
If you have more than one child in the house, get them to time each other using a stopwatch. Then they can try and beat each other’s times!
If you need an activity that can harness your child's pent-up energy, try building a simple obstacle course.
Visit your local library
FREE – PRE-SCHOOL AGE PLUS
If a trip to the local library isn’t already near the top of your holiday to-do list, it should be! As well as fuelling your child’s imagination through a variety of books for all ages, modern libraries host a range of fantastic and often free group activities – from singing sessions for babies and toddlers to craft workshops and hobby clubs.
Check out your local council’s library website or the noticeboard in the library to find out exactly what’s happening and when. This will help you plan in advance for the things your child would really love to try.
If you don’t fancy any of the activities listed, remember that your library can still be a great place to pick up some new books for bedtime – just be sure to challenge your children to try something different by exploring the shelves (in the appropriate section). That’s half the fun of a library!
Create your own egg-cellent masterpiece
CHEAP – PRE-SCHOOL AGE PLUS
Not just for Easter, this old fashioned craft activity is a lovely summer activity for kids. It offers plenty of messy fun while the eggs are blown and a good creative outlet once they’ve dried.
If you’ve never done this before, check out this simple guide to blowing an egg to get you started. You’ll have to let your eggs dry for at least a couple of hours after you’ve blown them, so maybe have another activity planned while you wait – or you’ll have some impatient artists in waiting! Then you can either decorate your blown eggs with things like tissue paper and pipe cleaners, or just use paints and markers.
This activity is great for exploring children’s other interests as they can decorate their eggs as superheroes, comic characters, princesses or even footballers.
As well as fuelling your child’s imagination through a variety of books for all ages, modern libraries host a range of fantastic and often free group activities.
Build a shelter
CHEAP – PRE-SCHOOL TO TEENAGERS
A close cousin of den building in the front room, building a shelter outside can be a lot of fun. The added outdoor element should even inspire more adventurous older children, making this another fantastic, screen-free summer activity for kids.
Not sure where to start? Ask the experts! The National Trust offers some great den-building advice (and guided sessions).
Alternatively, dive in and make it up as you go along! You might just choose to gather some wood and make your den in the back garden, using sheets for the roof and walls. The important thing is to have fun!
You’re likely to be outside for quite a while, so dress accordingly to avoid getting too hot or cold – and don’t forget the sun cream!
Scavenger hunt
FREE – PRE-SCHOOL PLUS
A scavenger hunt is another simple and popular activity. It’s also a fun way for children to safely explore when you’re having a picnic – whether it’s in your own garden or out and about.
Pick a theme for your hunt, or write a list of things for your child to find. (Make sure you’ve based it on the specific place where you’re doing the hunt, so you don’t accidentally set them an impossible task!)
If you need some inspiration, here are some types of scavenger hunt you can try:
- Nature: Things you’re likely to find outdoors, like a pebble, daisies, seeds, leaves or feathers.
- Rainbow: Where you find an object for each colour of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).
- Alphabet: Where you look for something that begins with each letter of a word.
Don’t forget: you’ll need something to write with to tick the items off the list, and something to collect the items in.
Be careful not to pick wildflowers, or plants from someone’s garden. To avoid doing this accidentally, you could take a camera and take pictures of what you find instead.
Leaf, crayon or chalk rubbings
CHEAP – ALL AGES
Things with an interesting texture make great crayon rubbings. For instance, you could challenge children to find different shapes and sizes of leaves on the ground. Make a game of it by setting a timer (start with a minute) for children to find as many leaves as they can. Alternatively, you could plan a scavenger hunt (see above) to find as many different textured objects as possible.
When they’ve found some leaves, get your child to place the leaves they’ve found between a hard surface and a piece of paper, before rubbing the crayon gently over the paper until the shapes and textures of the leaves show through. Gentle sweeps using the side of the crayon work best, building up the colour gradually.
Together, you can then consider:
- How well do different leaves work?
- Do the rubbings look like anything familiar (other than leaves)?
Your child can then move on to trying lots of different surfaces and textures, to see which is their favourite.
Summer can be a time when many people find their finances, time and mental health under additional strain. If you need support with any aspect of your family life, you can contact our free and confidential helpline FamilyLine.
Article last reviewed on 17 June 2026.
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