Make a summer bucket list to get the most out of the school holidays!
A great way to kick off the summer holiday is to have a family brainstorming session to make your summer bucket list! We’ve got lots of easy ideas and free activity templates to get you started…
Looking for ways to keep the kids busy and happy over the summer holidays? A summer bucket list might be just what you need. It gives you ready-made ideas to dip into when the “I’m bored” chorus begins, without turning the holidays into a rigid timetable.
Even better, plan it together. Children love helping choose what to do, and they’re far more likely to join in if they helped decide. Whether you’re heading out on adventures or staying close to home, a go-to list of simple, fun summer activities can make the holidays feel more exciting (and less overwhelming).
And the best bit? Many of the most memorable summer activities don’t cost a thing. And, with a little thought, you can sneak in a bit of learning too to keep those brain cells ticking over.
10 easy summer family bucket list ideas…
To help you get started, we’ve rounded up 10 fun, low-cost summer holiday ideas for children. They’re creative, engaging, and feel like play while sneaking in a bit of learning too (our speciality!).
- Build sandcastles – Science, shapes and storytelling… all in a bucket and spade
- Go on a picnic – Plan it, pack it, eat it! Add maths and nature on the side
- Play dress-up – Pirates, superheroes or shopkeepers… bring imagination to life!
- Make a bird feeder – Get crafty and spark a love of nature and observation
- Try the Monster Summer Activity Pack – Printable puzzles and games that sneak in learning
- Build a den – Problem solving, creative thinking and a cosy hideaway at the end
- Do a junk model challenge – Turn recycling into robots, rockets or wild new inventions
- Make a summer scrapbook – Capture memories while building writing and drawing skills
- Play Busy Things – Guilt-free screen time packed with educational fun
- Make an obstacle course – Burn off energy while learning direction, timing and teamwork
1. Build sand castles
A classic for a reason. Whether you’re at the beach or using a sandpit in the garden, sandcastle building is a brilliant mix of creativity, science and open-ended play.
Children can explore:
- Science – wet vs dry sand, how structures hold
- Maths – patterns, shapes and comparing sizes
- Imagination – whose castle is it? What lives inside?
- Storytelling – build a moat, add a flag, act out a story
Keep the learning going with Busy Things:
Buried Treasure – Hunt for phonics sounds buried in the sand – great for early reading!
Castle labelling activities – Match castle parts in this fun drag-and-drop game.
2. Go on picnics (incl. free scavenger hunt printable)
Plan and pack a picnic together. Choose the food together, pick a spot and head out, even if it’s just into the garden.
To make it more than just lunch outdoors:
- Try a challenge – plan a picnic for under £5
- Talk about food – where do ingredients come from? How are they made? What do they taste like? Perhaps include something they’ve never tried before.
- Do a bit of cooking together – measuring, weighing and timing all help build maths skills
- Nature spotting – look out for bugs, birds and trees
- Playtime – tag, hide-and-seek or a scavenger hunt (download free scavenger hunts below)
Keep the learning going with Busy Things:
Make a pizza – Choose your toppings and create a perfect pizza!
Busy Oven – Explore cooking times and temperatures to bake the perfect dish.
3. Play dress-up
Who will they become today? Grab some old clothes, tea towels, hats or even a bedsheet and let your child’s imagination take the lead.
Role play is a great way to encourage imagination and creativity! Any theme can lend itself to all sorts of other subjects too. Pretending to be pirates?…
- Make a treasure map
- Hide ‘gold coins’ and count them up
- Turn the sandpit into a dig site
- Paint a pirate flag
- Act out a story and give each character a voice
Keep the learning going with Busy Things with themed activities like…
Label a Pirate Ship – Learn pirate lingo by labelling different parts of a pirate ship.
4. Make a bird feeder
Get crafty and care for nature at the same time. Use a toilet roll tube, pinecone or yoghurt pot and follow a child-friendly tutorial like this one from the natural history museum.
Then set up a watch station near a window or in the garden to learn about and watch your new feathered friends!…
- Track which birds visit each day
- Draw what you see or take photos
- Look up bird names together and keep a log
- Compare sizes, colours and behaviours
- Make your own bird-watching book or display
Keep the learning going with Busy Things:
Busy Graph Maker – Record and chart your bird sightings using simple graph tools.
Parts of bird – Learn to identify parts of a bird in this interactive activity.
5. Try the Monster Summer Activity Pack
If your child knows Busy Things, they’ll know our Yellow Monster! The FREE Monster Summer Activity Pack is packed with printable puzzles, mazes, spot-the-difference challenges, code-breaking games and more. It’s silly, surprising and designed to keep children thinking and creating all summer long.
- Stretch problem-solving skills
- Practise careful observation
- Boost concentration
- And most importantly, have fun!
Keep the learning going with Busy Things:
Log in to explore lots of learning games featuring many funny, friendly monsters! From maths and art to coding, phonics, literacy, science and music and more. All loved by children and trusted by teachers. Take a completely free trial of Busy Things – no commitment and no card details taken.
6. Build a den
Indoors or out, building a den is one of those timeless activities that feels like magic.
Use whatever you have – blankets, chairs, cardboard boxes, cushions, garden canes, string. Let your child plan it out, test ideas and adapt as they go. It’s all brilliant problem solving!
- Try different materials – what works best and why?
- Talk about gravity, balance and structure
- Measure how tall or wide it is
- Name your den and give it a purpose
Once it’s built, the real fun begins… use it as a reading nook, a hideout, a home cinema or a castle to defend!
Keep the learning going with Busy Things:
Make your own 3D shapes – Explore shape and structure with 3D nets of Busy Things characters using different shapes
Tangraminals – Use geometric shapes to build creatures that come to life.
7. Do a junk model challenge
Before you put the recycling out, see what you can make from it!
Cardboard boxes, toilet rolls, yoghurt pots and bottle tops. They’re all raw materials waiting to be turned into robots, rockets, animals, castles or something completely unexpected!
- Talk about which materials work best and why
- Test ideas – what’s strong, bendy, waterproof?
- Compare and sort materials by their properties
- Set a theme or challenge (build a car, create a creature, design something that floats)
Keep the learning going with Busy Things:
Suitability of Materials – Discover why objects are made of certain materials through playful experiments.
Build a spaceship – Create your own rocket ship by piecing together parts.
8. Make a summer scrapbook
Scrapbooking is a lovely way to capture summer memories while keeping literacy, drawing and reflection skills ticking along.
You don’t have to do it every day, just choose a few standout moments and help your child record them in their own way.
- Draw pictures of your day
- Write a sentence or short story
- Collect mementos like tickets, leaves or photos
- Add speech bubbles or comic strip captions
- Interview each other about your favourite moments
Keep the learning going with Busy Things:
Write a Journal Entry – Children can reflect on their day or a week in the holidays.
9. Play Busy Things
Let’s be honest – sometimes you just need a bit of quiet time. The good news? Screen time can still be learning time.
Busy Things is packed with over 1,000 educational games and activities covering maths, English, art, coding, music, science and more. It’s trusted by teachers, and loved by children aged 3 to 11.
- Keep skills fresh over the holidays
- Dip into short bursts of meaningful learning
- Explore silly characters, funny animations and creative challenges
You can try our educational games for kids completely FREE! Make sure to take advantage of our summer sale – 2 months for only £4.49! Includes access for up to five children. aged 3-11.
10. Make an obstacle course
This one’s perfect for indoors or out, and it burns off some energy too!
Use what you’ve got: cushions, chairs, skipping ropes, tape lines, boxes, cones, garden toys… children will love getting involved in planning and building it and then test it out.
- Use directional language – under, over, forwards, clockwise, turn 90° etc
- Add challenges – hop three times, balance for five seconds
- Take turns giving instructions – can they guide you through it blindfolded?
- Time it and work out the difference between rounds
Keep the learning going with Busy Things:
Dog and Cat’s Workout – Warm up with stretches, jumps and silly moves from Dog and Cat.
Hen Hunt – develop problem solving and understanding of position and direction in this game of hide and seek.
What will be on your summer bucket list?
The holidays can feel long, but they also go by in a flash! A summer bucket list gives you a simple way to make the most of the time you’ve got together.
It helps you plan ahead, gets children excited, and turns everyday moments into memories. You don’t have to tick everything off. Just pick and choose when you need a bit of inspiration.
Along the way, you’ll be building skills, boosting confidence and sneaking in a little learning too.
Don’t forget to grab your extras to help you get started:
- Claim your FREE Monster Summer Activity Pack
- Try out the FREE Summer Scrapbook templates
- 2 months of Busy Things for only £4.49 – play fun educational games now!
- Starting school in September? FREE school-ready activities to try this summer.
Here’s to a summer full of fun, curiosity and creativity!
What activities do you have on your summer bucket list? Please let us know in the comments below…
4 Replies to “Make a summer bucket list to get the most out of the school holidays!”
It’s that time of year again, the kids are wondering where the next summer adventure will take them, and the planning gets started for the next getaway!