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Fun Activities and Educational Games for Kids This Summer
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Ah, summer break. No more early mornings helping your little ones get ready for school. While you’re looking forward to taking a break from school duties, you might worry that having everyone home will mean endless screen time, constant cries of “I’m bored!”, and squabbles between siblings. Explore these fun activities and educational games for kids to keep them busy, engaged, and learning. There are ideas tailored for different age groups, so you’ll find the perfect fit for your little one.
Toddlers (Ages Three to Five)
Summer is perfect for nature walks, backyard fun, water play, and hours of experiential learning. At this age, your child is discovering the world around them. Try these learning activities for kids and help your curious preschooler develop their language, thinking, and movement skills.
Backyard Adventures
1. Bird Watching
Using a shoebox or milk carton, make a DIY bird feeder by filling it with seeds and hanging it from the roof or near a window. Watching and listening to birds stimulates the different senses as it introduces kids to the wonders of their environment.
2. Insect Hunt
Make discovery time fun for preschoolers by introducing the world around them!
Give your toddler a magnifying glass and take them to the garden or park to hunt for crawling creatures. You can even set up a simple pitfall trap for ants or beetles to give your young one a better view of a bug’s life. This enhances your kids’ observation skills and teaches gentle handling and care for creatures.
3. Sponge Targets
Paint a bull’s eye, secure a water bucket with sponges, have kids aim, and fire! This builds coordination through aiming and throwing. Plus, water play is a refreshing and joyful activity on hot days. Pro tip: use water balloons for twice the splash and double the fun.
Indoor Playtime
1. Living Room Fort
Arrange furniture like tables and chairs and drape lightweight sheets over them. For extra coziness, add pillows or mattresses and a small lamp or flashlight for a cool-kids-only living room lair! Imaginative play sparks creativity and storytelling as kids transform their space into a castle, spaceship, or anything they dream up.
2. Matching Games
Play a simple matching game with your toddlers. You can use pictures of animals, colors, shapes, or even household objects. Lay the pictures face down, and have your toddler flip two at a time to find matches. This will help develop memory and sorting skills.
3. DIY board games
Make your own bingo! Draw figures, letters, or numbers for a fun learning game.
Use a large piece of cardboard and draw a simple path with squares. Add a spinner or dice and create fun prompts for each square ("Sing a song," "Act like your favorite animal"). This fosters turn-taking and early counting skills.
Big Kids (Ages Six to 10)
Try educational games that keep ate or kuya learning all summer long. These will strengthen critical thinking skills and expand knowledge!
Outdoor Fun
1. Nature Bingo
Hunt for bugs with your explorer or play nature bingo for fun science learning.
Create bingo cards featuring everyday things found in nature—leaves, birds, spider webs, and more. Take a nature walk and have kids mark off items as they see them. This encourages them to learn about plants and animals and helps develop their observation skills.
2. Scavenger Hunt
Get the kids away from their devices and into the garden or backyard! Give them a list that includes tasks like “find something that rhymes with ‘sock’” or, for older kids, “something biodegradable.” If it’s too hot to play outside, take the hunt indoors and have them search for objects around the house. This encourages problem-solving, creativity, exploration, and active fun.
3. Gardening
Gardening teaches children responsibility and the value of caring for Mother Nature.
Help your children start a small garden and teach them about plant life cycles. Let them grow their favorite flowers, herbs, or vegetables. Learning activities for kids that promote responsibility will empower young minds to take on tasks independently. It will also teach them the importance of caring for the world around them and living sustainably.
Indoor Learning
1. Cooking and Baking
A fun indoor activity for big kids is to get them involved in the kitchen. Have them help make pizza and choose their preferred toppings. They can also experiment with different fruit and vegetable juice combinations. Not only are you teaching them a valuable life skill, but you’re also expanding their interests in various types of food.
2. Word Scrambles
Write scrambled words related to a theme—summer, animals, or food—on index cards. Kids work to unscramble and discover the words, boosting their vocabulary and spelling.
Educational games for kids don't have to be boring. Make use of easy-to-find materials at home and get creative! Need inspiration? With a fast and affordable connection like a GFiber Unli Plan or GFiber Prepaid WiFi, you and your kids can explore endless online activities, games, and learning resources. Turn summer into an unforgettable and enriching experience to give your children something to look forward to for the next school break.