As a parent, making your kids as happy and engaged as possible is a must.
Behavior
125 Kids activities
As a parent, making your kids as happy and engaged as possible is a must.
Not only does this make them happy in the short term, but a happier kid is more likely to engage with the world and develop as a young person. To make the most of this, you should try new and engaging activities as often as possible that help to teach fun and intriguing skills that are valuable in later life.
Learn more about 125 kids’ activities, with each activity separated into a category, including what you can do with your kids rather than sending them off to a day camp.
Education resources
Free outdoor activities for kids
These activities are perfect if you want to introduce your kids to the outside world without spending any money, including:
- Consider collecting beautiful leaves in the park
- Go out watching bugs and write down their names
- Climb a tree with adult supervision
- Go birdwatching and note down what you see
- Have a play in a local park
- Eat out in nature, like having a picnic
- Jump on a local trampoline together
- Learn all about how to ride a bike
- Go to the dog park and play with some animals
- Wash the car together
- Do some gardening like cutting the grass
- Plant flowers
- Volunteer with a local charity on a litter pick
- Visit the beach or a local lake
- Try an activity like geocaching
- Go on a long hike where your kid plans the route
- Take your kid rock climbing
- Go foraging for edible berries, plants, and mushrooms
- Try stargazing out in the woods
- Have a bonfire in your yard while teaching about fire safety
- Paint pet rocks and put them around the backyard
Free indoor activities for kids
If your little one enjoys spending time indoors, you can make the most of this on a budget with activities including:
- Teach them how to play solitaire
- Play “keep the balloon up” for as long as possible
- Make an interesting Lego structure or see how high you can build
- Try playing with dish soap bubbles
- Play I Spy to teach your child about their senses
- Build a den from pillows and blankets
- Make a simple “balance beam” from tape on your floor
- Cook an easy dinner with each other
- Have a homemade spa day to treat yourselves
- Host a tea party with all of your kid’s toys
- Let your child style your hair however they like
- Let your child do your makeup
- Talk to your child about your job and what you do
- Talk to your child about school and what they want to do
- Listen to your favorite music together
- Have a kid’s choice film night cuddled on the couch
- Make a special breakfast from anything you have in the house
- Play an old board game
- Teach your pets tricks and play with them
- Rearrange the furniture however your kid wants
- Play twenty questions to find out more about what each other thinks
- Play your favorite childhood video game together
Artistic activities for kids
If you want to encourage your child’s inner artist, consider activities including:
- Painting a picture using substances that aren’t painting
- Writing a story, taking turns to add your sentences
- Make sock puppets and put on a simple puppet show
- Film a quick movie in your backyard
- Let your child play with a musical instrument of their choice
- Write a silly song together
- Make necklaces out of pasta
- Build a sculpture or model out of recyclables and other trash
- Design a meal and make it later in the day
- Fix a broken toy using tools you have in the house
- Take your kid out to a beauty spot and draw what you see
- Teach your child about the basics of photography in a park
- Look at the stars and think of good ways to describe them
- Draw on the sidewalk with chalk
- Make a life-size drawing of each other
- Put on a play for your neighbors written by your kid
- Use Microsoft Paint to design something fun and interesting
- Cook pancakes in new and unique shapes
- Build a fort using items that you can find in your garage
- Ask your child to point to somewhere on a map, go there, and write a story about it
- Make up a treasure map in your own home
- Teach each other a new and fun dance
- Record a new podcast episode about something your kid is interested in
- Make a slide show with your kid’s favorite photographs
- Display your child’s best artwork and ask what they like about it
Memorable activities for kids
A young person’s childhood is when they build up some memories they will look back on later in life. Perfect activities for this include:
- Visiting a care home and talking to people about their lives
- Writing letters to yourself in a month, a year, and a decade
- Make a time capsule to put memorable items in
- Think about what you want to do in your lives
- Ask your child about their favorite thing that happened at school
- Write nice messages for your neighbor and put them in their mailbox
- Make a family tree full of your old relatives
- Go through some old photo albums and talk about who everyone is
- Talk about one of the best days of your life
- Show your kid an old YouTube video of yourself
- Make a memory game out of old family photos
- Call a distant member of the family and talk about your day
- Share a memory of when you got through a tough time
- Tell your child three things you admire about them
- Ask your child what they think about you and the family
- Spend a day together and make a “Grand Day Out” photo album
- Read your favorite books with each other
- Learn a brand-new skill together
- Go to the library and learn more about your town
- Start a journal and note down your feelings every day
- Meet your child’s best friend and make them feel welcome
Competitive activities for kids
Children love the thrill of competition, and you can fulfill this by trying:
- Teach your child how to play chess
- Learn a brand-new sport like curling
- Watch your favorite sports team play together
- Practice catching with each other in the yard
- Go to the park and race against each other
- Have a hula hoop contest
- See who can balance on one foot for longer
- Play games with a jump rope
- Go to a stadium and watch a team play live
- Teach your child how to play solitaire
- Talk to your child about their favorite games
- Discuss the importance of fairness in games
- Have a paper airplane competition
- Teach your kid how to ride their bike
- Challenge each other to a water fight
- Talk about your best sporting moment
- Create a series of challenges for your child to complete
- Go for a run on a regular route and try to beat your time
- Teach your child how to do puzzles
- Play indoor fishing against your kid
- Enroll your child in a sports league of their choice
Thrill-seeking activities for kids
Some children have a knack for fun, looking for adrenaline wherever they can find it. Make sure your child is comfortable with any of the activities you try so they have a good experience with them. If you have a thrill-seeking child with you, consider activities such as:
- Go rock climbing at a local hotspot
- Spend a day at a theme park doing anything they like
- Go on a camping trip in the woods
- Try a team-building exercise day
- Learn to surf and swim at the beach
- Head to a river and go canoeing or kayaking
- Pick a random city on the map and spend a day there
- Spend a few hours at a go-karting track
- Make a soapbox racer and test it
- Explore the woods on a hike
- Try horse riding
- Take a trip to the local trampoline park
- Compete with each other in a bike race on a BMX track
- Learn more about bouldering and give it a try
- Try a unique game like zorb soccer
- Go on a zipline or abseil
- Visit a high-ropes course and challenge yourself to complete it
- Spend an afternoon caving with a qualified instructor or guide
- Take a trip in a hot-air balloon
- Challenge yourself to spend time at a great height
- Learn a skill like skiing or snowboarding
