Kids Summer Activities - Ideas for 4 Weeks

Summer’s in and school’s out! Looking for fun ways to keep the kids busy while doing some work from home? Check out our solid 4-week activity pack, crammed full of free printables, downloads, themed activities and scavenger hunts!

#Freebies #Fun

---

As much as we love summer and sun, we know the summer break can be a tricky time for families - especially if you’re still having to clock work hours from home! Don’t fret - the working mothers here at Personal Planner™ HQ have been trying to figure this one out too, and have come up with a solid 4-week activity pack for you.

With free printables and downloads, as well as loads of themed activities and scavenger hunts for each week, you’ll be able to send the kids off to do their thing while you do yours. We’re certain this will keep them entertained for a good 15 minutes or so without your involvement!




We’ve divided each week into four different themes: Nature, Mathematics, Music and Food. Each theme has five different sections to it: a free printable, an activity, quiet time, screen time and food.

A quick note on how to use this resource. Look through each of the weeks to see what activities the kids can actually handle on their own and which need bit of support from you. Plan your own activities accordingly. Some activities need a little bit of preparation, like printing out the freebie of the week or putting out some craft materials. We’ve also included a section with a few more ideas you can try out during the week. We recommend that at the beginning of each week, you sit down with the kids and go through all the activities. That’ll get them involved from the start and they’re sure to come up with fun things to do of their own that you can add to your daily schedule!

Let’s get right into it!

For this first week, we’re focusing on all things nature. If you don’t have a backyard, perhaps there’s a park nearby you can access to do some of the activities in.




- Activity: Go outside and find all the things listed in our scavenger hunt. Get the free printable below.
- Quiet Time: Find some lovely-looking leaves and flowers that you like. Lay them flat between two pieces of papers, and put some heavy books on top. After a few days, check that they’re completely dry. Now you can use your imagination and create a picture with your pressed leaves and flowers - perhaps you can write your name with them?
- Food: Make a yummy salad. Quiz the kids if they to see if they know how the ingredients grow: in the ground, above ground, on a tree. Or did some ingredients come from animals?
- Screen Time: Watch “The Lorax” on Netflix. If you can, take a few moments after to discuss together: What the movie is about? How did it make you feel? If you have older kids, a show like “Bear Grylls’ Survival School” is an exciting and educational adventure in the wild!

Other nature related things to do:
- Make an insect hotel. Check daily for new creepy crawlers that have moved in!
- Plant quick-sprouting seeds like sunflowers. Water and measure daily!
- Sleep in nature - camp in the backyard! Could you maybe even make a small fire and roast marshmallows?
- Let the kids create a Hot Lava game out of natural elements. Only climb on rocks, leaves, sticks. Maybe have a bucket of water to step into? If you’re doing this outside, you aren’t allowed to step on grass!
- Go outside, lie down on the grass and do some cloud spotting!
Here’s a great downloadable resource from the BBC, complete with bitesized information and photos.
- World-renowned adventurer Bear Grylls teamed up the scouts to give kids 100 great ideas to do in “the great indoors” during isolation. Access the entire list, plus videos and more, right here.
- Another great resource with recommendations for suitable nature documentaries and a lot more is Fatherly.
- If you want advice on age appropriate movies and shows, check out Common Sense Media. We especially liked this list: “Movies that Inspire Kids to Change the World”

Free Printable: Scavenger Hunt - NATURE!


This week we’re focusing on music. We’re thinking singing, dancing, trying out new instruments, and listening to your (well, you kids’) favorite hits on repeat!




- Activity: Download the free printable for the week: music bingo! Try to get bingo at least once during this week!
- Quiet Time: Think about something that happened in the past week and write a song about it. When everyone is done, perform the song for one another and see if you can remember the incident!
- Food: Turn up your favorite song and dance in the kitchen while making lunch!
- Screen Time: Watch “Happy Feet” or any other kids' musical that you like.

Other music related things to do:
- Create a themed Spotify list, e.g. Happy Songs, Slow Songs, Party Songs etc.
- Pick a favorite song and make up a dance for it.
- Film a music video to your fave song.
- Find a Disney playlist and play “Guess the Song”. Start playing the first song - the first person who guesses the Disney movie gets a point.

Free Printable: Music Bingo!


Moms: You have your own self-care bingo here.




This week our focus will be on mathematics.




- Activity: Download the free printable for the week: mathematical scavenger hunt! Try finding the things listed both around the house and outside.
- Quiet Time: Solve sudoku puzzles. We’ve got some you can download in this post, or follow this link to get free, printable sudoku puzzles with three different levels of difficulty.
- Food: Make number pasta for lunch! Try to make some equations with the numbers you have. The person with the most (solved!) equations wins. But please remember, no playing with your food! :)
- Screen Time: If you have small kids, check out Blippi on YouTube. For bigger kids, you might want to try Matific - an educational platform that teaches kids basic mathematical concepts, as well as having a ton of fun exercises disguised as games.




Other maths related things to do:
- Play this brilliant Homeschool Shop game! You’ll need something to write on and some Monopoly money - that’s it! Watch our Julia’s awesome tutorial here.
- Measuring objects: Let the kids guess what colour the largest (longest, tallest, smallest etc) object in your home is. Then walk around the house with a measuring tape, measuring the different objects, to find out!
- Try guessing the total number of objects in different categories in your home, e.g. pillows, shoes, books etc. The person who’s guess is the closest gets points!
- Make a counting game with some beads and cups! Write numbers or sums on cups, then ask the kids to place the right amount of beads (or macaronis!) in each cup.

Free Printable: Scavenger Hunt - MATHEMATICS!


This last week we’ll focus on food and nutrition.




- Activity: Download the free printable for the week: find five foods scavenger hunt!
- Quiet Time: Make pasta jewellery or a pasta photo frame.
- Food: Make a rainbow meal: try making a plateful of food as colorful as you possibly can!
- Screen Time: Watch a cooking or baking show on YouTube. Try the Eat Happy Project or My World Kitchen.

Other food related things to do:
- Bake something delicious and nutritious! Here’s a no-fuss, super healthy granola bar recipe to try with the kids.
- Plant fast-sprouting seeds like watercress or, if you’re feeling brave, mung beans! By the end of the week you should have enough to top a salad or to put in a yummy sandwich.
- Track your water intake and how many toilet trips you have to make.
- Eat asparagus and see if you get asparagus pee. Eat beetroot and see if you get beetroot poo! ;)

Free Printable: Scavenger Hunt - FOOD!

Hope you get great use from this kids summer activity pack. Have you got other great hacks and ideas for getting through the summer holidays the fun way? Share them with our wider community on Instagram under hashtag #itsprettypersonal.

YOU’VE GOT THIS!

Much love from all the working moms at Personal Planner™