11 Awesome Vacation Activities for Kids in Summer

Throughout the academic year, kids look forward to the summer vacation the most. As soon as the vacation begins, they may be itching to be let out of the clutches of the routine study and homework time and have fun all day with their friends.  

However, as parents you must know that soon your child will get bored of playing the same games and having a lot of spare time at hand. So, you must be prepared with a few practical ideas to keep your little one busy, otherwise spending too much time in front of the screen can make them lethargic. If you are looking for some inspiration to plan simple vacation activities for kids in summer, you have come to the right place. 

Also Read: 5 Fun and Smart Ways to Celebrate Summer Vacations with Your Family

We have meticulously prepared a list of fun activities for children that will keep them occupied through the break. These activities are suitable for kids of all age groups.  

• Make them do a DIY bird feeder

DIY (do it yourself) activities are always fun, and most kids love them. With the summer reaching its peak, you can encourage your child to help the birds and animals around them by feeding them and offering water. You can turn this act of kindness into a fun and entertaining activity for kids in summer vacation by asking them to make a bird feeder that you can put outside your window or keep in your back or front yard.  

Give your kids the essential supplies to make the feeder, like a box, and old and used jar/bowl, strings, colour pencils, water colours, a pair of scissors, decorative items, etc. Depending on the age of the child, you can guide and help them in making the feeder. Let your child’s creative thoughts run wild and let them come with their own design for the feeder.  

If they are struggling for ideas, you can show them a few online videos on how to make bird feeders and use the methods to come up with their own feeder. At the end of it, you will be amazed at what your child makes. Finally, at the end of the exercise, make sure to reward your child with a few goodies for all their hard work.  

• Hold a room cleaning race

Let’s be honest, kids tend to be messy, and when they are home with plenty of spare time it is only natural for them to turn the entire house upside down. As an adult, it can be frustrating to see all the toys, clothes, and other household items being scattered. But instead of scolding your them, you can encourage your kids to clean the house. If you are wondering how? Here is a suggestion.  

As soon as holiday starts, establish a ground rule for the kids that you will let them have all the fun they want to have but at the end of the day, they will have to race against each other and clean the room, and whoever does it first and records a maximum number of wins by the end of the week will get a special reward. The reward could be anything – the winner gets to choose the holiday destination, or they will get the toy they always wanted. 

Home cleaning could be one of the fun things to do for kids in summer and at the same time it will inculcate a sense of discipline, and awareness about keeping the room clean and taking responsibility for their own stuff.  

• Ask them to write a biography 

These are excellent vacation activities for kids in summer, especially for children aged between 10-15 years. If you live in a joint family, with uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents, then your child will love this activity. Grandparents often feel lonely and bored being at home, but they have plenty of stories to tell, from their childhood memories to their kids.  

You can get your child to spend time with the elders in the house and get them to record their conversations. Once they have enough repository or recordings, you can ask your child to write a biography of each of the family members, or in simple words, ask them to write what they feel about everyone in the house.  

You can perhaps write an outline or guide them on how to write a biography so that they can build upon it and write whatever they want. For example, you can ask your child to write about 

• The traits that they like and dislike about the family member
• Some of their best memories with the family member
• How the said family members spoil them
• What are the adjectives that best describes the person
• Which cartoon character do the family member look like 

Give your child such fun and interesting points of reference to build their story. After they have completed writing about everyone, post some pictures to it, compile the write ups and you can print and distribute a copy to everyone. How about that? Sounds fun, right? It will be even more fun when you actually get to do it, we bet! 

• Scavenger hunt

Some of the best activities for kids in summer vacation are done outdoors. Take your children and a few of their friends to the nearby park and play A-Z scavenger hunt. All you need for this game is a big box. The rules of the game are quite simple. If there are more than five children, divide them in two teams and give them a time limit of 30 minutes.  

The objective of the team is to find different objects within the park that start with different letters of the alphabet. For example, they find leaves (starting with letter L), they can find twigs (Starting with letter T), a seed (starting with letter S), and so on. The team must cover all the letters or maximum possible letters within the prescribed time. Whoever finishes collecting the maximum number of objects within the time limit is the winner.  

Apart from being fun, this activity helps your child learn to work in a team, and the importance of coordination.  

• Wall Murals

Most children, especially kids aged below 10 tend to scribble on the walls with anything they find at hand: colour pencils, crayons, sketch pens or water colours and leave their foot and handprints all over. Well, it is understandable that you would want to keep the walls inside your home clean and safe from your child creating their masterpieces of art, but how about letting your children express themselves freely and letting them scribble and colour the outer walls of your home?  

This is one of the best summer fun ideas for kids. But instead of giving them colours, give your kids colourful chalks. If the wall is big, a bunch of kids can do this activity together and make murals on the walls or paint whatever they want to.  

The good thing about using chalks for making wall murals is you can easily wash them off clean at the end of the day, and give your kids a clean canvas the next day and they can create new designs every day. 

• Enrol them to Learn a new skill

Sure, summers are all about having fun. But, summer holidays for kids in India typically last for about two months, sometimes even more. You can encourage your child to use their free time to learn something new and acquire a new skill. It could be anything they want, like learning to play a new musical instrument, making crafts, cooking, karate, or maybe calligraphy. 

Based on your child’s liking and natural flair, look for the best classes (online or offline) near you, and enrol them for it. These classes may last only a couple of hours a day, post that they can play and have fun with their friends.  

Also Read: Sizzling Summer Fun: 6 Exciting Summer Activities to Try

By helping your child learn a new skill during the summer holiday, your child will not only be engaged for a few hours a day but as they delve deeper into it, they will have another dimension to their personality. Imagine, at the end of the summer holiday, your child is able to play your favourite song on the guitar, or they can make some amazing pieces of art out of waste. Sounds cool, isn’t it? 

• Ask them to create a family photo album 

Vacation activities for kids in summer need not always be about playing a game, going outdoors,  or taking part in a competition. Sometimes, it is best to stay home with your kids and do some DIY crafts, like creating a family photo album.  

This is one of the summer fun ideas for kids that they would love and you can also spend some quality time with them, and strengthen your bond. You may have plenty of pictures on your phone or some old albums lying around in your house, right? Why not bring them all out and create a new and fresh album.  

As you go through the old pictures, you can share the old memories with your child and relive those wonderful moments of the past yourself. You can either buy a new album online, or even better, make one yourself and include your child as your partner in the endeavour.  

Get a few supplies from the local stationary shop and design your own album. Spruce it up using decorative items and finally, you can give the album a new name. While adding new pictures to the album, let your kids choose their favourite ones. 

• Have a car wash

 Do you often drive to a garage or a car wash shop to keep your beloved car clean, gleaming, and spotless? Well, you know, every time you take your car for a wash, you end up spending a few hundred rupees. Why not save those bucks and at the same time, have fun by holding a ‘Car Wash Sunday Session’ in your house? 

Park your vehicle in the driveway, and ask your kids to join you in scrubbing and washing the car. Give them a bucket of water and sponges and all of you get to the task at once. It is one of the best and inexpensive vacation activities for kids during summer as they get to enjoy playing with water on a hot summer day.  

You can make the activity even more fun and enjoyable by getting a hose and splashing some water while you wash the car.  

• Make a family tree 

Making a family tree is an excellent summer fun idea for kids older than 10 years. They can make this on cardboard, a chart paper, or even on their computer using a template. You can help your child with the names and relationships of the people from the past generation.  

You can go back to tracing as many generations as you want, depending on how big or small you want the family tree to be. Your kid may enjoy and be thrilled to know about the names or their great grandparents, grand uncles and aunts. As they work on making the family tree, you can rummage through the old family albums and find pictures of the family member and help your child put a face to the names. You can even stick the photos on the family tree and make it visually appealing.  

Making a family tree is a great way for documenting your family’s ancestry. There are different ways to make a family tree. But it typically includes a box for one individual and each box is connected to others, indicating the relationship and name. You can even add other details like date of birth and nick name, as you want your family tree to look like.  

• Host a movie party

Hot and lazy summer afternoon can be turned into an exciting and fun one by hosting a movie party for the kids. Watching a movie together with friends and families is one of the best things to do for kids in summer. Send an invite to your child’s friends a couple of days before the big event and get their friends and maybe ask some of your relatives to come over to your house, and together you can have a wonderful movie party.  

Decide on the movie you want to play on the day, and make all the necessary arrangements. Make sure that you test your speakers and home theatre system a few days before the actual movie night to ensure that nothing goes wrong. You can watch a good mix of animated movies and educational documentaries and continue having fun day. 

Make sure you get the necessary accompaniments for the movie, popcorn and snacks for the kids. You can even ask the kids to get their own snacks and turn movie-watching night into a movie party. 

• Take them on a vacation

If there is one vacation activity for kids in summer that they can’t say no to and excite them irrespective of their age, it is a summer vacation. Yes, with schools shut, no pressure of homework and plenty of spare time at hand, you can use it to your advantage and plan a family holiday to any destination of your choice.  

Since it is summer, you may want to get away from the scorching heat of the city and go to someplace cool and calm, right? Well, you can head to one of the hill stations in India. You have plenty of options, from Shimla to Coorg and Nainital to Munnar. Pick a destination that is closest to your home city.  

The good thing about these hill stations in India is that they all are endowed with stunning natural beauty, blessed with surreal landscapes and promise you a good time. Each place has its own charm. For example, the hill stations in the North give you the stunning views of the snow-clad Himalayan peaks. The hill stations in the South are all about lush greenery and serenity.  

Wherever you go, make sure that you choose the best place to stay, like a resort offered by Club Mahindra. All Club Mahindra resorts have a reputation for being the best family resorts in India and boast premium amenities and world-class services that make you feel at home.  

Remember, the summer vacation is all about letting your kids have fun as much as you want to explore the new place. And, Club Mahindra resorts ensure that children have the best time ever, thanks to their special kids activity zone called #HappyHub.  

Happy Hub is a safe space where you can drop your kids and let them participate in various activities of their choice under the supervision of the Club Mahindra staff and you can have your own fun. At Happy Hub, your child can do stone or glass painting, learn pottery or towel origami, go for a theme party dressed up as their favourite character/person, and so much more.  

The activities at Happy Hub differ from one resort to another. But rest assured your child will have an enjoyable time. 

There are countless vacation activities for kids in summer, and the ones we discussed are a few popular activities that most families in India do with their kids. Vacation activities for kids are all about doing things that your child likes, and you and the child both should have fun doing them. So, find your child’s interests and likes and the entire family can indulge in those activities. 

Also Read: Summer Vibes: Club Mahindra Holidays' Four Must-Visit Summer Destinations