Summer is the perfect time for young minds and bodies to explore, learn, and grow. The best way to maximise this opportunity is by engaging in structured, creative, and developmentally beneficial programmes.
In this article, we highlight the 14 best summer activities for children in 2025, ensuring a fulfilling and enriching break from the school year.
6 Benefits of Summer Activities for Children’s Development
Participating in summer activities allows children to enjoy their holidays while nurturing their physical, intellectual, and emotional development. Educators and child development experts around the world consistently recognise these benefits.
Benefits of summer activities for children include:
- Improve children’s physical strength: Engaging in outdoor games and sports during summer boosts physical fitness, coordination, and endurance, reducing sedentary behaviour.
- Keeps children intellectually engaged: Activities such as reading challenges, science experiments, or creative workshops keep children mentally stimulated, preventing learning loss during the break.
- Teach children teamwork and resiliency: Group-based activities cultivate collaboration and adaptability as children learn to navigate challenges with peers.
- Support mental and emotional health: Summer playgrounds serve as a critical escape for children by relieving emotional tension and fostering self-assurance.
- Connect children with nature: Outdoor activities instil environmental awareness, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of the world.
- Develop lifelong skills: Children acquire lifelong skills such as problem-solving, effective communication, responsibility, and creativity that stay with them well into adulthood.
14 Best Summer Activities for Children in 2025
To kickstart the list of 2025 summer activities for children, here are our top 14 suggestions that will keep children inspired, energised, and engaged throughout their break.
1. Summer Camp
Summer camps build well-rounded kids by combining fun and learning in one place. They offer children the chance to develop new interests, build friendships, and engage in structured activities that support their growth on multiple levels. Camps also foster independence, problem-solving skills, and creativity through interactive projects and group work.
At UNIS Hanoi, our Summer Programme is uniquely designed to offer a rich blend of academic enrichment, arts, sports, and life skills.
We engage children through swim classes, drama, visual arts, storytelling, robotics, science, and international cooking. Every day is carefully planned to guide children’s engagement while promoting self-discovery.
Every child deserves a rich, warm, and constructive atmosphere in which they can freely explore their gifts and learn. Our teachers and facilitators make this possible.
2. Talent Show
Hosting a talent show allows children to showcase their unique abilities, be it singing, dancing, acting, or playing an instrument. Preparing for such an event helps boost confidence and encourages self-expression.
It also fosters empathy as children cheer on their peers and appreciate diverse forms of talent. Such events promote inclusivity and help children overcome stage fright at an early age.
3. Water Balloon Dodge Ball
A classic game with a twist will always bring amusement and joy to a summer afternoon. This game assists children in improving strategic planning alongside hand-eye coordination, and promotes teamwork.
In hot weather, it also provides much-needed physical activity while keeping children cool. The game is best played in open spaces, ensuring safety while encouraging energetic play.
4. Hopscotch
A timeless game that requires only chalk and imagination, hopscotch enhances balance, counting skills, and coordination.
It encourages children to engage in outdoor play and interact with peers, helping develop both gross and fine motor skills.
Moreover, designing their own hopscotch paths can introduce children to simple concepts of spatial awareness and creativity.
5. The Beadery
Creating bracelets, keychains, or name tags from colourful beads enhances fine motor coordination and hand-eye precision. It also introduces children to patterns, sequencing, and colour matching.
Through beading, children learn patience, focus, and the joy of completing a project.
This activity is particularly effective in helping children develop dexterity and spatial understanding while providing a creative outlet that they can proudly wear or gift.
6. Cooking
When children help prepare meals, they develop a sense of ownership and responsibility. Tasks such as measuring ingredients, chopping (with safe tools), mixing, and plating teach maths, science, and safety concepts. Cooking also encourages healthy eating habits and exposes children to diverse cuisines.
In a summer setting, activities like making smoothies, baking cookies, or creating fruit kebabs can become both a sensory experience and a meaningful bonding opportunity between peers or family members.
7. DIY Musical Instruments
Transforming household materials into musical instruments allows children to explore sound, rhythm, and design.
Creating shakers from rice and containers, drums from tins, or string instruments from rubber bands stimulates creativity and reinforces STEAM concepts.
It also encourages children to perform in small groups, enhancing teamwork and boosting their musical confidence. The process of designing and testing instruments teaches resilience and iterative thinking.
8. Woodshop
Guided woodworking projects teach children precision, patience, and perseverance.
Children build spatial reasoning, learn tool safety, and develop craftsmanship by making birdhouses and picture frames.
With adult supervision, woodshop activities provide immense satisfaction and a sense of achievement from creating something tangible from scratch.
9. Homemade Playdough
Creating playdough from scratch is a sensory-rich activity that combines science, art, and fun.
Measuring ingredients, kneading the dough, and mixing colours allow children to explore chemical reactions and textures.
Once made, the playdough becomes a medium for imaginative play. Children can sculpt animals, numbers, letters, or entire stories, enhancing their motor skills and language development.
10. Phonics Treasure Hunt
Combining literacy and adventure, a phonics-based treasure hunt engages children in identifying letter sounds and forming words.
Children search for objects or clues that correspond with specific phonetic sounds or letters, helping them associate sounds with real-world items.
The physical aspect of the hunt promotes movement and coordination, while the language component supports reading readiness.
11. Inventions
Encouraging children to invent new gadgets or solve problems with available materials nurtures innovation and analytical skills.
Children can brainstorm, sketch, and prototype using cardboard, tape, and imagination.
This activity enhances problem-solving, engineering thinking, and resilience as children learn from trial and error. Celebrating their ideas, no matter how whimsical, reinforces creativity and initiative.
12. Field Day
Field Day is a highlight of any summer programme, bringing together children in a festival of physical challenges and team-based competitions.
From relay races and tug-of-war to sack races and obstacle courses, Field Day encourages physical activity, healthy competition, and school spirit.
It’s an excellent opportunity for children to showcase their strengths, support their teammates, and celebrate community.
13. Nature Scavenger Hunt
Exploring nature with a checklist of items to find, such as a feather, a red leaf, or a round stone, builds observation skills and environmental curiosity.
It fosters mindfulness and encourages children to slow down, notice details, and engage with the natural world. This activity promotes ecological awareness in a fun, explorative manner.
14. Summer Scrapbook
Documenting summer experiences in a scrapbook helps children reflect on what they’ve learned and enjoyed. They can include photographs, ticket stubs, journal entries, drawings, and more.
The process of arranging and decorating pages improves planning, storytelling, and design skills.
A scrapbook becomes a treasured keepsake, reminding children of their adventures and accomplishments well beyond the season.
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