Childcare: Ideas for activities to enjoy in July
July brings alternating bouts of the rainy season and summer.
At nursery schools and kindergartens, you want to play a lot with the children, but there are surely days when the unpredictable weather makes preparation difficult.
So here, we’ve gathered ideas for games you can enjoy in July.
From activities related to Tanabata to fun water play, you can enjoy the season of July while feeling its atmosphere.
There are also games you can do indoors, so be prepared for rainy days, too.
Please use this as a reference to expand your repertoire and spend a fun time together with the children!
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[Childcare] Ideas for activities you’ll want to try in July (31–40)
Tanabata Play
Here are some exciting Tanabata activities.
In the Tanabata relay, where you work together to carry summer vegetables and race to the goal, the key is to match your pace with your friends and cheer each other on so you don’t drop the veggies.
For the star hunt, children attach magnets to the stars they made, then find and fish them up.
Let’s decorate the Milky Way with the sparkly stars we find.
Hop over obstacles that represent the Milky Way, make little bamboo-leaf boats, and race to the finish! Through these games, kids just might learn about Tanabata in a fun way.
Tanabata Eurhythmics
Here’s a Tanabata-themed eurhythmics activity you can enjoy even in a limited space.
Walk along to the Tanabata song while preparing hula hoops, scarves, bells, and colored construction paper.
Along the way, move your body freely to the music and gently sway the scarves to enjoy the eurhythmics.
By changing the size of the colored paper, children can visually enjoy the differences in stiffness and also vary their movements, which may make the activity more engaging.
Adding castanets or maracas is also recommended.
Summer Memory Pretend Play
Here are some pretend-play ideas for making summer memories indoors during the hot season.
Try handmade barbecues, bug-hunting searches, and goldfish scooping—create them together with the kids and have fun.
For the barbecue, talk with the children about what ingredients they want to make, then create them together.
For the bug-hunting search, the key is to think about where to stick photos or illustrations of insects at the children’s eye level and get creative with placement.
For goldfish scooping, rescue origami fish carefully so they don’t fall.
Competing to see how many you can catch also sounds fun! These are great activities for enjoying play indoors even on hot summer days.
Summer festival pretend play
I think many teachers are planning pretend summer festivals in July.
There are so many fun booths: a beanbag toss shop, a mask shop, a doll scooping game, and an agar play shop where kids can enjoy sensory play.
Children take turns as shopkeepers, and they can collect stamps as they visit each booth—guaranteed to get them excited by the special festival atmosphere.
It’s also a great chance to learn social skills through the shopkeeper experience.
Finish off with shaved ice to really soak up the festival mood! Adding a French fries stand or yo-yo fishing is also recommended.
Evening Cool-Off Gathering and Bon Odori
Speaking of summer, it’s got to be Bon Odori! You often see it at summer festivals, right? So how about hosting an evening cool-off event in hot July and trying Bon Odori with the kids? Put on cute yukata, hold fans in your hands, and dance like it’s a fun routine.
There are surprisingly many Bon Odori songs for children, including ones themed around popular characters.
If you prepare cold drinks and snacks, it’ll become one of your wonderful summer memories.
And starting the event in the evening might feel fresh and exciting for the kids, too.
[Childcare] July Playful Childcare Ideas (41–50)
Bubble play
Foam play is perfect for a July event.
Prepare a pool or a large basin so the children can have a blast.
Once you make the foam, use a whisk or a stick with rounded ends to mix it.
The mixing process is so fun that both adults and children will be totally absorbed! It’s also recommended to add color to the foam to make “juice,” pour it into plastic bottles, and turn it into a pretend juice shop.
Please be careful to prevent accidental ingestion, such as putting foam in the mouth, and enjoy playing safely!
[Yo-yo Fishing] Let’s try fishing for handmade yo-yos
![[Yo-yo Fishing] Let's try fishing for handmade yo-yos](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s9kpog1cwAQ/sddefault.jpg)
Yo-yo fishing has long been a favorite game for children at summer festivals.
Because real yo-yos are heavy and hard to catch, let’s make lightweight yo-yos out of construction paper so kids can catch them more easily.
All you need to do is connect paper strips into rings, but this might be tricky for little hands.
In that case, let them do the decorating with round stickers and the like, so they can still feel a sense of accomplishment.
Make the pipe-cleaner loop attached to the yo-yo a bit larger.
Easy-to-catch yo-yos are sure to be a hit with the kids.
