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] Play ideas for July (51–60)
Tanabata Festival
Around the time the rainy season ends—early July—you can’t leave out Tanabata when talking about seasonal events.
Many children look forward to hanging tanzaku with their wishes on bamboo branches.
I imagine many nurseries and kindergartens hold a Tanabata gathering every year as well.
How about performing the Tanabata story—the tale of Hikoboshi and Orihime—as a play or kamishibai? Paper puppets or reading a picture book would be great too.
It might make Hikoboshi and Orihime, whose names the children already know, feel more familiar and help everyone enjoy Tanabata even more.
A frog you can make and play with
Here are some craft ideas themed around frogs, which often appear during the rainy season.
Try making projects that are fun both to create and to play with! There’s a wide range, such as castanets that make sounds using paper plates and small glass counters, or pieces that express a frog’s hopping motion with two paper cups.
If you want to make a more realistic frog, you could create one that croaks when you move a straw.
You can also combine a milk carton with a frog to make a snap-and-jump frog.
Try making these items to liven up indoor childcare activities on rainy days!
Water play with a vacuum/compression bag
Introducing a cool summer activity using vacuum storage bags for futons and clothes! All you need to do is fill the bag with water—just enough so it doesn’t get overstuffed.
When you touch the water-filled bag, you’ll enjoy a squishy, bouncy sensation, and standing on it barefoot feels great thanks to the coolness of the water.
Lie down on it and it feels even better! Vacuum storage bags are stronger than regular plastic bags, so it’s fine for kids to hop on them.
If you draw some fish and slip the drawings inside before adding water, it’ll feel like you’re playing with fish—as if you’re in the ocean or a river!
summer festival
When you think of summer festivals, you picture classic scenes like food stalls, bon odori dances, and fireworks lighting up the night sky.
They’re events that bring smiles to everyone—adults and children alike! Wearing yukata together, uchiwa fans in hand as you stroll around the venue—that feeling really makes you savor the thought, “Ah, it’s summer.” There are so many tempting stalls: tasty yakisoba, takoyaki, shaved ice, and candy apples, plus ring toss, shooting games, and raffles that delight the child in all of us.
If you search on YouTube, you’ll find videos of summer festivals held at preschools and kindergartens all across Japan.
If you’re thinking, “We want to add something new to our own summer festival,” be sure to check them out!
[Childcare] Ideas for childcare activities to enjoy in July (61–70)
Experimental play
It would be nice to try age-appropriate science play during the rainy season, when kids spend more time playing indoors.
First, for younger children, try an experiment using baking soda.
Mix water colored with food coloring, dish soap, and baking soda.
Then pour vinegar over it—the fizzy bubbling will seem “like magic” and is sure to amaze them.
For middle preschoolers, try a marbling experiment.
First, pour milk into a container and add drops of food coloring.
Touch the surface with a cotton swab dipped in dish soap and watch the colors spread.
By giving children experiences that feel mysterious, we can nurture their sense of “Why?” and encourage their curiosity.
Playing aquarium
How about transforming your childcare space into an aquarium to beat the summer heat? Let the sea creatures the children make during activities swim all around the room! Hang them by strings near the windows, and use the walls and ceiling to create an aquarium atmosphere.
You could also set up some fun spots like a fish tunnel, and penguin or jellyfish corners—just like at a real aquarium.
Displaying the sea creatures they made themselves will make pretend-aquarium play even more enjoyable!
playing in the water
Water play is something you can really enjoy in the summer! Since anything that gets wet dries quickly, it’s convenient for adults, and kids love it because it’s cool and fun.
You can set up a pool in the yard or head to a nearby river, and these days there are plenty of places to play like leisure facilities and park fountains.
Be sure to go at least once this summer!
