Fun summer activities for kids: ideas you’ll want to try in childcare and at home
In the hot summer, children spend more time indoors both at daycare and at home.
For those wondering, “What can we play indoors with the kids?”, here are some perfect summer activities.
Games using water and ice are especially popular this season.
Cool sensations and hands-on activities are exciting for children.
It’s also a great experience to help them feel connected to nature or to incorporate traditional summer events—these memories really stay with kids.
Try these ideas at home, in daycare, or in kindergarten.
Through summertime activities, let’s help children create lots of fun memories!
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Fun summer activities for kids: Ideas you’ll want to try at preschool and at home (111–120)
Playing with sand at the beach
It would be a waste to just swim when you go to the beach.
Be sure to try playing in the sand on the shore.
The different feel from playground sand will surely delight the kids.
It’s also fun to bury part of your body in the sand while still in your swimsuit.
Play together with an adult, and be careful not to overdo it.
Fun summer activities for kids: Ideas you’ll want to try at daycare and at home (121–130)
Making cornstarch slime
Let’s make and play with slime using potato starch—the squishy, mysterious texture everyone loves! The standard way to make slime is with liquid laundry starch or glue, but using potato starch is safer in case it accidentally gets into your mouth.
Add food coloring to enjoy slime in a variety of colors! It’s very easy to make: just mix water into potato starch.
If you use more water, you’ll get a runnier slime.
Add the coloring after mixing the potato starch and water in your preferred ratio.
When there’s a bit more water, you can have a fascinating experience where it firms up and feels springy while you’re touching it, but becomes runny again as soon as you let go.
Enjoy the squishy, mysterious sensation!
Nature experience event
Events where you can experience nature, such as mountains and rivers, are often held during the summer vacation.
These days, there aren’t many chances to connect with nature, so be sure to take the opportunity over the break.
Just collecting or observing insects and plants is enough to get kids super excited.
Of course, it’s also perfect as a topic for their summer independent research project, so you can take care of homework at the same time.
Food tour
Using the summer vacation as an opportunity to go food-hopping with your kids can be a fun recreational activity.
These days, there are more and more visually stunning, Instagram-worthy foods, so your children are sure to be thrilled.
When you visit your grandparents during the Obon holidays, it’s also a great idea to enjoy local specialties you can only find in that region.
Melt the ice to get the toy
When you think of summer, you just want to touch something cold like ice, right? If you’re looking for a fun activity that uses ice, I recommend a game where you freeze toys inside ice.
As you handle the ice, it gradually melts from your body heat, letting you retrieve the toys inside.
It’s easy to prepare but gets everyone excited, which is great.
handheld fireworks
Summer means fireworks.
If your child can walk steadily on their own, how about letting them try handheld fireworks? Handheld fireworks shoot out sparks with loud, crackling sounds, so they might be a bit scary at first, but they’re very beautiful, and once you get used to them, watching the sparks is fascinating—highly recommended!
Water Carrying Race
When you think of summer, you think of water play! Try a water-carrying race using an inflatable pool or a large plastic container.
It’s especially fun with bigger groups, so it’s great for kindergartens and daycares where you can split into teams.
Fill a large pool or tub with water, and place an empty pool or container some distance away.
At the start signal, scoop up water and carry it to the empty container.
The team that transports the most water within the time limit wins.
It’s even more exciting if you prepare a variety of carriers—buckets, empty milk cartons, or even large trash bins that are hard for one person to carry.
