Fun summer activities for kids: ideas you’ll want to try in childcare and at home

Puni Puni Fruit

Looks just like the real thing! You can even peel the skin♪ I tried making a squishy fruit assortment [Oni Pita] DIY Fruits Squishy with Nano Tape 🍇🍉🍌🍓

They look just like the real thing! Here are some ideas for squishy, jiggly fruits.

Have you heard of nano tape? It’s a kind of tape with super strong adhesion that can be reused, and it’s apparently great for kitchens and DIY projects.

Let’s use this amazing nano tape to make squeezies.

In the video, bananas, watermelons, strawberries, and grapes are recreated to look glossy and bouncy, making you want to craft them with your kids.

Definitely give it a try!

At-home games you can play with a towel

[At-home Play: Physical Activities] Easy towel-based games you can do at home! Get through the summer with indoor play for kids. Introduced by a nursery school principal and a childcare worker.

Let’s play with everyday materials! Here are some at-home play ideas using towels.

Towels are familiar items for both adults and children in daily life.

This time, let’s try playing with towels you have at your preschool or at home.

If you put a bag inside an open towel and roll it up tightly, it transforms into a ball that makes a crinkly sound.

If you tie the ends of a bath towel, it turns into a sled for dolls.

It’s fun how the shapes change, isn’t it? It’s a wonderful idea that lets children use their creativity while they play.

Summer festival pretend play

[For 4-year-olds] Let’s play summer festival!

Recommended for 4-year-olds! Here are some ideas for a pretend summer festival.

Summer festivals are often held as local events or at schools and kindergartens.

This time, let’s plan a summer festival play where 4-year-olds take the lead.

They can crumple newspaper with both hands to make candy apples and takoyaki, and use them for decorations.

There can also be stalls like a shaved ice shop using cotton and cups.

Through this pretend summer festival, children can interact across age groups and even learn about money—great ideas with lots of possibilities.

Goldfish scooping made with construction paper

[WakuWaku-san’s Craft Workshop] Make an easy “Goldfish Scooping” game and have fun playing it!

Let’s make it with simple steps! Here are some ideas for making a goldfish scooping game out of construction paper.

Wouldn’t it be fun to recreate the goldfish scooping you see at festivals and food stalls at your preschool or at home? This time, let’s try making a goldfish scooping game using construction paper and paper plates.

You’ll need long, thin strips of colored construction paper, paper plates, a stapler, scissors, cellophane tape, glue, and stickers.

Make the goldfish out of colored paper and the poi (scooping paddle) out of paper plates.

Even without water, putting them in something like a kiddie pool should create the right atmosphere.

Unbreakable soap bubble

@kmama_steam

Unbreakable Soap BubblesI tried making it!Play at home#Steam play#steamforkidsExperimental PlayAt-home play#EducationalPlayLife with childrenPlay with children#Cocoa Experiment#homeSteam

Adventure – YOASOBI

Let’s have fun experimenting! Here’s an idea for unbreakable soap bubbles.

Many kids may feel sad when bubbles pop right away while playing.

In such cases, we recommend trying unbreakable bubbles.

The ingredients are 80 milliliters of boiled water, 10 milliliters of neutral dish soap, 10 milliliters of liquid laundry starch (or school glue-type starch), and sugar.

Finding the best ratio of ingredients to make the bubbles harder to pop can be a learning experience, just like an experiment.

Give it a try!

Secret Base Dome

Let’s secretly play in your very own room! Here are some ideas for a secret-base dome.

For children, a secret base is a special place that sparks their sense of adventure and imagination.

It’s an appealing space they can use freely—as their personal hideout or a place to invite trusted friends to play together.

This time, let’s make a secret-base dome using materials you already have at home.

You’ll need newspaper, plastic bags, and duct tape.

After making the walls and roof with the newspaper and plastic bags, blow air in through the entrance using a fan.

It will puff up softly and it’s really fun!

Fluid art

[Fluid Art] Fun craft pouring paint from paper cups 🎨 [Easy with 100-yen shop materials!]

Let’s play with “fluid art” that takes advantage of paint’s flow.

You’ll need liquid laundry starch or school glue, paper cups, acrylic paint, Kent paper (heavy drawing paper), wooden chopsticks, and a box to tape the Kent paper onto.

A box about 5 cm deep and a bit larger than your paper is easier to use.

First, choose several paint colors.

In separate paper cups for each color, mix paint and glue at a 1:1 ratio using a chopstick.

After mixing, pour several of these glue-mixed paints, layering them into another clean paper cup.

Press the box—already fitted with the Kent paper—down onto the top of the cup, then flip the whole thing so the cup ends up on top.

Set the box and cup down, lift the cup, and the paint will flow out to create beautiful patterns.

You can tilt and move the box with both hands to change the flow, or add more paint from above for extra fun.

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