Having a toddler around can make life pretty hectic, right? 

No parent wants the toddler years to zoom past in a blur and miss this amazingly cute stage of life. With the summer fast approaching, we are all thinking about the long, lazy summer days and endless amounts of time at hand. 

Since no one is really going out, so summer camp activities for kids are not a possibility!

Why not indulge in some fun indoor summer activities for kids? 

Wondering what are some fun summer things to do with your little one?

Here are 50 fun summer camp activities that can be done at home. Not only will these activities keep your little ones busy, but also create great memories that will last a lifetime! 

1. At-home fashion show

Let your kids raid your closet and put on a fashion show! You can challenge them to come up with 10 unique outfits! Encourage them to creatively use the resources available. Can they reuse some cardboard and make a crown?

2. Make a masterpiece with finger painting

Finger painting is a great way to engage your child with creative activities. Apart from passing time, finger painting will help your little one learn how colours work and support their sensory integration. It’ll also develop their fine motor and communication skills. So grab some non-toxic paints and some paper and get messy!

3. Grab some sheets and make a good old-fashioned fort

The at-home blanket fort is perfect for playtime—and naptime! Making a blanket-fort can take as much or as little time as you would like! This fun preschool activity can be done over and over again with different twists and turns. All you need are chairs, pillows, rubber bands, or clothespins to keep the fort together, and a blanket. 

• Arrange chairs to have plenty of floor space for a fort. 
• Then place heavy blankets on the floor. 
• Drape lighter blankets over the backs of the chairs. 
• Use clothespins or rubber bands to hold sheets together with the chairs. 
• Pillows or books can be used as weights to hold fort walls in place. 

For a simple fort, you can also drape sheets over a table and add pillows, and blankets underneath.

4. Set up an indoor bowling alley

This is an excellent summer activity for kids to enjoy and participate in! You will require 10 plastic bottles and a tennis ball. If you are worried about your little one hurting themself with the tennis ball or breaking things indoors, opt for an inflatable ball.  Organize the bottles as you would find in a bowling alley and get started with your child. Set up a friendly match and see who wins!

5. Build an indoor obstacle course!

When it gets hot, leaving the house during the daytime might not be the best idea. An indoor obstacle course will provide your little one with endless hours of summer fun and help them stay active!

As you design, keep your child’s physical ability in mind. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Crawl under or over a row of chairs
• Crawl under a string stretched between two chair legs 
• Jump into and out of a Hula-Hoop five times
• Do 10 jumping jacks

There are many more challenges that you can come up with for your little one. It can be a great creative exercise!

6. Get a learning kit

A learning kit is a perfect way to spend time with your little one while they have fun and develop new skills. Though online sessions sound very convenient, it is always a better option to opt for something that is hands-on and play-based.

One such example is- Flintoclass@HOME is a research-based learning program that provides hands-on learning activities for preschoolers and pre-recorded guidance sessions to children between the ages of 1.5 to 6 years old. All the materials are shipped directly to your doorstep! Designed by pedagogy experts and child psychologists, the curriculum supports holistic learning for children.

Wondering what comes in the Flintoclass kit? Watch this video to find out!

Cuddle up with your little one and read a book together! If your child is too young to read a book, read them a story. It is not only a great way to bond with them, but also helps them understand sounds, words, and language. Apart from enjoying the stories, this activity will also spark your child’s imagination and stimulate curiosity.

8. Have an indoor “camp out” with sleeping bags, a tent, board games, and snacks

Indoor camping is the perfect way of introducing children to the joy of camping, before the real trip! You can spend a whole day with your child preparing for the trip. From preparing the meals, packing enough drinking water, stocking up on snacks and games to learning to set up the tent, your child will not only have a blast before the ‘trip’, but they will also have a great time. Make sure you have some fun board games at hand!

9. Cook dinner together

Teaching young ones to cook, not only makes them independent but also is a great way to guide them towards healthy eating habits. Your child can start by helping with tasks like washing the vegetables, cracking an egg, spreading butter on a toast. In addition, they can also offer a hand to pick up and put away clean dishes and bowls. Once you and your child feel confident enough to cook a meal together, you can start off with some recipes that don’t require the use of fire. For example, milkshakes, fruit salad, sandwiches, or overnight oats!

10. Have a pillow fight

Play is a great way to engage with your child and make long days pass like water. Play is also a great stress-buster for parents! Pillow fight is a very fun activity that you can do with your child on a weekend that will result in lots of fun and giggles. It’s an easy game that children of all ages will enjoy playing and it teaches them about “losing and winning.” The best pillows are definitely the fluffy kind!

11. Play hide n seek with stuffed animals

Take a bunch of stuffed animals (around 5-6) and ask your child to cover their eyes for 5 minutes. If they are old enough to count, encourage them to count until 100 while covering their eyes. Hide the stuffed animals in different corners of the house and ask your child to look for them. Make sure there’s an award in the end!

12. Go on a texture walk.

This can be a great development activity for children of all ages! Start by collecting things that are smooth, things that are bumpy, things that are soft, and so on. You can further develop the walk into collecting things that can be broken by hand (leaves), things that can be recycled, etc. You could also use this activity to teach your toddler to identify colours and objects in the natural world.

A fun summer activity for preschoolers!

13. Collect and paint pet rocks

This is a fun activity to do with your little one. Make sure to use child-safe paint. You can encourage your child to find multiple rocks of different shapes and sizes and give them names. This activity can be a great way to help them navigate concepts like ‘big’ and ‘small’, along with identifying colours!

14. Marble painting

Marble painting is a fun and engaging activity that your child can do at home. Not only will it keep them busy for hours, but it’ll also stimulate their creativity and imagination.

All you need is some shaving foam, a plate, dropper, watercolor paint, a stick, and some paper!

First, spray a layer of shaving cream to cover the bottom of your plate. Then use a dropper to add different amounts of watercolor paint to the foam. Use a stick (a chopstick, the end of a paintbrush, or even the dropper) to swirl the paint around for a marbled effect. Press the paper against the plate and it’s done! 

15. Press leaves and flowers into an old book or scrapbook

This can be a fun way to make some memories. You can encourage your child to look out for leaves and flowers of different colors and shapes. You can also set up rules like, no leaf or flower can be plucked, it has to be picked from the ground!

16. Host a lemon and spoon race

You can set up a lemon and spoon race for your little one with their friends, or you can make it a time-bound activity. It is a sporting event in which children have to balance a lemon upon a spoon and race with it to the finishing line. Your child will develop their concentration level and patience through this activity.

17. Make friendship bracelets

Thread bracelets are a very fun and easy activity to do with your child. All you need is thin yarn (have a minimum of 6), scissors, and safety pins. Cut the length of thread yarns to at least 30 inches. 

• Begin the bracelet by taking your cut strands of embroidery/ floss and tying an overhand knot in one end. 
• Adhere this to a tabletop or your pants or a pillow and braid three inches down from this knot. 
• Once you’ve finished your braid, make another overhand knot at the bottom of the braid. 
• Then you have to decide the order you want your strands to be. This will determine the order of the color of your rows. 
• Once they’re in order, grab the first two strands. 
• The strand farthest to the left is going to create your first row. You’ll be knotting it around the other strands of floss/yarn to achieve this.
• Take the first strand, and pass it over the second strand, and then behind it.
• It is important you knot over the second strand, it’ll give it the right look. Now hold the second strand taut, and pull the first strand up and towards the large knot.
• Pull until you meet resistance, but not any harder! This will create a small knot on the second strand. Make another knot by tying the first strand around the second strand again – just repeat what you did before!
• Continue moving across to the right, using the first strand to create two knots on each strand of floss/yarn in the bracelet. 
• Once you’ve knotted all the way across to the right and reached the last strand of floss/yarn, begin again using the first strand on the left.
•  Make sure you’re making two knots on each strand. Keep going until you have 3-4 inches of knotting done.

Once you have 3 inches of yarn left, cut it off and tie it around. You’re done!

18. Break out your movie collection. Have a movie marathon complete with popcorn

It could be an animated movie of your little one’s choice! Whatever you and your little one’s heart desires. This could also be a great way for you to travel back in time and relive your childhood.

19. Make a time capsule. 

The time capsule could be a USB drive. Have each family member record a voice note in the time capsule. Then, store it away until a designated date. Your child can listen to it as early as next weekend or as far off as high school graduation. The voice note could be what your child did that day, what is going on in their mind, or what they want to be when they grow up! This will be a great activity for kids at home- they will get a chance to think about what they would like to record and record. This activity will also lead to wonderful memories being created over the summer that you can cherish for a lifetime!

20. Play a board game for the family to enjoy

Crack open a board game and spend some quality time with your little one! You can start off with simple games like snakes and ladders or ludo. 

21. Rearrange the furniture

You can ask your little one to help you rearrange and redesign the setup of a particular room. They can help in any capacity- from designing the outline of the rearrangement to moving pillows and cushions around the room!

22. Set a goal and complete a home project.

 Whether it is cleaning the garage, organizing the basement, or redecorating the spare bedroom, find ways to let the kids help you out. Not only will this keep them engaged, but it could also be a great way to finish the due tasks you’ve been laying off!

23.Master new life skills together 

There are certain skills you can teach your little one over the summer. Such as, decision making, time management, or health and hygiene. Decision-making can begin with making basic decisions like which socks to wear, what to wear today. You can also teach your kids hygienic skills like brushing teeth, washing hands, etc. These life skills will help your little one for a very long time and instilling them at an early age is always a good idea!

24.Create a summer mural

Looking for some craft indoor summer camp activities? Why not create a summer mural!

Stretch a long piece of white craft paper across a wall in the basement or garage and create a family mural. Include hand-drawn, painted, or coloured pictures of your summer activities. Work on it all summer, adding to it little by little. This can be a long-term project that you and your little one can participate in together!

25. Play with clay

Playing with clay is not only safe but also a lot of fun! It will encourage your child to get messy. Through clay, your child can bring imagination to life! You can also use this activity to teach them to identify different shapes and differentiate between big and small. Once your little one is happy with their creation, you can bake the creation for 45 minutes to an hour and make it permanent!

26. Fly a kite

Making a kite together with your kid is a wonderful learning experience and flying it together is tons of fun! If you’ve been wondering how to make a kite, read on to find out. 

• All you need is two sticks, a garbage bag, some strings, and scissors.
• Take the two sticks and tie them together making a cross with a string. 
• Cut the garbage bag to fit the frame of the kite. 
• Tie the ends of the sail to the frame. 
• Tie some ribbons to the end of the kite in order to help balance it. 
• Add a long string to one edge of the frame and your kite is done! 

  27. Video-call with grandparents or other relatives. 

Encourage your little ones to video-call their grandparents, uncles, and aunts. It’s a simple, yet memorable summer activity for kids at home.

They can talk about their summer plans and adventures. This will not only help them spend their time but also help with their emotional well-being!

28. Make fresh lemonade or sun tea.

Lemonade is a very easy summer drink to make that you and your little one can enjoy on the front porch with some homemade cookies and have a blast! A great vacation activity for students to do at home!

29. Scavenger hunt!

Write up clues and hide them around the apartment. Kids can race to find each clue for a small prize at the end.

30. Bubble bashing

Blow bubbles and let your child try to smash them! One of the easiest activities to do in summer vacation with your child!

31. Play balloon tennis

Balloon tennis is a child-safe way of having some fun outdoors. If you don’t have a racquet, you can use your hands and modify the game to be balloon volleyball!

32. Finish your homework

Though it might not be the most exciting summer vacation activities for students on the list, it is definitely worth doing during the start of the break! Encourage your little ones to finish their holiday homework soon so that it doesn’t become stressful for them during the entire summer break!

33. Write a letter to your loved ones or send a voice note for 10 years in the future

Encourage your children to write letters to their friends and family. Not only will it encourage them to build bonds with their friends, but it will also stimulate creativity and enhance their communication skills. If your little one is too young to write, you can encourage them to record a voice message for their friends and family. 

34. Work on learning a new language

Young kids learn the language faster than adults. This is a great time to opt into summer class for kids. This could be a great activity to pass the time with your little one. If you’re bilingual, you could teach your child the second language that you know, or you could start learning a completely new language with your child. There are many benefits of raising your child bilingual. Not only does it increase brain development, but it will also make them aware of different cultures and practices!

35. Do yoga 

Yoga with your toddler is a great way to get active and bond with them! Make sure the poses you choose are easy to do and not very exhausting for them. You can start off with simple exercises like boat pose (Navasana), Tree pose (Vrksasana), and corpse pose (Savasana)!

36. Get a colouring book!

Colouring books are a great way to keep your little one creatively engaged and entertained. If your child is too young to hold crayons, you can introduce them to finger-painting. Your child can start with one colouring task a day and make their way to more with time.

37. Get a pet

There are plenty of benefits of introducing a little furry friend to your little one’s life. Not only will the pet provide your child some company, but it will also help them develop empathy, compassion, and non-verbal communication skills. Having a pet will also teach your child to become more responsible. If you live in an area where having a dog or a cat is not realistic, you can opt for a fish!

38. Clean your room

You can ask your child to clean their room. It can become a week-long project! This does not only help your children stay busy, but also teaches them the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. 

39. Make some finger puppets

Making finger puppets is a fun activity to do with your little one. 

• All you need to do is trace your index and middle finger on two sheets of paper and cut them. 
• Make sure you leave some wiggle room. Wrap the two sheets of paper around your finger to ensure that your whole finger is covered.
•  Mark the edge and stick them together with some glue. 
• Finally, paint your finger puppet! Give it a pair of eyes, a nose, a mouth, and a cool hairstyle! 

Once you are done with the craft, you can encourage your child to put up a puppet show as well!

40. Recycle old bottles and create planters

Make sure your child doesn’t use scissors without supervision. This activity will help your child learn concepts like reusing and recycling, and help encourage them to think creatively! The easiest way to recycle old plastic bottles to create a planter is by cutting a small patch of plastic on the center of the bottle and planting a plant there. Give it a shot, it’ll be a great bonding and learning experience!

41. Play Kho kho

Why not introduce your child to some traditional Indian games? Kho kho is everyone’s childhood favourite! Play this classic game with your little one and relive your childhood while making some memories!

42. Plant a garden

Why not plant a garden this break? Go out and buy some seeds and saplings, plan the structure of your garden and get gardening! It is a great team-building activity that will introduce your child to nature and teach them about many essential life skills like patience and consistency. This activity will also encourage your child to become responsible for taking care of plants.

43. Learn to meditate

You can teach your child to meditate during this break! Meditation helps in maintaining calm and dealing with stress. To ensure that your little one doesn’t feel overwhelmed, start by introducing meditation through 5 to 10 minute long sessions. As they start building their habits, start increasing their session time to longer. 

44. Play Antakshari

Playing Antakshari will not only lead to fun family time but also develop your child’s interest in music. It is a great screen-free activity that the whole family can do together. You can also modify the game and start introducing names of animals, names of flowers, places, capitals and countries!

45. Start a stamp collection

Why not ask your little one to start a stamp collection? Not only will it be fun for your child, but they will also develop patience and focus. It’s definitely a great screen-free activity to try during the summer!

46. Help parents sort laundry

You can ask your child to help you sort laundry or put dirty clothes in the washer. This activity will not only help you finish your work quickly but also keep your child engaged!

47. Play Hot and Cold

You can play with your child indoors or outdoors! This game will not only teach them to learn to correlate and think creatively, but it will also help them get a good grasp of concepts like hot and cold, close and near.

48. Hopscotch

Quite unsurprisingly, hopscotch has stood the test of time! The game requires nothing more than chalk and a small object, and it can be played solitary or with multiple people. Why not encourage your child to come up with creative variations of this game and have a blast!

49. Carrom

Play carrom with the family on a lazy Sunday afternoon! It is a perfect summer vacation activity for the whole family to spend some time together while having fun!

50. Musical chairs

Did you know, playing musical chairs will equip your little one with strategic thinking skills? Why not incorporate this activity as one of the things to do on summer vacation, with your child? It is a very easy at-home summer camp activities!

• To play this game, all you need is some chairs (one less chair than the playing members) and music.
•  Arrange the chairs in a circle with seats facing outwards. Play the music and have the players walk around the perimeter of the chair circle. 
• When the music stops, everyone must immediately sit in a chair. 
• The one person left standing it out.
•  Remove another chair and continue until only one person is left. 

So there you have it, 50 fun summer activities list to do with your child! 

Do let us know if you have any more ideas. Don’t forget to check the Flintoclass@HOME learning kit for your child here