Free Summer Holiday Activities for Kids

By Lynsey | Activities, Family, Guest Blog, Holiday activities, Kids, Parents, SPaG Monsters, Top Tips, Writing Tips, Annual Showcase

Get creative, be inspired, have fun!

When it hits that point in the summer holidays when "I'm bored!" is uttered we have some activities up our sleeves to help banish boredom for a few more days! Here are LOADS of ideas kids can try...

👾 For 6-12 year-olds check out Young Writers' free online literacy game SPaG Monsters! There are no in-game charges, 25 games that increase with difficulty as players progress, and coins, stars, certificates and medals are awarded. It's guilt-free screen time as the players improve their literacy, can be creative decorating their monster avatar and home, and get competitive by trying to get to the top of the daily leaderboard. It's so great it's even been shortlisted for a Teach Primary Award!

Find out more and get your free account here.

🐶 The star of a story doesn't have to be human! Have a read of this rather fantastic guest blog by Gill Lewis who shares her top tips on how to write an animal character! What animal would you choose to write about? 

Read Gill Lewis' how-to guide here.

⚽ With the women's England team winning the Euros and the Commonwealth Games underway in August, what about writing an article about sport? Times reporter Rick Broadbent has created a how-to guide for writing a football report, and his advice is easy to adapt to other sports too.

Read Rick Broadbent's sports article feature here.

✍️ What about writing a diary? It could be from someone else's point of view, your own or even a character you have created. Awesome author Kathy Weeks has written a how-to guide so you can write an epic diary!

Read Kathy Weeks' top diary writing tips here.

🎙️ Creativity comes in many forms, and hosting a podcast is one of them! Got a great idea? Rather talk about it than write it? Then podcasting may well be for you!

Read the How to Create a Podcast blog here.

🍨 For budding artists we have The Shop of Impossible Ice Cream challenge inspired by Shane Hegarty's latest book. Cheese and strawberries with minced garlic? Tuna with banana? What weird and wonderful flavour would you create?

Find out more and download a template here.

💻 Why not try writing something different, such as a blog? Our very own Jenni Harrison has written a how-to guide so you can get writing and hosting your own blog... Who knows you could even be the next big thing!

Read "How to Write a Blog" here.

🧐 Before you write a story, you need to learn about character creation, and the brilliant Keiran Larwood has created a how-to guide to creating original characters for your story.

Read Keiran Larwood's character creation advice here.

👻 If you're a fan of fiction but not sure about how to write a story, then Jenni's how-to guide is here to help! From planning your plot and setting to ideas to inspire your story, you'll be writing amazing tales in no time!

Read "How to Write a Story" here!

🔖 Take part in Young Writers' Design a Bookmark competition 2022 and your design could be printed and awarded to thousands of pupils across the UK!

Download your entry form here.

⭐ If you're aged between 4-18 and have written something in any style, up to 1,000 words, then why not enter your masterpiece into The Young Writers' Annual Showcase? Closes 19th Sept 2022!

Find out more and how to enter here.