Children in the first years of school learn best through play, talk and hands-on discovery. These activities need little reading and plenty of doing.
Keep sessions short and celebrate effort. Doing an activity together is part of the fun at this age.
19 free activities
Hide clues around the house that can only be unlocked by solving a maths problem. Each answer points to the next hiding spot.
Indoor or outdoor · Hands-on · easy
You'll need: Paper or sticky notes, A pencil, A small 'treasure' (a snack, sticker or note)
A fast two-player game: roll two dice, multiply, and race to fill your board first.
Indoor · Printable · easy
You'll need: Two dice, This page printed, or a hand-drawn 3 × 4 grid for each player, Two pencils
A printable bingo card of reading challenges — read in a cubby, read to a pet, read a comic — to keep books fun all holidays.
Indoor or outdoor · Printable · easy
You'll need: This page printed, Books from home or the local library, A pencil or stickers
Plan, draw and write a six-panel comic with a beginning, a problem and a satisfying ending.
Indoor · Printable · medium
You'll need: This page printed, or paper folded into six boxes, Pencils and colouring pencils
Roll a die three times to pick a character, place and problem, then tell or write the story.
Indoor or outdoor · Printable · easy
You'll need: One die, This page printed or read from the screen, Paper (for writing the story, optional)
Mix bicarb soda and vinegar to make a colourful eruption and discover what a chemical reaction is.
Outdoor · Hands-on · easy
You'll need: Bicarbonate of soda (2 tablespoons), White vinegar (½ cup), A small cup or bottle…
Become a weather scientist for a week: observe the sky, measure rain, and compare your notes to the forecast.
Outdoor · Printable · easy
You'll need: This page printed, A clear jar and a ruler (for a rain gauge), A pencil
Explore your backyard or local park to find, sort and sketch living things — no collecting required.
Outdoor · Printable · easy
You'll need: This page printed, A pencil, A magnifying glass (optional)
Fold three paper plane designs, run fair tests and find out which flies furthest — and why.
Indoor or outdoor · Hands-on · easy
You'll need: A4 paper, A tape measure or long-step counting, Paper and pencil for results
Go on a safari for circles, triangles, rectangles and more — snapping photos of shapes hiding in plain sight around the house or park.
Indoor or outdoor · Hands-on · easy
You'll need: A phone or tablet with a camera (or paper and pencil to sketch), A list of shapes to find
Sixteen fun writing prompts to tick off over the holidays — from describing your perfect sandwich to writing a letter to your future self.
Indoor or outdoor · Printable · easy
You'll need: This page printed, A notebook or exercise book, Pencils and coloured pencils
Stack honey, dishwashing liquid, coloured water and oil into a stripy tower, then predict where small objects will float or sink.
Indoor · Hands-on · easy
You'll need: A tall clear glass or jar, Honey, Dishwashing liquid…
Sprout a bean in a clear jar so you can watch the roots and shoot grow, recording changes over two weeks in an observation diary.
Indoor · Printable · easy
You'll need: This page printed, Two or three dried beans from the pantry (such as broad beans or borlotti beans), A clear jar…
Use cardboard tubes, boxes and tape to build a marble run up a wall or down the stairs — then improve it to make the marble's journey as long as possible.
Indoor · Hands-on · medium
You'll need: Cardboard tubes (paper towel and toilet roll tubes), Cereal boxes or other thin cardboard, Masking tape or painter's tape…
Invent, draw and play-test an original board game — with a theme, rules, dice rolls and maths challenge cards.
Indoor · Hands-on · medium
You'll need: A large piece of cardboard (the back of a cereal box or a flattened box), Coloured pencils or markers, Paper for cards…
Run your own mini Olympics in the backyard or park — time the races, measure the throws and work out everyone's average score.
Outdoor · Printable · medium
You'll need: This page printed, or a results table drawn on paper, A tape measure, A stopwatch or phone timer…
Learn the four main cloud families, then head outside to spot them, name them and guess what the weather might do next.
Outdoor · Printable · easy
You'll need: This page printed, A pencil, A blanket or towel to lie on…
Turn a favourite story into a short script and perform it together — no memorising, no costumes required, just big expressive voices.
Indoor · Hands-on · easy
You'll need: A favourite picture book, fable or short story, Paper and pens, Highlighters (optional)…
Seven days, seven small acts of kindness. Tick them off, talk about how they felt, and see how kindness spreads.
Indoor or outdoor · Printable · easy
You'll need: This page printed, Paper, pencils and colouring pencils for cards and notes, Gardening gloves (for the litter pick-up)
