The best holiday maths doesn't look like homework. These activities hide number facts, measurement and money skills inside games, cooking and planning, so children practise without the pressure of a worksheet.
Pick one that matches your child's level and use the 'easier' and 'harder' ideas to adjust it on the spot. Fifteen to thirty minutes a few times a week is plenty to keep skills fresh for the new term.
15 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)
Give your child a pretend (or real) budget and a catalogue, and challenge them to plan a family meal without going over.
Indoor · Hands-on · medium
You'll need: A supermarket catalogue or online grocery site, Paper and pencil, A calculator (optional)
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
Cook a simple pancake recipe together, then halve or double it — real-life fractions you can eat.
Indoor · Hands-on · medium
You'll need: 1 cup self-raising flour, 1 cup milk, 1 egg…
Using only paper and tape, design a bridge between two books that holds as many coins as possible.
Indoor · Hands-on · medium
You'll need: 5 sheets of A4 paper, Sticky tape, Two books of the same height…
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
Older kids research, cost and timetable a real family outing — then present their plan for approval.
Indoor · Hands-on · challenging
You'll need: Internet access with a parent's permission, Paper or a spreadsheet, A calculator
Turn the kitchen table into an escape room: solve a chain of four maths puzzles to crack the secret code and open the locked box.
Indoor · Printable · medium
You'll need: This page printed, A box, tin or envelope to be the 'locked box', A small reward to hide inside (a treat, a note or a voucher for choosing dinner)…
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
Measure your bedroom and furniture with a tape measure, then draw an accurate floor plan to scale — and redesign your dream layout.
Indoor · Hands-on · medium
You'll need: A tape measure, Grid paper (or plain paper and a ruler), A pencil and eraser…
Pick something worth saving for, then build a realistic plan to get there — weekly targets, spending choices and a progress chart.
Indoor · Hands-on · medium
You'll need: Paper and pencil, A calculator (optional), A jar or envelope for savings (optional)
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…
Record sunrise and sunset times for a week, work out the length of each day and graph the pattern to see how daylight changes.
Indoor or outdoor · Printable · medium
You'll need: This page printed, Internet access with a parent's permission, or a printed almanac, Graph paper or plain paper and a ruler…
Plan a balanced lunch using the five food groups, write the shopping list, then make it and serve it to the family.
Indoor · Printable · medium
You'll need: This page printed, Ingredients for the chosen lunch, Chopping board, knife suitable for the child's age, bowls and plates…
