The Best Summer Holidays Activities & Fun Toys for Kids

The Best Summer Holidays Activities, New Books & Fun Toys for Kids | AD

We still have a little while to go before the summer holidays start here in the UK. But being prepared is always a good thing. Plus, I always find that these last few weeks before the summer holidays fly by with different events at school. It’s not long left before another school year has finished. When the kids are home for longer stretches of time, it’s a good idea to have some entertainment options ready. Hopefully, the kids will be able to enjoy plenty of outdoorsy fun this summer but a few new toys, crafty activities, and books make a great addition. Read on for my recommendations for the best summer holidays activities, crafts, books and toys for children.

Get Building with Plus-Plus

Plus-Plus is an award-winning creative constructive toy from Denmark that provides endless fun while stimulating fine motor skills, creativity, focus and patience. Children can enjoy using the same Plus-Plus shape in different colours to build pretty much anything they want which is fantastic. Read on to find out more.

The range includes lots of different sets in different colourways and also kits for specific builds. All these can of course be mixed and matched too. Additionally, children can come up with their own designs and freestyle as they build.

Many of the sets come in Plus-Plus Tubes which look great and also provide a convenient storage solution to the Plus-Plus pieces. The tubes make Plus-Plus a great travel-friendly toy too. We often take them with us when we go camping. The summer range includes Tropical, Rainbow and the new Pearl Tubes. The 100-piece sets have an RRP of £6.99 and the 240-piece sets have an RRP of £11.99. Plus-Plus tubes are available from amazon.co.uk and other good toy and gift stores.

The Plus-Plus Learn to Build range includes this brilliant Learn to Build Robots set which lets you build a bunch of amazing robots using Plus-Plus pieces. There are a few special round pieces included in this set too.

These robots are so adorable and the addition of the round pieces expands the building possibilities even further. Plus-Plus Learn to Build Robots is available from amazon.co.uk and other good toy and gift stores.

Plus-Plus HEXEL

Also by Plus-Plus, the new fidget toy for hands of all sizes – HEXEL. It’s crafted with six Plus-Plus BIG pieces connected by a flexible cord that allows you to flex the pieces into different shapes as you fidget with it.

HEXEL bends, twists and connects to create mesmerizing forms. Or you can just enjoy the soothing play. It’s completely quiet, pocket-friendly and portable so you can play with it anywhere you want.

It’s available in three colour variations (you can see the Spectrum version here) from amazon.co.uk and other good toy and gift stores. 

Eco-Friendly Mini Builds from Build Your Own

If you’re looking for an educational and eco-friendly craft project that’s lots of fun too, then a Build Your Own kit is what you need.

Here you can see one of the kits from the award-winning brand’s Mini Builds range – the amazing Build Your Own Honey Bee Kit (click the link to read my full blog review).

The set contains everything you need to build your own large honey bee out of high-quality cardboard. Simply press out the pre-cut pieces and assemble according to the instructions. This set is suitable for children age 8 and onwards. The range also includes sets for building a ladybird, a stag beetle, and a dragonfly. Browse more Build Your Own kits on Amazon.co.uk here.

So Slime Sensations Sugary Crush Milkshake

Children absolutely love slime these days and it is the perfect thing for indoor play. The new So Slime Sensations Sugary Crush Milkshake is a great set that provides a sensory play experience.

The set includes everything you need to make your own slime milkshake with an easy-to-follow recipe. You get a sensational collection of different compounds and decorations to use to make a scrumptious-looking creation.

The compounds provide an excellent mix of vibrant colours and diverse textures for kids to squish, mix, and stretch. Buy your So Slime Sensations Sugary Crush Milkshake via Amazon.co.uk here.

My first 3d Pen Make

Another exciting craft activity tool is this fun 3D pen. My first 3d Pen Make lets you create pretty much anything you want using the included colourful filaments.

Follow the templates that come with the 3D pen or freestyle to make your own ideas come to life. It’s really easy to use and provides many hours of entertainment. You can read my full review of My first 3d Pen Make here.

A Weekend Trip Book

A Weekend Trip by Cynthia Cliff is the ideal summer book for young children. The large board book takes you along on weekend trips to different destinations. Follow along as the diverse cast of charming characters travel from the city via different modes of transport and arrive at a seaside resort, visit the beach, the woods, a village, and a park. The people take part in all kinds of activities like swimming, picnicking, fishing, boating and reading.

There’s so much to see on each brightly coloured and delightfully detailed spread. Children are sure to discover something new each time they look through this book. Additionally, it’s a Find Pepin Book so readers can look for this adorable dog on each spread. The book has not got any text at all so very young children can explore the book on their own if they want to or together with a grown-up or sibling.

A Weekend Trip is available from good booksellers like Amazon.co.uk. For more stockists visit Prestel.com.

Captain Fantastic Book Series

The Undersea Monster is the newest addition to the Captain Fantastic book range. If your little ones haven’t discovered this book series aimed at the Key Stage One age group yet I’m sure they’d love to this summer. In this new book, we follow our hero Captain Fantastic and his loyal canine companion Wilson on a journey through space to land on a remote blue sea planet.

Captain Fantastic does not listen to Wilson’s wise words about the water and dives too deep. Soon, he needs to be rescued out of the jaws of the Undersea Monster (which is not too scary!).

My 5-year-old loves these colourful and fun picture books. The rhyming text is great too and there’s always a life lesson to be learnt from each book.

You can find all the Captain Fantastic books available to purchase from Amazon.co.uk here.

Books2Door Children’s Book Subscription

A children’s book subscription is a great way to keep children reading over the summer holidays. Books2Door have recently launched three monthly book subscription options for different age groups:

• Baby & Toddler Subscription Box (Age 0-3)
• Early Years Monthly Subscription Box (Age 4-6)
• Key Stage 2 Children Subscription Box (Age 7-10)

Each letterbox sized box contains a selection of 3-4 books, an activity/colouring sheet, plus mystery merchandise. Each box costs just £9.99 which includes shipping too. You can read more about the Books2Door Children’s Book Subscription Boxes here.

Conclusion – Best Summer Holidays Activities

Those are my top recommendations for fun things for children to do this summer. We have explored new books to read, fun toys and excellent craft sets.

Collaboration.