Whatever the weather, having a variety of activity ideas at your disposal will ensure that the children in your care will stay entertained. There are a many low-budget or completely free activities you can do in any location.
This list is split into indoor, outdoor, and garden activities, based on what the family has available in their home and general area.
Fun Activities to do Outside
Walks in the Park
Find a local woodland or trail to explore and let the children navigate little tracks in between the trees. You could even find a nice pond to feed the ducks.
You can take some drinks and snacks with you and find a nice area for a picnic and maybe make some daisy chains.
Nature
The more inquisitive children may be interested in learning about the plants and animals they come across – free apps like iNaturalist or Seek allow you to quickly identify species with your phone camera on the go and encourage their curiosity!
Geocaching
A nationwide treasure hunting hobby, the Geocaching app lets you and the little ones in your care follow clues to find hundreds of well-hidden boxes around the country. Make sure to bring a pen to write your names on the log-book inside when you find it!
Make a bouquet
For this activity all you’ll need is a small piece of paper/card and a pencil! Both you and the children will draw a vase on the card, and poke holes above the drawing. On a walk, pick some flowers, leaves, and grasses to poke through the holes to form a wild bouquet in your custom vase!
Playgrounds
An exciting playground visit is a no-brainer for almost all children! With safety in mind, a playground is all you need to keep the children thoroughly entertained. There's always one nearby, and it's the perfect activity for a nice day. Do ask the parent's permission first.
It's a great way to get children socialising and learning how to play with others, and won't fail to keep them happily occupied for a long time.
Sports in the Park
The world is your oyster when it comes to sporty activities for children in a park. You play catch, football, tennis, cricket.. the list is endless. It's the best way to encourage a healthy lifestyle whilst creating a fun learning environment.
Fun Activities to do in the House
Board games
If you're stuck inside and the kids are bored, a great way to pass the time is to enjoy a board game. There are many suitable for multiple children of different ages too, such as snakes and ladders or memory games. Who knows, maybe the children have a favourite board game which you haven't played before, and you can enjoy a learning experience too!
Quizzes
Quizzes are a brilliant educational challenge ranging from movie characters to flags of countries and more; whatever the children are interested in there will be a quiz online for them. Sporcle.com is probably the best platform to find them. Or why not be adventurous and make your own quiz to tailor the children's interests better?
Movies
It's a nasty cold and rainy day and morale seems low. How about getting some popcorn, making a hot chocolate and snuggling up with some blankets on the sofa and watching a fun movie (if the parents allow)? Can guarantee the children will love this one!
Arts and crafts
Now for some creativity! Let the children's imaginations go wild with some papier mache sets, or maybe get some paints and do some finger painting (being very careful with the mess). Kids will love a fun arty afternoon and there are no boundaries for what they will come up with. Involve them in tidy-up time afterwards, too, maybe with a tasty snack as a reward for lending a hand.
Baking
And another (slightly messy) activity is baking. This could be gingerbread men, cookies or even cakes which the kids will love making but especially eating! Always ask the parent's permission first.
Cards
A standard deck of cards is full of possibilities. Easy card games like Snap, Crazy Eights, Old Maid or Go Fish can keep siblings or single children entertained for hours. Memory and matching games are also a great option – or think outside the box and see how tall of a card house you can make!
Fun Activities to do in the Garden
Football
No matter the age or gender, football is a great fun, healthy activity to get the children worn out for the rest of the day. This can be done in any weather and is bound to entertain them for quite some time. In the garden, set up a goal out of a couple of plant pots and let their imaginations run wild.
Paper Airplanes
Paper airplanes are a brilliant hassle-free activity for the garden. Follow these simple steps, decorate the planes and let the kids have a blast.
1. Fold the paper in half.
2. Unfold and then fold the top corners to the center line.
3. Fold the top peak down to the edge of the previous fold.
4. Fold the upper sides to the center line.
5. Fold the top about 1/2 inch away from you.
6. Fold the plane in half towards you.
7. Fold both flaps out to create the wings. The body will be about a half inch tall.
8. Now throw it as hard as you can and watch it fly unlike any other plane!
Bubbles
For the little ones a small bubble wand is a must do for some giggles. It's a mess free activity that'll make them smile and is perfect for a nice sunny day.
Shadow Poster
This is a great activity on a sunny day outside in the garden. Roll out a length of paper on dry ground or an outside table, or use individual sheets of paper to the same effect. Position some favourite toys or household objects so that the sun creates shadows of the objects on the paper.
Together, trace the outline of the object onto the paper, then colour them in. Why not use the pictures to make up a story about what might be happening?
Obstacle Course
Use what you can find to set up a course to run and jump around outside. Plant pots with sticks on top make for great jumps and bamboo canes stuck into grass make good waypoints to run through. Make it a race – and if the family has a pet, maybe they’ll want to join in too!