Six Weeks of Fun: Printable School Holiday Activities

The summer holidays are here! For most adults, this means lots of time spent with your children trying to keep them happy and occupied in the absence of school. Unfortunately, actually keeping your child busy can be tough in an age of distraction from electronics such as iPads and games consoles.

Thankfully, Cartridge Discount has got you covered. We’ve scoured the web for some of the best printable activities for children to help entertain and engage your kids. Harness their creativity and get them drawing, writing and puzzling away with the following activities.

Colour in with Crayola!

Crayon brand Crayola has a host of amazing colouring sheets for kids to harness their colouring skills. With some popular Disney characters voted as the parent’s picks, you can quickly find sheets your children will love.

Our favourites are these Tinkerbell and Toy Story worksheets. Remember, you don’t have to use crayons for these – pencils and pens work just as well.

Head to Crayola’s free colouring page for more.

Did you know? Colouring increases concentration, fine motor skills and engages burgeoning creative skills.

School’s out word search

A good word search can keep a child busy for hours at a time. For most children, it should include a mixture of basic and slightly more complex words. This one from Classroomjr.com is all about summer sport; great for little ones that love exercise.

 

Did you know? Word searches help reinforce learned vocabulary and increase visual acuity when recognising words.

Ice cream poem

Creativity is a precious talent and one many children sadly grow out of when they enter adulthood. See what your child is capable of by giving them this printable, acrostic poem from Activity Village that should be filled out using the letters on the sheet as the first letter in the lines of their poem.

 

Working through a poem like this helps kids learn how poetry works and keeps things summery. Perhaps reward their completed poem with a real ice cream.

Did you know? Poetry fosters creativity and since it doesn’t adhere to strict rules, it’s great for English language learners. Encourage open-ness and expression and let your children’s ideas shine.

Monkeying around with an activity sheet

Sometimes a single-page activity won’t hold attention for long. When that’s the case, it’s time to head to multi-activity sheets that feature lots of different distractions. This monkey sheet from kidspuzzlesandgames.co.uk is a great example – featuring a word search, maths puzzles, Sudoku and even colouring in.

Did you know? Sudoku is a great tool for children. It teaches decision making and promotes logical thinking.

 

The puppy puzzle

Any list of children’s activities would be incomplete if it didn’t include a maze puzzle. Tracing their way through a maze can be a great way to keep a child interested and to help them work on their problem solving skills. This puppy puzzle from thekidzpage.com is a great example of a tricky but solve-able quiz.

Did you know? Maze puzzles are a classic activity that boost fine motor control alongside problem solving.

 

Kids crossword

Crosswords are a classic puzzle that help children learn language, writing skills and are generally tougher than word searches – so will keep your child busy for longer. This one from thekidzpage.com is summer relevant thanks to its picnic theme.

Did you know? Crosswords are great for boosting memory and vocabulary skills.