With the school summer holidays fast approaching, many parents are looking for exciting new activities to keep their children entertained. Anyone lucky enough to have their own garden will want to spend as much time there as possible.

To make it an exciting space for children, we have put together a list of garden summer camp activities for different group sizes and ages. As British summers rarely come without a bit of rain, our list also includes indoor activities for your summer house.

Fun Garden Activities

Whether it is just quality time with the family, play dates with friends or hosting children’s parties, there are endless opportunities to create lasting memories and meaningful connections in the comfort of your own garden.

1. Nature Scavenger Hunt

Make a list of items for your children to find, such as leaves, flowers, pebbles, and insects. For younger children, draw or print pictures of the items and keep the list short. Older children can take pictures of items that wouldn’t be safe or possible to pick up. These could be things like mushrooms, birds, animal tracks or clouds.

Older children can also look for more abstract objects. Challenge them to find something that moves, something they can build with, something that makes a sound, something that smells nice, something in their favorite color or something soft. This is a great activity for one child or a large birthday party.

3. Water play

On a hot summer’s day, set up a sprinkler or paddling pool, or hand out water pistols and water balloons for a water fight – depending on the age of the children. Toddlers will enjoy water-filled storage containers with cups and balls for sensory play. A water feature could also be part of your garden obstacle course. If you have a slope in your garden, you can easily turn it into a water slide with a thick plastic sheet and a sprinkler.

4. Obstacle course or garden Olympics

Use everyday items to create a fun obstacle course. Set up a pool noodle army crawl, some scooters for a zigzag race, skipping ropes for a tightrope walk on the ground and ring tosses. Add other things to throw, balance on or jump over.

For parties with many children, consider a garden Olympics. Kids compete against each other instead of doing the same obstacle course one after the other. Fun games include stick horse and sack races, long jump and tug of war. There are also tin can stilt races, three-legged races and egg and spoon races.

5. Garden camping

Camping in your own garden is a great adventure for children and a good introduction to camping holidays. Being close to home gives you the flexibility to move indoors if your children are uncomfortable sleeping outside.

Set up a tent in your garden with cushions and blankets and perhaps a fire pit for roasting marshmallows. This is also a great opportunity to do some stargazing! Download a handy stargazing app and see how many constellations you can find.

6. Pavement art

Crack open a box of chalk and let the kids decorate the patio, driveway, or pavement. For larger groups, make it a design competition or play games like Pictionary, hopscotch or tic-tac-toe.

Dedicated little artists can also create their own board games on the pavement, such as snakes and ladders. Or have your child lie down and draw their outline in chalk and let them draw their own chalk people.

Indoor activities for summer houses

Summerhouses are a great destination on rainy days and on particularly hot days when the sun is blazing. Many garden houses have verandas or canopies that provide shelter from the sun and rain, but still allow for outdoor activities such as playing in paddling pools. But there are also plenty of fun activities inside the summerhouse.

7. Paint faces and play dress-up

Children love to have their faces painted or to paint them themselves. This is a great activity for you and your child, as well as for play dates or birthday parties. You can also let them dress up in your old clothes and jewellery or their own costumes. Making their own costumes, such as princess crowns and superhero masks, is also a great craft activity.

8. Indoor arts and crafts station

Unlike in the garden, you can create a permanent art station in your summerhouse for painting, drawing and crafting. Screw cups to a wall and fill them with pencils, scissors (if age appropriate), tape, glue, paintbrushes, or beads and string for DIY bracelets and necklaces. You can also mount a roll of art paper, a chalkboard or a dry-erase board on the wall. If you’d rather leave the walls untouched, use a caddy or a large empty box to store craft items.

Grab some string and pegs to proudly display your children’s artwork on the wall. Shelves and chairs will also do for an at-home art exhibition for friends and relatives.

9. Press flowers

This classic tradition is still a hit with children of all ages. All you need are some flowers or leaves from your garden, a heavy book and some cards or newspaper. Place the flowers or leaves in the cards or newspaper to avoid staining the pages, then place them in the book. Stack a few books on top of each other to press them down.

When they are dry, after a few days, you can make bookmarks, stick them on greeting cards or put them in a picture frame or shadow box.

10. Make sock puppets

Sock puppets are one of the easiest things to make. All you need are some of your old socks (preferably the ones that lost their matches in the wash), googly eyes, string, and wool. You can also use household items for the eyes, nose, and hair. Older children may even be able to make a sock monkey with your help.

11. LEGO building contest

LEGO is a great addition to your board game shelf and provides hours of independent play. You can also challenge your children to see who can build the tallest tower, the strongest bridge or any object of your choice.If your summerhouse has a patio and the weather is nice, LEGO DUPLO in a paddling pool can provide endless fun for toddlers.

Garden houses for summer camp activities

As well as being great home offices or lounges, summerhouses can create extra space for your children to play in. You may not want to set up a permanent art station in your living room or have enough space for all the games, costumes, and craft materials. Instead, you can give your child a corner or room in your summerhouse where they can express themselves and have uninterrupted playtime.

Families especially love our summer houses with verandas or canopies, which provide reliable yet airy shelter during the hottest hours of the day. Two of our most popular summer houses with verandas are Lucas E and Hansa Corner B. They both feature 44 mm thick walls and large windows, but Hansa Corner B is about double the size of Lucas E.

Fun garden activities let you and your children make the most out of the beautiful summer weather. Whether it’s crafting, dancing or splashing in the water – your kids will cherish the special memories of their summer adventures and the time spent together. Summer has started, so you might can also consider getting a garden house and at Summerhouse24 we have some ready-in-stock, cabins that take usually less time to get delivered. Check quick delivery cabins for more options!