Creative Ideas to Keep Children Engaged Over the Holidays
Summer holidays are a wonderful opportunity for parents to explore enriching, creative learning opportunities with their children without the usual term-time rush. At Keystone, we believe the best summer learning happens when it aligns with your child’s own interests, whether it’s a favourite artist, animal, historical period, or a country they are curious about.
Here are our recommendations to keep your primary-aged child learning over the summer holidays.
Let Your Child’s Interests Lead Summer Learning
Keep a running list of topics your child is naturally drawn to and use these as a springboard for projects and reading. Involving your child in researching and planning activities builds curiosity and independence while helping them take ownership of their learning.
Read for Pleasure
Summer is the perfect time to cultivate a love for reading. Encourage your child to explore books in subjects and genres they enjoy. If they love adventure stories or books about animals, use this interest to guide your summer library visits. Local librarians can be an excellent resource for finding book series other children love.
- View our Year 1 & Year 2 Reading List
- View our Year 3 & Year 4 Reading List
- View our Year 5, Year 6 & Year 7 Reading List
Turn Day Trips into Project-Based Learning
Use summer day trips to museums, nature reserves, or historical sites as catalysts for learning projects. After a visit, encourage your child to create a poster, write a short story, or build a model related to what they saw, deepening their engagement and recall.
Languages and Maths in the Real World
Get children involved in practical learning during your summer plans. Let them help with planning journeys, converting currency, or calculating travel times, turning maths into meaningful, real-world learning. Ordering food or learning a few words in a new language can also build their confidence and language skills.
Play Word Games for Vocabulary Boosts
Games like Bananagrams, Scrabble, and Boggle are a fun, collaborative way to build vocabulary and spelling skills while enjoying family time during the holidays.
Encourage Creative Writing
Summer is ideal for daily writing practice without school pressures. Children could keep a travel journal, write postcards, or send letters to family members. If you need ideas, resources like The Happy Self Journal, The Literacy Shed, and Pobble offer wonderful writing prompts.
We are excited to be running our first Creative Writing Competition for children aged 5-13 this year, with the deadline at the end of the October half-term. The summer holidays are the perfect time to start putting pen to paper and develop writing skills.
Read more about our Creative Writing Competition and register your child for our free creative writing workshop.
Tutoring for Summer Enrichment
Over the summer, a tutor can help your child stay academically active or provide enrichment. For primary-aged students, a great tutor personalises learning, whether it’s addressing areas highlighted in end-of-term reports, building confidence in a subject, or preparing for upcoming school entrance tests.
A tutor can help ensure your child continues learning in a fun, structured way, preventing learning loss and fostering curiosity throughout the summer.
At Keystone, we believe that summer learning should be engaging and aligned with your child’s interests. Whether through reading, real-world maths, creative writing, or tailored tutoring, you can help your child continue growing academically while enjoying the slower summer pace.
If you would like to discuss summer tutoring for your child, please get in touch with our team. We have a number of experienced tutors available to start over the summer or in September.
Call us on +44 (0)207 602 5310 or complete our online form.