The best things to do with your children this summer

Summer is long, and there is no shortage of ways to fill it well.

Here is Oppidan’s handpicked list of activities, projects and events for curious children for summer 2026. These are things that will get them thinking, making, connecting and seeing the world a little differently. 

Activities & projects 

Creative 

Design a board game

What's the theme, the objective, the rules? Who is it for? A younger sibling, a grandparent, a friend? Test it. What makes a game fair? What makes it fun? Can you combine games you already enjoy? 

Summer canvas

A huge canvas lives somewhere in the house all summer. Every week, add something: a drawing, a ticket stub, a word, a pressed flower, a printed photo. By September it's a portrait of the summer. Frame it or photograph it. 

Make Top Trumps

Any category: footballers, animals, historical figures, family members. Research the stats, decide the categories, design the cards. What makes a good Top Trumps category? What makes someone a "10"? 

Make a documentary

Pick a subject: your street, your family, your pet, a local shop. Interview people, film it on a phone, edit it into something you'd actually want to watch. Give it a title and a running time. 

Invent your own language

Start with Pig Latin, then go further. What are the rules? Is it better as a written or spoken language? Teach it to someone else. Can you have a full conversation by the end of summer? 

Geography & the world 

How far has your food travelled?

Pick five things from the fridge or cupboard. Find where each ingredient comes from. Plot the route it will have taken on a map with a scale and measure the total distance. Which meal has travelled the smallest distance all together? Could you make a version of it with only British ingredients? 

New country

Going somewhere new? Research the country: food, customs, a few words of the language, something that surprises you. You’re now the expert; present your findings to your family before you go.  

People & communication 

Letter writing

Who do you wish you’d had more contact with this year? A friend who moved school, a grandparent, a cousin abroad? Write them a proper letter. Think about what you most want to share with them. What questions do you have for them? 

Interview someone older than 70

A grandparent, a neighbour, anyone willing. Prepare five questions in advance. For example: what was summer like when they were your age? What has been their best summer memory? What do they wish they'd done differently in life? Write up what you learn. 

Teach your friend, sibling or parent a new skill

Pick something you can genuinely do, like juggling, a card trick, a recipe, or a chord on the guitar. Plan how you'll explain it. What will be hard for them? How will you know they've got it? Then ask them to teach you something back. 

Handpicked events 

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

CATS and The Enormous Crocodile are both on this summer. These are musicals that can be enjoyed by all the family.  

Shakespeare's Globe

A Midsummer Night's Dream runs until 29 August and Much Ado About Nothing until October. The Globe also runs short courses and workshops for ages 8–16 throughout the summer. These are hands-on sessions with Globe actors covering voice, text, movement and performance, all on site.  

BBC Proms

Royal Albert Hall, 17 July – 12 September. Two events worth highlighting specifically: Horrible Science Live on 25 July, and the Relaxed Prom on 9 August, where a more relaxed attitude to noise, movement and leaving the auditorium is actively encouraged.  

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

The RA's annual open exhibition features art made by everyone from household names, to emerging artists, to members of the public. Alongside it, the Young Artists' Summer Show displays work by artists aged 4–18. There is also a family workshop specifically for children with SEND – Summer Splash – on Sunday 12 July. 

The Hunterian Museum

One of London's most extraordinary and under-visited museums, housing over 2,000 anatomical preparations from John Hunter's original 18th-century collection alongside the history of surgery from ancient times to modern robot-assisted operations. Genuinely fascinating for curious children and unlike anything else in the city. On 28 July the museum also runs a free Family Activity Day – a mix of outdoor and indoor activities for ages 5 and up.