Summer holiday activities for kids: 40 ideas for ten weeks

The summer holidays last about ten weeks, and what makes them work is one activity a day in the morning, a quiet afternoon and at least one completely empty day a week. Here are forty ideas, sorted into a theme per week: water, forest, the city, home, rain, projects, food, animals, and a week the children plan themselves. Most of it is free and most of it can be done in Stockholm with an SL card (SL is Stockholm's public transport).

The third week of July, a Tuesday at eleven, in a flat in Farsta: two children aged six and nine who have been bored since nine, a parent working from home and weather that is neither one thing nor the other. That is the day this list exists for. Not for the days you have planned, but for the forty days that just arrive. We divide the holiday into weekly themes, so you do not have to choose from scratch every morning.

Ten weeks, ten themes

Week	Theme	Best for
1	Water: swimming, beach, water play in the yard	Everyone, the smallest with an adult in the water
2	Forest and nature	3 years and up
3	The city: museums, parks, the underground	4 years and up
4	Home and the yard	Everyone
5	Rain week, it comes anyway	Everyone
6	Projects that take several days	6 years and up
7	Food	3 years and up
8	Animals	Everyone
9	The children plan	7 years and up
10	Getting ready for school, quiet days	School age

Forty ideas, theme by theme

Water, four ideas

1. A swimming spot by public transport. Stockholm has beaches you can reach by bus and underground, see Beaches for kids in Stockholm. One adult in the water per child under six, always.
2. Water play in the yard. A bucket, cups, a water pistol, a garden hose if you have one. Two hours for a four-year-old.
3. Building a dam. By a stream or on the beach: stones, sticks, a barrier for the water to run over. Nine-year-olds keep at it all afternoon.
4. The swimming pool on a rainy day. Check the current opening hours on their website, because summer hours differ from the rest of the year.

Forest and nature, four ideas

1. A forest walk with a mission. Find five different pine cones, something red, something that smells, a feather. Write the list on a slip of paper and tick them off.
2. A den made of sticks. In a wood near you. Go back to the same den all summer and keep building.
3. Berry picking. Blueberries from mid-July in the forests around Stockholm. Children under four eat more than they pick, and that is the point.
4. A night in a tent in the yard or on the balcony. The first time, somewhere you can go back inside if it does not work. More suggestions in Nature reserves in Stockholm with kids.

The city, four ideas

1. A museum day. Several museums in Stockholm have free entry and children's sections, see Museums for children in Stockholm. One exhibition per visit, not the whole building.
2. Underground art. Travel to five stations and look at the art, with a list of what to find at each one. Free with an SL card and a whole morning.
3. A park with a playground you have never been to. Pick one from Parks in Stockholm with great playgrounds, bring a packed lunch, stay until lunchtime.
4. The library. Summer reading, often with reading challenges for school-age children. Ask at your nearest library what they have on this year.

Home and the yard, four ideas

1. A lemonade stand. Home-made squash, a table in the yard, a sign. Children from five can run it. The neighbours buy.
2. Chalk on the tarmac. A whole hopscotch grid, a town, a track for bikes. The rain rubs it out.
3. An obstacle course. Out of whatever is there: cushions indoors, sticks and rope outside. Time it, beat the record.
4. A yard sale. The children clear out their rooms and sell things for small change. The best tidying method there is.

Rain, four ideas

1. A den in the living room. Sheets, clothes pegs, chairs. Lunch in the den.
2. A film day with tickets. The children make tickets, popcorn, curtains drawn. One film, not three.
3. Baking all day. Buns for breakfast, pizza for lunch, biscuits for fika. The doughs are in Baking with kids.
4. A soft play centre or indoor play. Expensive, noisy, and it works. Once per rain week. More suggestions in Rainy days in Stockholm with kids.

Projects, four ideas

1. Building a box or a bird table. Planks, nails, a hammer, an adult alongside. Takes three days and lasts ten years.
2. A summer diary. One picture and one sentence a day. It needs you to remind them, and in August the child has a book.
3. Growing things. Radishes take three weeks, herbs on the windowsill a week. The child waters them every morning.
4. A film. Script, roles, filming on a phone, premiere for the relatives in August. Nine-year-olds and up.

Food, animals, the children's own week and the last week

• Food: a barbecue at a designated barbecue spot, a picnic the children pack themselves, a day when the children cook dinner, and ice lollies you make at home from berries and yoghurt in moulds.
• Animals: a farm with animals, see Seeing animals with kids in Stockholm, birdwatching with binoculars in a park, a fishing rod on a jetty, and an insect hunt with a magnifying glass in the yard.
• The children plan: from age seven each child gets to plan one day, with a budget and times. You go along and do not say no to anything legal.
• The last week: earlier bedtimes, one evening at a time, buying a school bag, meeting a classmate, and one last outing to round off the summer. More in Starting school in Stockholm.

How to make it last ten weeks

Children do not need an activity a day for ten weeks. They need one in the morning on the days you have the energy, and empty days in between, because the empty days are when they invent their own games. What wears you down is being the only adult with the children for five weeks straight, and it is no weakness to say so. Share the weeks with another family, one week you and one week them. Let grandma take a week. And for the weeks you work and fritids (after-school care) is not enough: those are the weeks our nannies do the most full days, in July and August, with the same nanny all week and outings in the city. Local suggestions week by week are in Summer holidays in Stockholm with kids.

How we do it with our families

Sanna does full weeks with a family in Älvsjö in July, with a five-year-old and an eight-year-old, while both parents work. She puts one outing in the morning, nine to twelve: a swim on Monday, a museum on Tuesday, the forest on Wednesday. Afternoons are at home, in the yard, with quiet play. On Thursday the eight-year-old gets to plan Friday's outing, with a map and bus times, and Sanna goes along to wherever he has decided. The note to the parents each evening says where they have been, what they have eaten and what the children want to do again. After two weeks the family has a list of what worked, ready for next summer.

Read more: Summer holidays in Stockholm with kids · Outdoor games for kids · Beaches for kids in Stockholm · Prices

Frequently asked questions

How many weeks are the summer holidays?

About ten weeks for school-age children in Stockholm, from mid-June to mid-August. Preschoolers have no holiday as such, but many förskolor (municipal preschools) merge their groups in July. Parents rarely have more than four or five weeks of annual leave, so at least half the holiday needs another solution: fritids (after-school care), relatives, a summer camp or a nanny.

Does every day need an activity?

No. Children need boring days in summer, that is when they come up with things themselves. One activity a day, usually in the morning, and then free play is enough. This list is for the days when nobody can think of anything, not for filling all seventy.

What do you do in Stockholm when it rains all week?

Libraries, museums, the swimming pool, soft play, baking, building a den in the living room, a film day. Our guide to rainy weather in Stockholm has more suggestions. There is always a rainy week in July, so plan for it instead of hoping.

How do you handle siblings of different ages all summer?

Split the day: one activity that is the younger one's, one that is the older one's, and both join in with both. A nine-year-old who is given a responsibility of their own, like planning an outing or reading to a little sister, argues less. And give them time apart from each other, that is no weakness.

Can the nanny take full days in the summer holidays?

Yes, it is one of our most common arrangements in July and August. The same nanny all week or for several weeks, full or half days, with outings in Stockholm. Book in April or May, summer fills up early.