Long, hot summer days. The words alone can strike fear into the heart of any parent. The endless chorus of “I’m bored!” the constant battle over screen time, and the inevitable sibling squabbles. Usually, you can herd them outside to burn off some energy. But what about those days when the mercury soars, and you’re forced to retreat inside for indoor activities?
Fear not, fellow parents! We’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll share some hot tips on how to keep your little ones entertained and cool during those sweltering summer days. From crafting to scavenging, here are a bunch of indoor activities to keep little ones occupied and your sanity intact.
Hydration and keeping kids cool
Let’s start with the basics. It’s vital to keep kids hydrated and cool indoors during a hot day. Keep reminding them to drink water and add ice to cool it down. Fruit-flavoured icy poles will make hydration more fun, but go easy on the sugar content! You can also make your own at home.
To create a cool and calm environment, minimise the amount of direct sunlight entering your home. You can use kitchen curtains, sunscreen blinds or sheer fabrics to filter natural sunlight in without the penetrating heat that comes with it.
Turn on the air conditioning and the fan, aiming to keep your house between 20 and 23 degrees. If you don’t have air conditioning, don’t use a fan if the indoor temperature is above 32 degrees – instead, use a damp sponge to damp or mist your children. If your kids are cool and hydrated, they’re less likely to develop a headache or get cranky and overheated on a hot summer’s day.
Indoor activities for kids for a hot day
Card and board games
Playing some card games and board games as a family is at the top of the indoor activities list for kids for a hot day. There is a range of card and board games suited for families beyond the guaranteed argument-starters like Monopoly or Risk. For instance, you could try Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, a modern and hilarious version of Snap. You can play cooperative games, too, especially if your kids are competitive and prone to being sore winners or losers. After all – you want to make your time at home fun, not a pressure cooker!
Watch a family movie
One of the best indoor activities for a hot summer night is to create a fun movie night at home with some microwave popcorn, fresh fruit and soft drinks. Dress up as the characters in the film, or make decorations that fit in with the storyline for a more immersive experience.
For a full cinematic set-up, get your dining room chairs, put them in an empty space, and drape some sheets over them. Put some blankets down on the ground and fill this section with pillows and fairy lights. You’ve created a wonderful fort where imaginations can run wild! Whether you pick a new film or an old family favourite, it’s a budget-friendly way to keep your kids cool and entertained during hot nights.
Scavenger hunt
One of our favourite hot day indoor activities that will get the kids off their devices is a simple scavenger hunt. Create a list of household objects, and set a timer to find them. Here’s an example list, but you can easily create your own:
- Something blue
- A soft toy
- A teaspoon
- A piece of fruit
- A book
- A musical instrument
- A backpack
- A pillow
You could mix things up by adding extra rules, such as ‘this time, you have to tiptoe’, or ‘this time, you have to crawl’, to keep the game fresh and stop the kids running around too much.
Art and crafts session
Looking for indoor activities that can last a whole morning? You can’t beat an arts and crafts session. Spread out newspapers or an old sheet on the floor and let your children get stuck in. They can paint or draw by numbers, make a collage, colour in, learn paper mache, or indulge in other arts and crafts activities that allow them to tap into their inner artists and learn the satisfaction of producing something from nothing.
If you’re entertaining younger kids, you can easily make homemade Play-Doh with some flour, salt, water, and food dye. Just watch that they don’t eat it, as kids love to try to sneak a bite or two of Play-Doh!.
Making potions and perfumes
This one takes some prior preparation, but it’s worth the effort. You can make a homemade potion kit using ingredients like soap, oil, water, bath products, dried flowers, salt, sugar and more. If you know particularly hot weather is coming up, go out foraging with your kids a day or two before the heatwave to collect old petals, bark and other interesting natural elements to turn into your magical ingredients.
Then, during your indoor day, get the kids to make a concoction in an old pot or jar. Is it a healing potion, a witch’s brew, or a polyjuice potion that will turn them into something else? Use this as inspiration to spark their playtime, but make sure they don’t actually ingest any of the magic potions!
Indoor activities writing stories
Finally, our last hot day activity for kids is to nurture their creative side and get them to write a story. All you need is a pen and paper. You could provide them with a prompt such as an opening line or topic to give them a little nudge, then see what they come up with, and read out the stories altogether to practice their public speaking skills at the same time!
If you’re a larger family, you could try group writing activities – check out our early literacy games for more inspiration – and adapt them to home environments.
So, there you have it, parents. A handful of fun-filled activities to keep your little ones entertained on those sweltering summer days. Remember, staying hydrated is key, so make sure everyone’s sipping plenty of water. With these ideas, you can banish boredom and create lasting memories, even on the hottest of days.
Spanning Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and beyond, Kids on the Coast is an online guide and printed free magazine for parents. With kids events and activities, attractions & things to do with kids, schools and education, school holiday guides, health & wellbeing for families, parenting and lifestyle news. Located on Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast & Brisbane, QLD.
