15 Geeky Holiday Activities for Kids That Make Screen Time Smarter

Looking for ways to keep your kids busy during school holidays without resorting to endless scrolling? These geeky and tech-focused activities are not only fun. They’re educational, creative, and often spark long-term curiosity in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM). Whether you’ve got budding coders, future engineers, or curious creatives at home, there’s something here for every kind of young geek.

1. Learn to Code with Free Online Platforms

Coding might sound intimidating at first, especially for parents who didn’t grow up with it, but today’s kid-friendly coding platforms are so engaging and intuitive that even complete beginners can jump right in. With the right tools, learning to code becomes less about typing lines of text and more about creating games, animations, music, and digital art. And best of all? Most of the best platforms are completely free.

Where to Start

Here are three of the best free platforms to begin with:

• Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) Ideal for ages 7–14. Kids can create interactive stories, games, and animations by dragging colourful coding blocks together like puzzle pieces. No typing or syntax errors, just creativity and logic-building.
• Tynker (tynker.com) Offers a wide range of themed tutorials (e.g. Minecraft mods, space adventures, and Barbie design challenges). Tynker includes both block coding and, later, text-based coding (Python, JavaScript), so kids can grow with it.
• Blockly Games (developers.google.com/blockly/games) A more puzzle-based, problem-solving introduction to programming. Kids learn by solving logic challenges that increase in complexity.

Most platforms work on a tablet, Chromebook, or PC, so you don’t need expensive equipment.

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How It Can Work at Home

Set aside an hour or two during the holidays and turn coding into a family challenge. You don’t need to be a tech whiz. In fact, letting your child teach you what they’re learning can be incredibly empowering for them.

Here’s how you could structure it:

Day 1: Getting Started

• Sit together and explore Scratch.
• Choose a starter project like “Animate Your Name” or “Make a Sprite Dance.”
• Take turns picking sprites, backgrounds, and sound effects.

Day 2–3: Build a Mini Game Together

• Try a platformer or quiz game.
• Encourage your child to draw their own characters or write the questions.
• Add silly sound effects and test it as a team.

Weekend Idea: Family Coding Tournament

• Everyone builds their own short Scratch project (a maze, a pong-style game, a music video).
• Present and vote on the most creative, funniest, or most challenging.
• Bonus: Share the games with grandparents or friends using a private Scratch link.

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Ideas for Projects

• Custom birthday card: Code a card that plays a birthday tune and displays animations.
• Digital pet: Build a creature that reacts to clicks or keyboard strokes.
• Choose-your-own-adventure story: Create a branching story where the viewer makes decisions.
• Math games: Make a times tables or quiz game to reinforce what they’re learning in school.

These projects help children learn sequencing, logic, and problem-solving while fuelling their imagination. They’re not just users of tech, they become creators.

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Why It’s Fun for the Whole Family

• Kids feel empowered: They get instant results from their creativity and learn something that’s actually useful.
• Parents bond over shared learning: You’ll probably be amazed at how quickly they grasp concepts and how fun it is to learn something side-by-side.
• It’s screen time with purpose: Unlike passive video watching, coding is interactive, focused, and highly rewarding.
• It opens doors: Kids who code gain skills in storytelling, logic, design, and even emotional resilience (debugging can be frustrating, but very satisfying when it works!).

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Tip for Parents: Don’t Hover, Collaborate

Let your child take the lead where possible. Ask them to explain what each block or piece of code does, and then try building something side by side. You don’t need to know the answers, just be curious together. Celebrate small wins, laugh at the bugs, and enjoy watching them become digital inventors.

2. Explore the Outdoors with Tech

If your children are drawn to screens but you’re keen to get them outside during the holidays, there is a simple solution. Technology can actually enhance time spent outdoors. With the right apps, a regular walk becomes a science expedition, a star-gazing mission, or a real-world treasure hunt. It’s a great way to encourage curiosity, fresh air, and STEM learning all at once.

You don’t need a big budget or any specialist equipment. Just a smartphone or tablet and a sense of adventure.

Best Apps for Outdoor Exploration

These free tools can transform your device into a powerful learning companion:

Seek by iNaturalist

This app uses the camera to help children identify plants, animals, fungi, and insects by snapping a photo. It also rewards discoveries with badges and shares information about habitats, ecosystems, and species names. It’s a gentle introduction to biology and environmental awareness, suitable for all ages.

SkyView Lite

This stargazing app uses augmented reality to map constellations, satellites, and planets in the sky above you. Whether you use it at night or during the day, it gives children an immediate way to connect what they see with real astronomical knowledge. No telescope required.

Geocaching App

Geocaching turns a regular outing into a digital treasure hunt. Children use GPS to search for hidden containers, called geocaches, left by other players. It builds problem-solving skills and offers a strong sense of reward when they find a cache and sign the logbook.

Activity Ideas to Try

Nature Hunt with Seek

Start with a list of things to find, such as a spider web, a red leaf, or a buzzing insect. Head outside and use Seek to identify them. This works in a local park, a forest, or even your own garden. Children love scanning and learning, and you can add in points or small rewards to keep them motivated.

Evening Stargazing Walk

Choose a clear night and bring a blanket or reclining chairs. Use SkyView Lite to explore the sky. Let your child search for the International Space Station, trace constellations, or locate planets. The next day, they could draw what they saw or write a short description of their favourite find.

Local Navigation Challenge

Plan a route using Google Maps and assign your child the role of navigator. Use real landmarks along the way. You could add extra tasks such as photographing specific trees or spotting changes in the environment. This is a great way to build confidence with maps and observation.

Why Children Enjoy It

These activities give children permission to use devices in a meaningful and active way. They learn something new without realising they are learning. Nature becomes interactive, and every small discovery feels like a win. Many children, especially those who are neurodiverse, benefit from the structure and gentle challenge these apps provide. They can go at their own pace, stay focused, and engage through both visual and sensory experience.

How Parents Can Support

You don’t need to know the answers to everything. In fact, asking questions you don’t know the answers to is a great way to role model curiosity. You could ask:

• What do you think this animal eats?
• Why do you think that plant only grows in shady areas?
• Can we guess what star that is before checking?

This turns an ordinary walk into a shared learning moment. Your child gets your attention, and you both get fresh air and something new to talk about.

Bonus Idea: Start a Family Nature Log

After your outings, print photos or add screenshots from the apps. Let your child write a short note about what they found. Include a drawing or label it with a fun fact. Over time, you’ll build a scrapbook that captures both memories and knowledge. It’s a quiet activity that reinforces learning and helps children build storytelling and documentation skills.

3. Get Hands-On with DIY Electronics

If your child enjoys building things, pulling gadgets apart, or asking how things work, electronics kits are a brilliant way to introduce them to real-world technology in a safe and creative way. During the school holidays, these hands-on projects can provide hours of focused engagement that feel like play but build foundational STEM skills.

DIY electronics allow children to explore basic concepts in circuits, energy, sensors, coding, and engineering. And because they are physically building something, they get to see and touch the results of their learning straight away.

Starter Kits for Beginners

You don’t need to be an engineer to help your child get started. These kits are ideal for families:

Snap Circuits

Snap Circuits are beginner-friendly and use colourful plastic components that snap together with no soldering required. Children can build devices like alarms, sound-activated lights, and spinning fans. Most kits come with a project booklet containing dozens of step-by-step ideas. These kits are perfect for introducing the basics of electrical circuits.

Makey Makey

This kit lets children turn almost anything into a computer keyboard input. Bananas can become piano keys, or you can make a custom game controller out of playdough. It uses a simple USB connection and works with programs like Scratch. Makey Makey combines creativity with circuitry and is ideal for younger inventors or families looking for a fun weekend project.

LittleBits

LittleBits offer modular electronics that magnetically snap together. Each piece has a different function, such as sensors, motors, or lights. Children can create inventions like motion-sensor alarms, light-up creatures, or even their own toys. LittleBits also provides design challenges and tutorials online to help guide the learning process.

Project Ideas to Try at Home

Build a Light-Up Greeting Card

Using copper tape, a battery, and a small LED, children can make a card that lights up when opened. This simple project teaches about open and closed circuits and gives them something they can gift to someone special.

Create a Simple Burglar Alarm

Use a motion sensor or pressure switch with a buzzer to create a basic alarm system for a bedroom door. Children love having something that serves a real purpose, and it introduces logic circuits and inputs.

Make a DIY Game Controller

With Makey Makey and some cardboard or foil, children can build and customise their own game controller. Connect it to a game made in Scratch for a complete interactive project that blends digital and physical creation.

Why This Works for Children

DIY electronics give children a sense of control and discovery. When something lights up, spins, or makes noise because of something they built, it is incredibly satisfying. It also builds patience and resilience. Not everything works on the first try, so children learn to experiment, adjust, and try again.

The process encourages critical thinking, planning, and sometimes teamwork. For children who learn best by doing, these projects can unlock confidence and curiosity that traditional lessons might not spark.

How to Involve the Whole Family

This is a great opportunity to learn alongside your child. You can read the instructions together, troubleshoot problems as a team, and take turns adding components. Make it collaborative rather than instructional. You could even assign family members different roles, like designer, builder, or tester.

You don’t need to know how circuits work before you begin. In fact, asking your child to explain what they’ve learned or show you how something works helps reinforce their understanding and gives them a boost of pride.

Tip for Parents

If you have old electronics that are no longer in use, such as remote controls or broken toys, supervised deconstruction can be a useful complement to these kits. Children can explore the insides, compare them to the components in their kit, and begin to connect real-world devices with the principles they are learning.

Try Geocaching – The Tech Treasure Hunt

If your child loves puzzles, maps, or the idea of hidden treasure, geocaching is an ideal way to add excitement to time outdoors. It combines digital navigation with real-world exploration, making it a brilliant blend of tech and physical activity. Best of all, it’s completely free to try and suitable for all ages.

Geocaching is a global game where people hide small containers, known as geocaches, and share their coordinates online. These caches are often tucked away in parks, woodland trails, or even urban settings. All you need is a smartphone and the free geocaching app.

How It Works

To get started, download a free geocaching app such as Geocaching by Groundspeak or C:Geo. Create a free account, open the map view, and browse for nearby geocaches. Each cache has a GPS location, a difficulty rating, and clues or hints to help you find it.

Once you’ve chosen one to search for, follow the app’s compass or map on your phone as you walk. Some caches are easy to spot, while others are cleverly disguised in tree hollows, disguised as rocks, or hidden under benches.

When you find the cache, open it carefully and sign the logbook inside with your username and the date. Some caches contain small toys or trinkets for swapping. If your child wants to take one, bring something small to leave behind.

Why Kids Love It

Geocaching adds a sense of mission and mystery to any walk, no matter how familiar the location. Children enjoy the challenge of following coordinates, solving riddles, and spotting hidden items that others walk past every day. For some, it is the thrill of the hunt. For others, it is the satisfaction of solving a problem or collecting finds over time.

Because there are caches almost everywhere, including small towns and local parks, you do not need to travel far. You can even set a goal to find a new cache every week of the school holidays or aim for a certain number by the end of summer.

How Families Can Make It Even More Fun

You can turn geocaching into a full-day adventure. Pack a picnic, bring a notepad to record the places you visit, and take photos of each find. You could create a scrapbook or map at home showing where you’ve been and what you found.

Some families create their own caches and hide them for others to find. This adds an extra level of fun, as your child can check back later to see who has visited and signed the log. Make sure you follow the community guidelines for safe and appropriate hiding places.

Tips for First-Time Geocachers

• Choose beginner-level caches with a low difficulty rating to start.
• Bring a pen or pencil to sign the logbook.
• Always re-hide the cache exactly as you found it to preserve the challenge for others.
• Wear comfortable shoes and check the weather forecast before heading out.
• Use the hints provided in the app if you get stuck, but let your child try their own ideas first.

Geocaching is especially rewarding for children who enjoy structure, maps, and hidden detail. It can also be a good motivator for children who are reluctant to go on walks, as it provides a clear goal and interactive purpose.

5. Make Stop-Motion Movies

Stop-motion animation is a creative and accessible way for children to express themselves using toys, household objects, and their own imagination. With just a smartphone or tablet and a free app, kids can bring their ideas to life frame by frame. It’s a fun mix of storytelling, visual art, and digital editing, and it works just as well on a rainy afternoon as it does on a quiet weekend morning.

For families, it can be a great collaborative project. Everyone can get involved in the planning, setup, filming, and voiceovers.

Getting Started

The easiest way to begin is with a free app like Stop Motion Studio or Toontastic. These apps are designed for children and come with simple interfaces that allow them to take photos, adjust timing, add audio, and export their creations.

You do not need special equipment. A phone or tablet on a stable surface will work. A simple stand or even a stack of books can help keep the camera steady. Good lighting is helpful, but natural daylight near a window is usually enough.

Ideas for Projects

Toy Adventures

Children can use LEGO figures, dolls, stuffed animals, or action toys to create a mini movie. They might send their characters on a quest, re-enact a scene from their favourite show, or invent something entirely new.

Paper Cut-Out Stories

Draw simple characters or use printed images, cut them out, and animate them on a plain surface. This works well for telling fairy tales, poems, or science facts.

Clay or Playdough Creations

Stop-motion is an ideal way to animate clay figures. Kids can create their own animals, aliens, or food items and make them move, change shape, or interact.

Holiday Diaries

If you’re on a day out or holiday, take quick photos in the same location throughout the day and turn them into a time-lapse story. Children can narrate what happened and create a voice-over to explain each scene.

Why It’s Engaging for Kids

Stop-motion is a slow but rewarding process. It encourages patience and attention to detail while keeping things fun and imaginative. Every movement has to be thought through, which helps children learn sequencing, planning, and persistence. When they play the final video and see their characters move and speak, it feels like magic.

Children who enjoy storytelling, drama, or creative play often thrive with stop-motion. It also provides an outlet for those who may struggle to express themselves through writing. Visual learners in particular benefit from seeing their ideas take shape in a literal, hands-on way.

How to Involve the Whole Family

This is a perfect activity for siblings to work on together or for parents to join in. Younger children can help move characters or press the capture button. Older ones can write scripts, direct scenes, or create sound effects. Parents can assist with editing, recording voiceovers, or helping upload the final version to share with friends and family.

If your child is shy, let them narrate or record voiceovers without being on screen. This helps build confidence while still giving them control of the project.

You could even make it a holiday challenge. Each person creates a short film during the break and shares it at a home movie night. Add popcorn and soft drinks for a full cinematic experience.

Extra Tips

• Use blu-tack or tape to help figures stay upright between frames.
• Keep backgrounds simple to reduce distraction.
• Take more photos than you think you need. Even ten seconds of animation can require 100 images or more.
• Encourage children to plan their scenes in advance with a short storyboard or outline.

Stop-motion is one of those rare activities that combines technology and creativity in equal measure. It allows for both structure and freedom, making it ideal for school holiday projects that feel more like play than schoolwork.

6. Design Your Own Video Game

For many children, playing video games is one of their favourite ways to spend time. But creating a game from scratch gives them the opportunity to take control, be creative, and learn valuable technical and storytelling skills along the way. Game design introduces logic, sequencing, art, and sound—all in a format that feels playful and rewarding.

With the right tools, children can design their own levels, create characters, add music, and control how the game works. It can be as simple or as complex as they want it to be.

Platforms That Make It Easy

There are several beginner-friendly platforms that are free or low-cost and designed specifically for children.

Roblox Studio

This is one of the most popular platforms for kids who want to create 3D worlds and interactive games. It allows them to build their own obstacle courses, racing games, story-driven adventures, or roleplay experiences. Roblox Studio uses the Lua programming language, but there are lots of templates and tutorials to help new users get started without needing to know how to code right away.

Kodu Game Lab

Kodu, developed by Microsoft, lets children design games using a simple visual programming system. It is ideal for younger children or complete beginners. They can build landscapes, add characters, and set up goals using logic-based commands, all without writing any code.

Scratch

Although Scratch is often used for animations and storytelling, it can also be used to build games. Children can create quizzes, platformers, racing games, and more. It introduces core concepts like variables, loops, and conditionals in a visual, non-intimidating way.

How to Start a Game Project at Home

Start with a clear goal and build from there. For example:

• A quiz game about dinosaurs
• A maze that gets harder with each level
• A platform game with a space theme
• A story game with branching choices and multiple endings

Encourage your child to sketch out their idea first. What is the setting? Who is the main character? What is the objective of the game? This planning stage helps clarify what they want to create and keeps the project on track.

Once the idea is mapped out, they can move into building mode. Platforms like Roblox Studio or Scratch allow children to test their games as they go, which helps them learn through trial and error.

What Skills Children Build

Game design develops more than just tech skills. It also teaches:

• Problem-solving: Debugging why something doesn’t work builds resilience.
• Creativity: Characters, artwork, sound, and storytelling are all part of the process.
• Mathematics and logic: Many games require managing coordinates, timing, and logical conditions.
• Project planning: Larger games need to be broken down into tasks and stages.

It also gives them a sense of ownership. When a game works, it’s theirs. They built it. That’s a powerful confidence boost.

How Parents Can Join In

You don’t need to know anything about game design to support your child. Ask them to talk you through their plan or show you how their game works. Offer ideas for themes or challenges. If they get stuck, encourage them to search for tutorials or solutions online—learning how to learn is part of the process.

If you have multiple children or want to join in yourself, you could each build a small game and share them with one another. Or you could work together on one game, assigning roles like designer, tester, or sound editor.

Making It a Holiday Project

Game design works especially well as a holiday-long activity. You could:

• Set a goal to release a finished game by the end of the break
• Have a weekly check-in on progress
• Host a “launch party” at home where the whole family plays the game
• Share the final version with friends or extended family

Because game development has no fixed path, it can grow and evolve over time. This keeps children interested and allows them to stretch their skills with each new version.

7. Explore the Universe with Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) can turn a tablet or smartphone into a powerful learning tool. Instead of just reading about planets or watching a science video, AR allows children to interact with 3D models, explore outer space, and even bring their own drawings to life. It’s hands-on, visual, and completely immersive, which makes it ideal for sparking interest in STEM subjects during school holidays.

For families, AR offers a way to enjoy interactive learning without the need for expensive equipment or a dedicated workspace.

What is Augmented Reality?

Unlike virtual reality, which requires a headset and creates an entirely digital environment, augmented reality blends digital content with the real world. For example, a dinosaur might appear to be walking across your kitchen floor when viewed through your phone’s camera. Or a colouring page might suddenly animate and start moving.

This opens up exciting learning possibilities, especially for visual learners or children who enjoy technology but struggle with more traditional materials.

Best AR Apps for Children

Quiver

This app starts with printed colouring pages that children fill in with crayons or pens. When viewed through the app, the coloured drawing becomes a 3D animation. For example, a butterfly will flap its wings in the colours they chose. It’s a simple, creative way to experience AR and ideal for younger children.

JigSpace

JigSpace lets children explore detailed 3D models of machines, inventions, human anatomy, and scientific processes. They can take apart a car engine, zoom into the inner ear, or learn how a lock works—all with interactive controls. Each topic is presented as a “Jig” that they can rotate, zoom, and explore.

Merge Cube

This foam cube works with multiple AR apps and allows children to hold and interact with floating holograms. They can explore space, dig through the layers of the Earth, or examine fossils and cells in their own hands. While the Merge Cube itself is a physical item, it is affordable and often available with printable templates to get started.

SkyView Lite

Although not strictly AR, this astronomy app overlays constellations and planets on the night sky using your phone’s camera. Children can point it at the sky and see which stars or planets they are looking at, including real-time information about distance and movement.

Ideas for Using AR at Home

Space Exploration Day

Use SkyView Lite to track planets during the day and identify stars at night. Combine this with a space-themed colouring page from Quiver, and finish by watching a rocket launch or ISS livestream. Let your child design their own planet and explain its features.

Inside the Human Body

Using JigSpace or Merge Cube, explore parts of the body in 3D. Children can see how joints move, how the heart beats, or how food is digested. Ask them to draw what they’ve learned or create a poster for a fictional anatomy museum.

Invention Detective

Pick a machine or device they use every day—like a padlock, a door hinge, or a speaker—and explore how it works using AR apps. Then challenge them to build their own version using LEGO, cardboard, or paper.

Why Children Love It

AR feels like magic. Objects jump off the screen and respond to your movement, making the learning feel real and immediate. For children who are curious but easily distracted, the interactive element keeps their attention. For those who struggle with abstract concepts, AR provides a way to see and understand things that are usually invisible.

It also supports independence. Children can explore AR apps on their own, at their own pace, without needing constant instruction.

How to Support at Home

Most AR apps come with built-in guidance, so your role is to provide encouragement and ask open-ended questions. For example:

• What surprised you about that planet or invention?
• Could you explain how that machine works to someone else?
• If you could invent your own version, what would it do?

You don’t need to know the answers. Your interest and engagement will help deepen your child’s learning.

If your child is curious about how computers work, interested in coding, or eager to create something with real-world applications, the Raspberry Pi is one of the most powerful and affordable tools you can introduce. This small, credit card–sized computer has been used by schools, engineers, hobbyists, and families around the world to build everything from weather stations to arcade machines.

Despite its capabilities, the Raspberry Pi is surprisingly easy to get started with. It is ideal for older children or families looking to take on a more ambitious tech project during the holidays.

What Is a Raspberry Pi?

A Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer that plugs into a monitor and works with a keyboard and mouse. It can run a simplified operating system called Raspberry Pi OS, and connects to the internet like any standard computer. It supports coding in Python, Scratch, and other languages, and can interact with sensors, motors, cameras, and more.

You can buy the base unit for a relatively low price, and many starter kits include everything you need: power cable, SD card, pre-installed software, and casing.

Simple Projects to Start With

1. Retro Game Console

Using a Raspberry Pi and free software like RetroPie, you can build a retro gaming system that plays classic games. Children can learn about emulators, system configuration, and even design their own game controllers. This is one of the most popular starting projects for beginners.

2. Wildlife Camera

With a Pi Camera module and a bit of coding, children can create a motion-activated wildlife camera. Place it in the garden and see what creatures appear overnight. You can store the images, review them, and even create a nature photo journal.

3. Weather Station

Add sensors to your Raspberry Pi to track temperature, humidity, and pressure. Your child can record daily weather data, build graphs, and analyse patterns over time. This combines coding with real-world science and encourages daily engagement.

4. Home Automation Light Switch

With simple components and online tutorials, children can use the Pi to control a lamp, light strip, or fan. This is a fun way to explore automation and how coding interacts with the physical world.

5. Personal Website or Blog

Set up a Raspberry Pi to run a basic website that your child can design and edit themselves. They can publish coding projects, share reviews of their favourite games, or use it as a digital scrapbook for holiday activities.

How to Get Started

Start with a beginner-friendly Raspberry Pi kit that includes clear instructions and pre-installed software. Set aside a quiet space where your child can set it up and return to it regularly. Most projects can be done with basic household materials and a standard HDMI monitor or television.

There are hundreds of free tutorials available through the official Raspberry Pi Foundation website, as well as forums, video guides, and project blogs. Choose a project that matches your child’s interests rather than one that looks the most impressive. Motivation is more important than complexity.

What Children Learn

Raspberry Pi projects build a wide range of skills including:

• Coding in real programming languages like Python and Scratch
• Logical thinking and debugging
• Hands-on understanding of electronics and circuits
• Patience and persistence
• Problem-solving in both hardware and software

For children who enjoy tinkering, building, and experimenting, the Raspberry Pi opens up a world of possibility. Unlike apps and games that are limited by design, Raspberry Pi projects are almost endlessly expandable.

How Parents Can Get Involved

You don’t need to be technical to support your child. Help them research project ideas, gather materials, and troubleshoot when needed. Ask them to show you what they’re building and explain how it works. You might even discover a shared interest in programming or electronics.

If your child is working on a longer-term project, set mini-milestones so they can see their progress. This keeps motivation high and helps structure the learning.

9. Start a Digital Art Challenge

Digital art offers children a powerful way to express their creativity using tools that feel as intuitive as paper and pencils but with added features like layering, animation, and colour effects. Unlike traditional art, digital drawing has an immediate undo button, endless colour choices, and no need for tidying up afterwards. For families looking to nurture creative skills during the holidays, a digital art challenge is an easy and accessible way to keep children engaged.

It also works well as a shared activity between siblings or parents and children, and is ideal for rainy days or quiet afternoons.

Choosing the Right Tools

There are many free or low-cost digital art apps designed for tablets and smartphones. A few that work particularly well for children include:

Procreate Pocket

A professional-grade drawing app for iPhone and iPad. It has intuitive tools for sketching, painting, inking, and even animating. Although it is a paid app, it is a one-time purchase and highly recommended for children who are serious about their art.

Sketchbook by Autodesk

Free and feature-rich, Sketchbook works across devices and includes pencils, markers, layers, and symmetry tools. It has a clean interface that’s easy for beginners to navigate while still offering plenty of depth.

Tayasui Sketches

Known for its beautiful brush realism, this app is simple to use and ideal for younger children. It feels close to real sketching, but with all the benefits of digital flexibility.

Many of these apps support stylus input, but fingers work just as well for most projects.

Holiday Art Challenge Ideas

You can make digital drawing into a structured challenge or a self-directed project. Some ideas to get started include:

Daily Prompt Challenge

Create a 7-day or 14-day art prompt list. Each day has a theme or idea such as “design a robot,” “your dream bedroom,” “a food with a face,” or “a new animal species.” Prompts can be silly, serious, or based on your child’s interests. The structure keeps them returning each day to continue building their skills.

Tech-Style Art Gallery

Set a challenge to design a set of themed images that could be part of a gallery, like “Space Explorers,” “Fantasy World Creatures,” or “Gadgets of the Future.” Let your child decide on the look and feel, and then build out the series over time.

Design a Comic Strip

Children can draw their own characters and create short scenes or jokes across multiple panels. You can use a digital art app or a comic-making app like Comic Draw or Pixton. This combines drawing with storytelling and planning.

Redesign a Book or Game Cover

Pick a favourite book, video game, or movie and challenge your child to create a new poster or cover for it. Encourage them to think about colour, typography, layout, and mood.

Make a Digital Sticker Pack

Let your child design a set of themed icons or emojis. These can be printed later on sticky paper or used digitally in messages or shared with friends.

Why Digital Art Appeals to Children

Digital art removes many of the frustrations of traditional drawing. Mistakes can be erased instantly. Colours can be changed without starting over. Children can experiment freely without fear of wasting materials. It also allows for layering, zooming, and special effects, which give their creations a professional finish.

Many children find it easier to stick with a digital project than a physical one. The tools feel playful, and progress is often quicker. The results are easily shareable, which boosts confidence and gives children something to show for their efforts.

How Families Can Participate

Set up a shared folder or cloud space where each person can save their creations. Celebrate finished pieces by printing them out and displaying them, adding them to a digital slideshow, or turning them into a photo book at the end of the holidays.

Parents can join in by doing the prompts too, either using digital tools or traditional ones. This helps children see that creativity is for all ages and that adults make mistakes and learn too.

Ask questions like:

• What inspired this design?
• How did you choose those colours?
• If this was a character in a game or story, what would they do?

These questions open up conversation and help children reflect on their work, which deepens the learning.

10. Listen to Geeky Kids Podcasts

Podcasts offer a quiet yet engaging way for children to learn, laugh, and explore new topics during the school holidays. Whether you’re in the car, cooking together, or relaxing at home, a good podcast can turn passive downtime into an inspiring and thoughtful experience. For families looking to reduce screen time without sacrificing entertainment, podcasts are a simple and flexible option.

There are hundreds of kid-friendly shows available, covering everything from science and history to storytelling, technology, and imagination. Many are designed specifically with curious young minds in mind, and some include follow-up activities, discussion points, or bonus episodes.

Great Podcasts to Start With

Here are a few shows that combine geeky interests with educational value, all presented in a fun and accessible way.

Brains On!

This science podcast invites children to send in questions, which are then explored through interviews with real scientists, sound experiments, and plenty of humour. Topics range from how lightning works to why we dream. It is produced by American Public Media and includes occasional themed series on things like climate or the human body.

Wow in the World

Hosted by Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas, this high-energy podcast takes listeners on science adventures around the universe. It explains real research and discoveries in a playful way, with episodes that include brain teasers, jokes, and silly characters. A good choice for children aged six to twelve.

The Past and the Curious

For children interested in history, this podcast tells lesser-known but true stories from the past. From ancient inventors to forgotten explorers, each episode mixes storytelling with music and sound effects to make learning about history fun and memorable.

Mystery Recipe

Produced by America’s Test Kitchen, this podcast blends cooking, food science, and problem-solving. Children learn about ingredients, nutrition, and kitchen chemistry, often through games or challenges. It pairs well with hands-on holiday cooking sessions.

Short & Curly

This Australian podcast asks ethical questions in a way children can understand and debate. Should you always be honest? Is it okay to break rules? What if your robot friend goes bad? Great for sparking thoughtful conversations around the dinner table.

When to Listen

Podcasts are ideal for a variety of everyday moments, such as:

• Long car journeys or road trips
• Quiet time after lunch or before bed
• During craft, drawing, or Lego play
• While walking the dog or tidying up
• As part of a calm-down routine before sleep

Because there is no visual content, children are free to move, draw, or relax while they listen. This can be especially helpful for children who find it difficult to sit still or focus on reading for long periods.

How to Make It Interactive

To turn listening into a learning activity, you could:

• Keep a podcast journal where your child writes down or draws their favourite part of the episode
• Pause at key moments and ask questions like “What do you think will happen next?” or “How would you solve that problem?”
• Follow up with related activities, such as baking after a Mystery Recipe episode or visiting the library to learn more about a scientist mentioned on Brains On

Many podcasts also offer free downloads, colouring pages, and activity sheets on their websites. These resources can help extend the experience and make it more hands-on.

Why Children Enjoy Podcasts

Podcasts put children in control of their own listening experience. They can choose topics they care about, rewind parts they didn’t understand, or skip to the next episode. The storytelling format keeps them hooked, and the content often speaks to them in a direct, friendly voice.

Children who are neurodiverse may find audio content more manageable than video, especially when overstimulation is a concern. Podcasts also support vocabulary development, imagination, and listening comprehension, all without requiring active screen time.

Supporting Your Child’s Curiosity

You don’t need to listen to every episode with your child, but showing an interest in what they’re hearing goes a long way. Ask them to tell you something they learned, or let them choose a podcast for the next car ride. Some families even have a weekly “podcast pick” where each person gets a turn to share a favourite episode.

11. Host a Family Hackathon

A hackathon is usually thought of as a fast-paced event where tech professionals team up to solve problems, build prototypes, or come up with new digital ideas. But the same concept can work brilliantly at home with children, especially during the school holidays. A family hackathon is not about competition or technical skill. It is about working together, getting creative, and turning ideas into something real over the course of a day or weekend.

Even if no one in your family is a coder or engineer, a hackathon at home can help children learn to think critically, collaborate with others, and build confidence by solving a problem from start to finish.

What Is a Hackathon?

In its simplest form, a hackathon is a time-limited challenge to come up with a solution to a problem. It might be a new invention, a helpful tool, a game, or a digital project. The goal is not to create a perfect end product. It is to go through the process of brainstorming, building, testing, and presenting an idea in a short period of time.

At home, your family hackathon could last a couple of hours, an afternoon, or an entire weekend.

How to Set It Up

1. Choose a Challenge

Pick a theme or problem to solve. You can come up with your own or draw from a list. Ideas might include:

• Build a machine to feed the dog remotely
• Design a gadget to help with school bags or lunchboxes
• Create a game to teach younger children multiplication
• Invent a device to keep plants watered during holidays

Let your children help choose the challenge. It gives them a sense of ownership right from the start.

2. Form Teams or Work Together

If you have more than one child, you can split into teams or work as one group. Each team can focus on a different version of the solution. Even very young children can help by drawing designs or suggesting ideas.

3. Gather Materials

Use what you have around the house—cardboard, tape, LEGO, string, kitchen timers, bits of old toys or electronics, recycled containers, and digital devices. If your children are comfortable with coding, they can use platforms like Scratch, Tinkercad, or even Google Slides to create digital prototypes.

4. Set a Time Limit

This helps keep focus. For younger children, one or two hours is enough. Older children may enjoy a whole afternoon or a full-day challenge with breaks built in.

5. Present the Solution

Each team explains what they built and how it works. You can give fun awards like “Most Creative,” “Best Use of Recycled Materials,” or “Funniest Invention.”

What Children Learn

A home hackathon encourages:

• Creative thinking and imagination
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Problem-solving and iterative thinking
• Basic project planning
• Hands-on building and testing

It is also an opportunity for children to fail safely. If something doesn’t work the first time, they learn to go back, think again, and try a new approach. These are real-world skills that build resilience and confidence.

How Parents Can Support

You do not need to lead the project or solve the problems. Your role is more like a facilitator or mentor. Help set up the space, manage the time, and offer encouragement. Ask questions like:

• What made you choose that design?
• What else could you try if that doesn’t work?
• How would someone else use this?

If your children are stuck, prompt them with options rather than giving solutions. For example, “Would a pulley work here?” or “Could we use something lighter?”

Make the hackathon feel like a fun event by giving it a name, taking photos, or even making a little sign for your “hack space.” You could repeat it every holiday with a new challenge each time.

Making It a Habit

Some families set up a regular “Hack Saturday” where everyone comes together to solve a challenge or build something new. Over time, this can build a culture of creativity in the home. Children become more willing to try new things, take risks with their ideas, and work through problems with others.

12. Use Minecraft for Learning

Minecraft is one of the most versatile tools for combining fun and education. At first glance, it may seem like just a game, but it can be used at home to support learning in subjects like science, geography, history, engineering, and even storytelling. Children are naturally drawn to it, and with a bit of structure and encouragement, they can use their time in-game to develop real-world skills.

Even without access to the classroom-based Education Edition, families can get creative with Minecraft using the standard Bedrock or Java versions on tablets, consoles, or PC.

Why Minecraft Supports Learning at Home

Minecraft’s open-world format encourages exploration, problem-solving, and creativity. Children can build, design, and experiment without limits, and they have the freedom to approach challenges in their own way. It’s a perfect platform for independent learners and a useful option for parents who want to make screen time more purposeful.

Because children already understand the basic mechanics of the game, it is easy to introduce learning prompts without making it feel like schoolwork.

Project Ideas for the Holidays

Recreate a Real-World Landmark

Ask your child to research a famous place and rebuild it in Minecraft. They could choose Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, a Roman villa, or even your local train station. To extend the activity, have them write a short explanation or presentation to give a virtual tour.

Design a Future-Proof Eco City

Challenge them to design a city that uses only renewable energy, has recycling systems, rooftop gardens, and pedestrian zones. This is a great way to talk about sustainability, architecture, and environmental science.

Time Travel Building Challenge

Pick a time period, such as Ancient Egypt, Victorian England, or the Stone Age. Let your child build a village or scene using materials that would have existed then. They can include signs or item frames with facts about what life was like.

Maths or Logic Puzzles Using Redstone

Use Minecraft’s built-in redstone mechanics to build mazes, traps, or quizzes that require solving maths problems to progress. Redstone can simulate logic gates and circuits, helping children understand basic electronics and problem-solving.

Create a Story World or Quest Map

Children can write and build their own story using Minecraft as the setting. They might build a castle and invent characters who live in it, or design a rescue mission through a jungle. Add signs to guide players or create custom books with in-game writing.

How to Structure the Learning

Set a clear challenge and a time frame. For example:

• “Rebuild a historical site over the next two days”
• “Make a Minecraft zoo with at least five animals and visitor signs”
• “Build your dream school using only stone, wood, and glass”

Encourage planning first. Your child can sketch their design, write out a list of required materials, or create a plan for what they’ll do each day. This turns the build into a full creative project with defined stages.

If they complete a project, you can take screenshots, create a video walkthrough, or let them present it to the family like a mini exhibition.

Tools and Resources for Parents

Even if you don’t play Minecraft, you can support your child’s learning by:

• Asking questions about their build (“Why did you choose that material?” or “What’s your favourite part so far?”)
• Watching tutorials together on YouTube about building tips or redstone mechanics
• Using printable Minecraft challenge cards or holiday-themed prompt packs (many are available free online)
• Joining them in split-screen mode or multiplayer to help build or tour their world

If your child is interested in coding, you can also explore tools like LearnToMod or Code Kingdoms, which teach real coding using Minecraft as a creative platform.

Important Notes on Versions and Access

You do not need Minecraft Education Edition to use these learning ideas at home. Instead:

• Use Minecraft Bedrock Edition (for iPad, Android, Xbox, Switch, or Windows 10)
• Or Minecraft Java Edition (for PC or Mac, more customisable and flexible)
• Many creative and educational features are available within the game itself or can be accessed through YouTube tutorials, project blogs, and printable prompts

Why It Works for Families

Minecraft can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. Children feel a sense of control and progress as they build. The learning is embedded in the activity and doesn’t feel forced. For siblings, it can be a collaborative experience. For quieter children, it provides space to express ideas visually. For parents, it’s an opportunity to observe, support, and share in your child’s curiosity.

13. Turn Old Tech into New Creations

If you have a drawer full of unused gadgets, broken electronics, or outdated tech, you already have the beginnings of a great learning project. Dismantling and repurposing old devices is a hands-on way for children to understand how everyday technology works. It sparks curiosity, encourages problem-solving, and gives children a chance to build something entirely new from parts that would otherwise be thrown away.

You do not need expensive tools or technical knowledge. With a bit of supervision and a few safety basics, this can become a rewarding and memorable holiday activity.

Why This Is Worth Doing

Many children are naturally curious about what is inside a TV remote, computer mouse, or mobile phone. Giving them the opportunity to safely explore and investigate builds confidence and understanding. They can see how buttons connect to circuits, where power comes from, and how different components are arranged to make things work.

Unlike abstract lessons or diagrams, this kind of learning is tangible and memorable. It suits children who learn best by doing, particularly those with an interest in design, engineering, or invention.

Safety First

Before you start, take some basic precautions:

• Choose devices that no longer work or are no longer needed
• Remove batteries before beginning
• Never open devices with internal power supplies (e.g. microwaves or CRT TVs), as they can carry dangerous electrical charges
• Use basic tools such as a small screwdriver set and tweezers
• Lay out a towel or tray to keep small parts in one place
• Supervise closely, especially if sharp parts, glass, or exposed wires are involved

This activity is best suited to children aged eight and above with adult guidance, although younger children can observe and help sort parts or ask questions.

Good Items to Explore

• Computer mice
• Keyboards
• TV remotes
• Landline phones
• Alarm clocks
• Old game controllers
• Speakers or headphones
• Printers or scanners (with careful supervision)

Each device will reveal something different. Keyboards show the matrix of contacts under the keys. A remote may contain a simple circuit board with an infrared sensor. A printer will have motors, rollers, and ribbon wires.

What to Do With the Parts

Once you have explored and taken apart the item, there are several creative and educational directions to go:

Build a Parts Display Board

Label the parts and mount them onto cardboard with descriptions like “capacitor,” “resistor,” or “LED.” This turns your dismantling into a science project.

Invent a New Device

Use components from several devices to build a model of something new. It could be a robot, an alien communication device, or a futuristic tool. Children can glue or tape parts onto cardboard and present their invention to the family.

Create Tech Art

Arrange parts into patterns or images and glue them onto a canvas or recycled board. Old wires and chips make for striking, abstract artwork that can be hung up or displayed on a shelf.

Storytelling Props

Use the dismantled tech as inspiration for a story. A keyboard key might become a magical button. A circuit board could be the control panel of a time machine. Let children write, draw, or act out their ideas.

How to Make It Meaningful

Talk with your child about what they find. Ask questions such as:

• What do you think this part does?
• Why might it be shaped like that?
• What else do you think uses the same type of component?

Even if you do not know the answers, exploring together helps build a deeper understanding and encourages your child to think critically about design and function.

You can also watch videos together on how everyday electronics work. This reinforces what they are seeing in front of them and connects hands-on discovery to real-world concepts.

Where This Leads

Children who enjoy dismantling and building may go on to explore electronics kits, soldering, or even basic coding with microcontrollers like Arduino or micro:bit. Others may simply develop a better appreciation for how things work and a desire to care for or repair the technology they use.

For families, this activity encourages sustainable thinking by giving old devices new purpose and reducing waste. It also provides a screen-free, interactive learning experience that can stretch over several days.

14. Create a Family Website or Blog

Building a website or blog together is a brilliant way to introduce children to digital literacy, design thinking, and creative expression. It gives them ownership over a space they can customise, update, and share with others. Whether your child wants to write reviews, document holiday adventures, display their artwork, or share coding projects, a website becomes their own digital playground.

This kind of project also encourages long-term thinking and planning, making it a useful way to structure time over the school holidays.

Why It’s a Great Holiday Project

Unlike short one-off tasks, a website can grow over time. Children can add new pages as they complete other activities—such as uploading photos from their Minecraft builds, summarising what they learned from a nature walk, or embedding their stop-motion films. It becomes a living portfolio of their interests, creativity, and progress.

A family website can also double as a memory book or holiday journal. Parents can participate as editors or co-creators, helping structure the site while encouraging their child’s voice to shine through.

Tools That Make It Simple

You do not need to know how to code. There are several free and user-friendly platforms ideal for beginners:

Google Sites

This is one of the easiest platforms for children to use. It has a drag-and-drop interface, integrates with Google Drive, and is free with a Google account. Great for simple sites with text, images, videos, and links.

Carrd

Carrd allows users to build sleek, single-page websites with a focus on design and mobile compatibility. It is ideal for portfolios, CVs, or promotional pages for creative projects.

Wix

Wix provides more design flexibility and includes templates for blogs, shops, and multi-page sites. The editor is more advanced but still accessible to children with support.

WordPress.com

This platform is ideal for children interested in blogging. It includes tools for writing, categorising posts, uploading images, and even moderating comments. A good option for older children who want to build writing skills.

Project Ideas to Start With

Holiday Blog

Write about daily activities, add photos, or post reflections. This supports literacy and helps children process what they’ve done during the break.

Review Site

Review books, films, games, or tech gadgets. Encourage your child to give ratings, write short summaries, and share their opinions clearly.

Creative Portfolio

Upload digital art, short stories, stop-motion films, or coding projects. Use categories or galleries to group their work.

Mini Learning Hub

Create a site where your child explains topics they are interested in, such as dinosaurs, space, or robotics. Let them teach others by sharing facts and fun discoveries in their own words.

Family Updates Page

Build a private website where your child can share news and photos with extended family. This can be a lovely way to stay connected and gives children an audience to write for.

How to Make It Manageable

Start small. A homepage with a welcome message and one or two content sections is more than enough for the first day. Let the site evolve gradually as new projects or ideas are added.

Encourage your child to draw or sketch their layout before they begin. Talk about navigation, page titles, colours, and tone of voice. These are all real skills that overlap with graphic design, user experience, and content strategy.

If your child is writing blog posts, help them draft headlines, edit for spelling and grammar, and think about structure. Short, clear posts with a mix of text and visuals work best.

Privacy and Safety

Make sure your child understands that anything published online can be seen by others. You may wish to:

• Use nicknames or initials instead of full names
• Avoid sharing your location or school
• Keep the site private or share only with trusted friends and family
• Monitor comments if they are enabled

If needed, keep the site unpublished and share screenshots or PDFs instead.

The Benefits

Children gain:

• Writing, communication, and editing skills
• A sense of responsibility and pride in their work
• Confidence in using technology to express themselves
• Early exposure to digital tools used in schools and workplaces

Parents gain insight into what excites their child and a way to preserve holiday memories in a creative format.

15. Try a Science Kit with a Tech Twist

Science kits have come a long way from baking soda volcanoes and plastic test tubes. Today’s kits often blend hands-on experimentation with digital components, coding, or interactive apps. These updated resources make science feel relevant, exciting, and connected to the tech-driven world children already live in.

Whether your child is fascinated by how things work, interested in chemistry, or simply enjoys building and testing ideas, a science kit can provide a structured and rewarding holiday activity.

What Makes a Kit ‘Tech-Enhanced’

The best modern kits do more than offer a set of instructions and a few materials. Look for kits that:

• Include components like sensors, motors, or microcontrollers
• Connect to apps for data logging or visualisation
• Introduce scientific methods through real-world problem-solving
• Encourage trial and error rather than single-use results

These features allow children to explore science through interaction, invention, and feedback—much like real scientists and engineers do.

Types of Kits to Explore

Electronics and Engineering Kits

Kits like Snap Circuits, Thames & Kosmos robotics sets, or LittleBits allow children to build working devices that light up, make sound, or respond to input. These kits often include logic circuits, sound sensors, switches, and step-by-step challenges that gradually build understanding.

Biology and Nature Kits with Digital Tracking

Look for kits that let children grow plants, test water quality, or explore ecosystems, then use digital tools to record and compare data. Apps may offer growth tracking charts or the ability to upload results for comparison with other young scientists.

Chemistry Sets with App Support

Some chemistry kits now link to interactive apps that guide children through experiments and explain the science behind each reaction. Visual demonstrations, safety tips, and even animated explanations can help reinforce understanding.

Coding-Integrated Science Projects

Kits like the BBC micro:bit or Arduino starter packs let children connect simple code to physical outcomes. They can build a step counter, a plant moisture monitor, or a light-reactive alarm. These projects teach coding, logic, and circuitry in a way that feels purposeful and results-driven.

Renewable Energy Kits

Introduce environmental science through kits that explore solar power, wind turbines, and water filtration. Children can build models and test how different designs perform under various conditions. This is a great way to combine science, design, and sustainability.

How to Choose the Right Kit

Think about your child’s interests and experience level. Some kits are designed for younger children and require minimal adult input. Others are more advanced and ideal for children who enjoy multi-step projects and technical challenges.

Look for kits that allow for open-ended experimentation rather than ones that can only be used once. Reusability means more value and more opportunities to explore.

If your child already enjoys coding, try a science-meets-coding project that links sensors to output. If they enjoy art, choose a kit that lets them create light-up designs or colour-based chemical reactions.

How to Get the Most Out of It

• Set aside a dedicated space for science time. A kitchen table or work mat is perfect.
• Read through the instructions together before starting.
• Take time to predict what will happen and talk about why.
• Encourage repeat testing and changes to the setup to explore new outcomes.
• Keep a small science log to record results, sketches, and questions.

You can also turn this into a showcase moment. Ask your child to demonstrate the experiment to another family member, create a poster about what they learned, or film a short “science show” explaining the results.

Why Children Enjoy It

Children are naturally curious, and science kits give them the tools to follow that curiosity. The inclusion of technology and interactivity makes the process more exciting and often leads to better understanding. They get to mix the hands-on with the digital, and the result feels like play with purpose.

Whether it’s making a robot move, watching colours change during a reaction, or seeing a graph on a screen react to light, these kits connect learning to the real world.

Final Thoughts

Tech doesn’t need to be passive or isolating. With the right tools and a little guidance, it can become a springboard for creativity, curiosity, and learning. These 15 activities offer families a wide range of options to make the most of the school holidays—whether indoors, outdoors, online, or hands-on. From coding and robotics to storytelling and science, there’s something here for every type of young geek and every kind of family.

What matters most is creating opportunities to explore, experiment, and enjoy the process. Whether your child builds a digital world, invents a gadget, or simply discovers something new in the garden, you’re helping them connect play with purpose—and that’s the best kind of screen time there is.