50 Playtime Activity Ideas for Kids Plus FREE Printable

Make playtime an awesome adventure with your kid’s favorite fictional character – PJ Masks! The Mission to the Moon digital program has resources for parents…

by 

Make playtime an awesome adventure with your kid’s favorite fictional character – PJ Masks! The Mission to the Moon digital program has resources for parents and playtime activities. Be sure to download a printable list of 50 Playtime Activity ideas for kids. 
Playtime Activity Ideas for Kids

This is a sponsored post with Entertainment One and Scholastic, I received compensation in return for writing about this post. All opinions stated here are my own. 

Playtime is an important part of our children’s development. When I was searching for a preschool for my kids, I always made sure the school had a designated time for play. It may not seem like kids are learning when they have playtime, but in fact they are. They are learning life skills: sharing, how to play with others, problem-solving, and so much more. Even if your children stay home, you can have play time with a variety of activities that will help them build the necessary skills.

My daughter has always been artistic, so many of our playtime activities revolved around art. We did countless art projects: painting, melting crayons, making our own chalk, making watercolor cards to send to friends, and so much more. I love that many of these activities can be done inside and outside. She learned to share our projects with others and always brings artwork to her teacher and family members. I still love that about her. Our creative play helped her learn about sharing and doing nice things for people.

Playtime Activity Ideas for Kids

Hands-on Activities

  • Make slime or play dough
  • Coloring
  • Games

Imaginative Play

  • Playing dress up
  • Creating puppet shows
  • Building forts

Creative Fun

  • Painting
  • Crafts
  • Making cards or framed art

Outdoor play

  • Playing with sidewalk chalk
  • Riding a bicycle/scooter
  • Playing with friends
  • Exploring the neighborhood

If you want a printable list of activities, be sure to download my free list of 50 Playtime Activities for Kids.

Printable 50 Playtime activity ideas for kids

Kids’ favorite fictional characters can also be incorporated into play. For little ones who love PJ Masks, Entertainment One and Scholastic are developing Mission to the Moon, a digital program about the power of play for preschool-age children. Parents will have access to resources, tips, and stories to encourage playtime activities that foster:

  • curiosity
  • creativity
  • movements
  • social-emotional learning
  • the development of social skills
  • educational development

The website will provide fun craft projects you can do with your child (for example, making superhero masks or rocket straws with easy-to-follow instructional videos).

PJ Maska Mission to the Moon sweepstakes

Mission to the Moon Sweepstakes Information

In honor of the launch of the new program, the Mission to the Moon sweepstakes will start July 1 to July 30, 2018. To enter just visit the Scholastic Parents Facebook page daily with your child to answer the trivia question then enter your response on the Scholastic sweepstakes website.

Participants will be entered for a chance to win a trip to New York for a family of four to visit New York City’s science museums. Runners-up will receive age-appropriate Scholastic books and space-themed toys.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Legal residents of the 50 US & DC. 18+ with at least one child who is currently 12 years of age or younger at the time of entry. Void where prohibited. Click through for Official Rules.

What are some of your favorite playtime activities?

11 comments

  1. This checklist would be a great summertime “bucket list” for kids to complete before going back to school. I admit I was (and am) not much of an outdoor kid but riding my bike and drawing with sidewalk chalk were big parts of my summers! Super fun ideas 🙂

  2. This is a great list!! I am 45 years old and I still enjoy coloring! I make my teens color with me and they don’t like to admit it but they like it! I do not miss the slim stage honestly! We still draw basketball courts and such on our driveway! Tic tac toe is still big at my house on the sidewalk. Love all the things you have included!

  3. This is a great list and it has just enough things to finish off the summer vacation and still keep moms everywhere sane when schools tarts back up. It is amazing how much fun you can have with electronics if you just take a few minutes to discover new ideas.

  4. You have my favorite playtime activity for kids listed! I still enjoy doing it with kids in the family as an adult too! Building forts! Some of my best childhood memories are about the forts we would build! They can be simple or elaborate with lights and decoration! I love your list and thanks for the great printable too!

  5. Playtime is an important time for kids. This is the time that actually plays a great part in their development. Apart from fun, activities that bring out their creativity and imagination are very important.

  6. We play a lot of board games in our family. We found a card game called Hiss that my 3 year old understands and can play too. It is fun to get the whole family involved.

  7. What a great list! Since the kids been off for summer we have been doing a few activities also like playing in slime. They were on their heads to create some slime…lol, and just the other day I saw some larger coloring books and educational playing cards from the Dollar Tree and we grab a few of those also. I think it’s so important to make sure we keep their little brains going even while off for the summer. Thanks again for printable.

  8. This sounds like a lot of fun to be hard for the kids. It is amazing to me how many things we still have not gotten to do this Summer and how fast it seems to be going by. I really want to get some more fun stuff in and this is a big help to make that task easier for sure! Thanks!

  9. I love creative fun because kids have such an amazing imagination, i love to see them bring it to life through art. My younger siblings also really enjoy making slime. It’s like the new trend amongst children. Thanks for sharing!

  10. What a great list of ideas! We have a family weekend coming up and I think I’m going to print this out for us. What can I say, I think adults would enjoy this list too!

  11. Having some structured playtime to build and make things that are fun are the memories kids will always have. My kids still talk about making bubbles and using them in the bath. I’m going to have to make the slime with my grandkids- it was always one of my favorites

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.