School holiday activities for kids
TL;DR
This guide rounds up eight of the best school holiday activities for kids across the UK. These school holiday activities are easy to organise, work for mixed ages, and feel like a proper day out rather than a way to fill the time. This guide includes an outdoor city adventure from StreetHunt Games, a rainy-day museum pick, a Victorian ship in Bristol, a countryside hike, an immersive Paddington experience for younger kids, and a few city-specific finds in London, Manchester and York.
Every school holiday brings the same question: what are you actually doing with the kids for six weeks? The trick is finding ones that are easy to organise, work across different ages, and feel like a proper day out rather than something to just get through.
That’s where StreetHunt Games comes in. It’s an outdoor, self-guided adventure that turns a city centre into the game itself. No rigid schedule, just a case to crack as a family. It slots straight into a school holiday plan in London, Manchester or York, and it’s especially good news if you’ve got a tween or teenager in the house, stuck somewhere between soft play and being told to put the phone down.
Fun family activities for the school holidays
1. StreetHunt Games – an outdoor mystery your whole family solves together
StreetHunt turns a city into an immersive game board. It’s part scavenger hunt, part escape room, part detective story, and it’s entirely self-guided from your phone. There are two cases to choose from, and which one suits your family usually comes down to the story.
The Case of Colombia’s Finest: coffee shop owner Jim Robusta suspects something’s off inside his own company. Your family plays private investigators, following clues through the city to work out who’s really behind it. Ages 13+, 1.5–2 hours.
Will Breaker: your uncle’s left you an inheritance, but claiming it means tracking down his contacts at hidden locations and cracking the puzzles they hand you before time runs out. A touch gentler, from age 10, and 1–1.5 hours, the better pick with younger kids in tow.
Both games run in London (starting points in Blackfriars and Holborn), Manchester and York, so wherever you’re headed this holiday, there’s usually a version nearby. Teams of 2–6 play at once, and bigger families or friend groups can run several teams on the same case, so nobody sits out. There’s no fixed schedule beyond your start time, and hints are built in if anyone gets stuck. Prices start from £16.50 per player.
2. Natural History Museum – a smart pick for a rainy day
Free to enter, and endlessly explorable. There are dinosaurs for younger kids, science galleries for older ones. The Visions of Nature mixed-reality experience adds an extra £9.95 per person for families who want something more immersive, though it’s worth checking current dates, as it has a limited run.
3. Brunel’s SS Great Britain – a Bristol day out for any time of year
Step aboard Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s restored Victorian steamship in Bristol’s harbourside, and explore the decks, cabins and engine room, imagining life as a 19th-century passenger or crew member. It’s hands-on, with two museums alongside the ship, and family tickets typically include a full year of free return visits. It’s a dependable option whatever the season.
4. Seven Sisters hike – a proper outdoor day for older kids
A scenic, chalk-cliff walk in the South Downs National Park, about 1.5 hours by train from London Victoria to Seaford. The full route is 21km, but there’s a halfway point with a visitor centre, café and toilets if you’d rather turn it into a shorter excursion. Best for older kids and teens who can manage a proper walk.
5. London Zoo – reliable fun for younger kids
Set inside Regent’s Park, London Zoo is an easy win for families with younger children who want to be outdoors without a long journey. From clownfish to Sumatran tigers, there’s plenty to hold shorter attention spans, and enough ground to cover for a properly active half-day out.
6. The Paddington Bear Experience – immersive fun for younger kids
This is a great school holiday activity for kids who love Paddington. Families step into the story through immersive sets, interactive activities and playful challenges inspired by everyone’s favourite bear It’s playful and hands-on, built for children who want to feel part of Paddington’s world, not just watch it from the sidelines.
7. Original Harry Potter Walking Tour, York – a hit with older kids and teens
A two-hour guided walk through York’s historic streets and alleyways, said to have inspired parts of the wizarding world, with quizzes and house points along the way. The Harry Potter Walking Tour is around £14 per person, and is a good match for kids who already know their way around the Harry Potter books or films.
8. National Football Museum, Manchester – a solid wet-weather backup
Four floors of trophies, memorabilia and interactive games, including a penalty shootout kids can try for an extra charge. Adult tickets are £15, children £9, with a £39 family saver covering two adults and two children. It’s a great school holiday activity for kids on a rainy day in Manchester.
Why StreetHunt Games is a great choice for families
School holidays work best when kids get outside, move around, and use their brains a bit. This is exactly what StreetHunt Games is built on. It’s an outdoor activity, so you get fresh air instead of another screen-lit afternoon. It’s story-led, giving the day a plot to follow instead of a list of places to tick off. And it’s self-guided, so your family sets its own pace. You can slow down for a snack stop, speed up if the little ones get restless. If you’d like a more organised experience, there is also the flexibility of having a host to guide everyone along.
It suits a wide age range, and it’s especially strong for tweens and teens, a group most family activity guides overlook in favour of younger children. Instead of something they’re dragged along to, StreetHunt Games hands them a real puzzle to own, with enough independence built in to make it feel like their outing too. It scales just as easily from a small family trip to a bigger meet-up with cousins or friends because multiple teams can play the same case at once. It’s one of the few school holiday activities for kids that works for almost every kind of family day out.
Make the most of school holidays
The best school holiday activities don’t need much planning. It just needs something local, easy to book, and flexible enough to fit around naps, meltdowns or a change of weather. Rather than cramming in several attractions, pick one solid anchor for the day and build everything else loosely around it: lunch before or after, a park stop if energy allows, no fixed itinerary to fight against.
StreetHunt Games works well as exactly that anchor. Book your city, pick your case, and let the rest of the day take shape around it.
Book your StreetHunt Games day out →
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for in a good school holiday activity for kids?
Something that gets the kids outside and moving, works across the ages in your group, and doesn’t need a detailed plan to pull off. Activities with some flexibility tend to hold up best against real family logistics, like tired legs or a sudden change of mood.
How do I plan a family day out that works for different ages?
Pick one activity with room for different levels of involvement, rather than one pitched at a single age group. Self-guided formats work well here because older kids can take the lead on trickier parts while younger ones join in on what suits them, and nobody’s stuck waiting for the group to move on.
How do I plan a fun day out without spending too much?
Walk or use public transport instead of taxis, and bring a packed lunch to eat on the go or in a park if the weather allows. Free attractions are worth building the day around.
What should I do if I need a last-minute day out for the kids?
Head for something reliably open regardless of booking lead time, like a museum, or a flexible self-guided activity that doesn’t need advance slots locked in. StreetHunt Games tends to work well here, since it can usually be booked same-day or with very short notice compared with activities that need a fixed group time.
Book your StreetHunt Games school holiday adventure →
Related reading: Best day trips from London for a memorable outdoor day out · The best back to school activities for families in 2026