Discover, Play and Learn: Summer Activity Ideas Inspired by the Animals & Plants Box Set

During the school year, children’s schedules are often packed with structured activities, making it hard to find time for unhurried exploration and open-ended play. The summer holidays, by contrast, offer a wonderful opportunity for kids to slow down and engage more deeply with the world around them. This short read for teachers and parents highlights fun and educational summer activities for kids that will help them discover, play and learn this summer!

One of the best ways to spark children’s natural curiosity is to combine hands-on projects with books that help kids delve deeper into the subject. Whether you’re heading to the garden, the park, the beach—or staying indoors on a rainy afternoon—this list of summer activities is inspired by the books in our Animals & Plants box set, created especially for children aged 3–6.

Each activity is designed to encourage both movement and observation, with opportunities for active exploration and quieter, more reflective moments alike.

🦫 Animals Underground

Explore the hidden world beneath our feet.

• Burrow Spotting Walk: Visit your local park or countryside and look for holes, molehills, or rabbit tracks.
• Build a Mini Burrow: Use shoeboxes, soil, and twigs to create tunnel systems for toy animals.
• Underground Storytime (Rainy Day): Read under a blanket “burrow” using a torch for a cosy underground adventure.

Browse this summer read in paperback and hardback.

🦖 Dinosaurs

Step back in time to when dinosaurs ruled the earth!

• Dino Dig in the garden or park: Bury toy dinosaurs in sand or soil and excavate them like a palaeontologist.
• Create a Dino World: Build a prehistoric landscape using pebbles, leaves, and water for swamps.
• Footprint Stomp (Rainy Day): Make dinosaur feet from cardboard and stomp like a T-Rex around the house. 

Browse this summer read in hardback.

🥚 The Egg

Find out all about eggs and the animals that lay them.

• Egg Hunt with a Twist: Hide toy animals that lay eggs (birds, insects, reptiles) and match them with paper eggs.
• Hatch an Egg at Home (Rainy Day): Watch chick or butterfly life cycles online or with a hatch kit.
• Eggshell Art: Paint or collage with real or paper eggshells, and guess which animals they might belong to.

Browse this summer read in hardback.

🌸 Flowers

Discover beauty and biology blooming all around.

• Wildflower Walk: Spot and name flowers in parks or meadows with a simple ID chart.
• Petal Collage: Use collected petals and leaves to make colourful flower-inspired art.
• Grow Your Own (Window Box or Garden): Plant sunflowers or nasturtiums and watch them grow together.

Browse this summer read in paperback.

🍓 Fruit

From seed to snack—celebrate the fruits that help us grow strong.

• Pick-Your-Own Adventure: Visit a local fruit farm to pick strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or plums.
• Fruit Taste Test: Try a variety of fruits whilst blindfolded. Try to guess which they are. Describe their taste, colour, and texture.
• Make a Rainbow Fruit Salad (Rainy Day): Arrange colourful fruit slices by colour on a plate.

Browse this summer read in paperback.

🐜 Insects

Take a closer look at the tiny creatures all around us.

• Build a Bug Hotel: Stack twigs, pine cones, and cardboard in a box to welcome garden insects.
• Minibeast Safari: Head outside with a magnifying glass and search for ants, beetles, and butterflies.
• Insect Crafts (Rainy Day): Use paper plates, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes to make your own bugs.

Browse this summer read in paperback and hardback.

🦜 The Jungle

Journey into a rich and wild world full of surprises.

• Jungle Obstacle Course: Create a backyard “jungle” with rope vines, tunnels, and leaf piles.
• Sound Safari: Listen to rainforest sounds and guess which animals make each noise.
• Jungle Diorama (Rainy Day): Build a jungle scene in a shoebox using toys, paper, and leaves.

Browse this summer read in paperback and hardback.

🐚 The Seashore

From tide pools to treasure hunts, the beach is full of wonders.

• Seashore Scavenger Hunt: Collect shells, pebbles, and seaweed and identify what you find.
• Sand Art: Use wet sand to sculpt fish, starfish, or sea creatures on the beach.
• Seashore Jar (Rainy Day): Fill a jar with beach treasures and label each item back at home.

Browse this summer read in paperback.

🌳 Trees

Watch a tiny seed grow into a mighty tree.

• Tree Spotting Walk: Look for trees with different leaves, bark, and seeds in your local area.
• Leaf Rubbings: Use crayons and paper to make colourful prints from leaves you collect.
• Build a Paper Tree (Rainy Day): Create a tree mural at home and add birds, insects, or fruit.

Browse this summer read in paperback and hardback.

🥕 Vegetables

Dig in and discover the tasty plants we grow to eat.

• Grow Your Own: Plant simple vegetables such as carrots or radishes in a pot or garden bed.
• Veggie Taste Test: Try a range of raw vegetables. Compare their colours, taste, and crunch!
• Paint with Vegetables (Rainy Day): Use chopped veg like potatoes, broccoli, or peppers as natural stamps.

Browse this summer read in paperback.

Ready to Start Exploring?

With these simple, fun activities, you can turn any summer day into an opportunity for discovery. Whether you’re growing vegetables, digging for dinosaur bones, or spotting minibeasts in the park, each project helps children engage with nature through a combination of active play and quieter times for reading and observation.

✨ You can find the complete Animals & Plants box set here—a perfect companion for curious young minds this summer.