Get the whole family involved with an array of fun hands-on activities that are both creative and educational. These activities can be adapted to all ages and even older kids will be able to join in on the fun. Parents will also love to unleash their inner kids by racing marbles and getting their hands dirty with some slime. Here is a look at 30 fantastic hands-on activities for the whole family to create lasting memories!
1. Make Rock Art
Rock art is one of the most awesome hands-on activities that the whole family can get in on. It's creative and only needs a few supplies and make cute decorations to put around the house. Create these rocks according to a holiday theme, the season, or any other fun theme.
Learn more: Projects With Kids
2. Play a Boardgame Together
Family games night is the perfect time to involve everybody in a friendly competition. Cooperative board games on the other hand see the whole family working together against the game to beat the board.
Learn more: Game Cows
3. Paper Airplane Race
A good old-fashioned paper airplane race is a super fun hands-on STEM activity. Kids can learn all about force and drag and see how different shapes of airplanes influence the distance that the planes travel.
Learn more: Engineering Emily
4. Paint Swatch Scavenger Hunt
Instead of a regular old scavenger hunt, take some paint swatches and make it a color-coded activity! The entire family will love searching for colorful items of different shades around the house. This color-matching game is sure to offer hours of fun.
Learn more: Come Together Kids
5. At Home Heart Pump
Use your family time at home in a constructive way by engaging kids with a fun biology activity. Create this model of a cardiovascular system with a few supplies you probably already have lying around.
Learn more: Team Cartwright
6. Baloon Powered Lego Cars
This simple activity is fun for the whole family, even letting parents feel like kids again. Everyone can build their own car design, getting creative with over-the-top structures. Attach a balloon to the top of each car and let them loose to see who is first across the finish line.
Learn more: Mom Brite
7. Build With Ice Cubes
Beat the heat with some summer's day activities for children. Freeze water in different containers and ice cube trays and let kids build structures. Older kids can use salt to stick the ice cubes together and construct all kinds of interesting buildings.
Learn more: Where Imagination Grows
8. Taste Test
This will quickly become a family favorite as the game is equal parts fun and delicious. Do an Oreo taste test and see who can guess the most amount of flavors correct. But don't stop there, try different fruit, veggies, or other candy to get their sense of touch and smell involved too.
Learn more: Giggles Galore
9. Build a Fort
Building a fort is a quintessential family activity that people of all ages enjoy. Use things from around the house to construct your lair or invest in a few cheap PVC pipes and connectors for something that can be used again and again.
Learn more: Artful Parent
10. Make Kinetic Sand
Get everyone in the family involved by making kinetic sand and enjoy hours of fun games with this fascinating substance. The sand's gloopy consistency is simply mesmerizing and possesses countless opportunities for play.
Learn more: Days With Grey
11. Make a Terrarium
Kids simply adore digging in the dirt so why not harness their powers for good and create a beautiful terrarium you can happily display. Gather natural materials and start to layer up a glass vase with soil, rocks, and plants.
Learn more: Stuff Parents Need
12. Make an Orange Bird Feeder
Instill a love of nature from a young age in kids and teach them the importance of having birds in the garden. These bird feeders are made from natural items like a hollowed-out orange peel and some sticks and twine, the perfect eco-friendly addition to your garden.
Learn more: Made With Happy
13. Make Fingerprint Magnets
Put a personal touch on your fridge with these adorable fingerprint magnets. Make a fingerprint animal on the back of a glass pebble and stick them on a magnet once it's dry. Each member of the family can add their own fingerprint for a collective masterpiece.
Learn more: Rhythms of Play
14. Make a Flower Crown
Kids love making flower crowns but this is also a great way for them to work on their fine motor skills. This activity is especially fun if you are able to pick flowers from your garden or find wildflowers in a field.
Learn more: Growing Healthy Kids
15. Make Flower Art
There are countless ways you can use fresh flowers in creative hands-on activities but this one leaves you with beautiful art you will be proud to display. Let kids arrange flowers on paper and help them to slam on them with a hammer to get their colors flowing.
Learn more: Better Home and Garden
16. Nature Dough Portraits
Make a simple dough from flour, oil, and warm water and let kids make portraits in the garden. The whole family will love getting creative with all the natural materials they find in the garden.
Learn more: Learning and Exploring Through Play
17. Nature Paint Brushes
Activities for kids that are nature-based help them to gain an appreciation for the outdoors and teach them to respect nature. use things you find in the garden to make natural paintbrushes that create all kinds of fun patterns.
Learn more: Mas and Pas
18. Make a Bug Collage
Find a use for all those stacks of magazines you have laying around by creating fun bug collages with the kids. They can create their own interesting insects and learn about insects that are found in and around the house.
Learn more: Art Projects for Kids
19. Make a Dough Map
Salt dough is the perfect material for kids to create 3D renderings. Use the dough to make a map of the world or even of their country if they know it well enough. This is a fun geography lesson for the whole family.
Learn more: Rooted Childhood
20. Make a Lego Maze
There are endless ways you can engage kids with Lego and create tons of hands-on fun. Let them make a maze and try to move a marble through the paths. You can also create a maze for them or let them try and fool you with their own complicated creations.
Learn more: NBP
21. Play Ring Toss
Creating carnival games at home is a fantastic way to practice gross motor skills while having loads of fun. Create a ring toss game with paper plates and an empty paper towel roll and see who can rack up the most points in a friendly game.
Learn more: Crayola
22. Make a Catapult
Ready, aim, fire! Launch small marshmallows across the room and try to land them on numbered targets. With only popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and a bottle cap you can create a catapult that is sure to launch you straight into hours of fun!
Learn more: Deceptively Educational
23. Marble Roll Game
An empty shoebox and a few marbles instantly transform into a high-stakes rolling arena. Let kids do the addition of points and see how close they can get to 21 without going over.
Learn more: Hello Wonderful
24. Make a Fishing Game
The best hands-on activities involve creativity, education, and collaboration. The whole family can get behind this DIY fishing game that can quickly be turned into a competition or learning opportunity. Add numbers to the fish to use them in math equations or give them points values.
Learn more: Let's Do Something Crafty
25. Make Sidewalk Art
Drawing on the sidewalk has long been a fun family activity but you can take it up a level by making colorful foam paint. Making the foam is already half the fun but designing fun pictures on the sidewalk will have everyone involved in no time.
Learn more: The TipToe Fairy
26. Make an Escape Room
Drawing on the sidewalk has long been a fun family activity but you can take it up a level by making colorful foam paint. Making the foam is already half the fun but designing fun pictures on the sidewalk will have everyone involved in no time.
Learn more: The TipToe Fairy
26. Make an Escape Room
Unleash your inner Picasso by creating fantastic abstract art with a squirt gun and some water paint. Simply point and shoot and see fantastic art creations come to life before your eyes.
Learn more: Fireflies and Mud Pies
28. Make Tie Dye Shirts
The magic of tie-dye is something the whole family enjoys. Make a shirt for everyone in their favorite colors and wear it together on your next family adventure.
Learn more: Happiness is Homemade
29. Balloon Rockets
Who would have thought that a straw taped to a balloon can make a rocket!? The imagination of a child knows no bounds and this is something you should be taking advantage of. Make these simple balloon rockets and race them along on a piece of string.
Learn more: The Joys of Boys
30. Make Rainbow Scratch Art
Making rainbow scratch art is a timeless activity that people of all ages enjoy. Adults love to doodle and carve out colorful patterns while kids can unleash their creativity with unique drawings. There are no rules when it comes to scratch art!
Learn more: Satsuma Designs
22 Memorable Back-to-School Night Ideas