Catalina of Red Violet Studio shares 3 art and play activities for kids perfect for summertime! These are so fun and will surely inspire connection through creativity as a family.
Updated June 2025
Summer break is here, and with it comes long, open-ended days at home with the kids. Mine are 7 and 9, and while I love having this extra time with them, I’ll admit—it can be a challenge to keep everyone happy, busy, and not glued to a screen all day.
Over the past few summers, we’ve found that having a loose rhythm to our days really helps. Mornings are usually more focused—we’ll start with something calm like drawing, reading, or a bit of creative play.
After lunch and quiet time (ideally a time to read, but in real life all they do is LEGO), I try to set up a fun and easy invitation for them to play or create. It’s not necessarily fancy nor does it require a lot of set up or planning.
Even though we live in a small condo, we’ve found ways to bring the spirit of summer outdoors. Our balcony becomes a mini backyard—with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, water play, or even a small picnic. You don’t need a big yard to have summer fun—just a little creativity and fresh air.
Here are three of our favorite easygoing summer activities from the past few weeks.
3 Fun Art & Play Activities for Kids
1. Painting Tee Shirts with Spray Bottles
Oh, this is so playful and fun! Simply fill as many spray bottles as you can find with water and add a small squirt of liquid watercolors (or any kind of paint).
Make sure everyone wears white t-shirts and let the excitement begin! Chase and spray each other, to the rhythm of a funky playlist in the background.
This will probably be one of the most memorable experiences of this weird time, especially if you get your own t-shirt on with your kids and join in the fun!
2. Frosting Inflatable Donuts
This makes for one of the coolest sensory art experiences of all times! Bring out those inflatable tubes and pretend they are donuts!
Place them on top of a plastic tablecloth, drop cloth, or just lay them on the grass or floor. Pour some shaving cream into bowls and color with food coloring or paint and mix well.
In a separate bowl, place some cut up colored paper for sprinkles and set the supplies around the inflatable donuts.
I gave the kids no instructions but rather let them lead the way in creating their own donuts using all of the supplies. They enjoyed it so much!
If you don’t have inflatable donuts, just cut a huge donut out of some cardboard, and voila!
3. A Pool-less Pool Party
No pool? No problem! It doesn’t matter if you have a backyard or not, you can do this activity on a balcony or even on the kitchen floor!
Bring out one of those big, shallow boxes, that are usually kept under the bed to store kids toys.
- Set it out and fill it with water.
- Add a few drops of blue food coloring for extra fun.
- Drop in some pool toys.
- Add water beads and sifters, if available.
Have some towels around, a good playlist, some drinks and snacks and let the no pool party begin! And don’t forget to wear bathing suit!
We did this on our balcony, with the sun out and it was pure magic! The kids loved it and really got to chill and connect in an unexpected setting.
I hope you give these fun art & play activities for kids a shot! They will sure give you a break while the kids have some fun!
More Summer Art and Play Activities for Kids
- The Ultimate List of Summer Crafts & Activities for Kids
- 10 DIY Outdoor Games for Summer
- 12 Best Summer Art Ideas for Kids
- 11 Ways to Have a Creative Summer with Kids
- 24 Outdoor Art Ideas for Kids
- 5 Summer Book Crafts for Kids
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