3 Fun (And Educational) Activities To Do With Your Child Over Holiday Breaks
- Sean McCormick
- Nov 11, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Dec 17, 2025
Updated: December, 2025
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The holidays come with their own set of stressors, but having a bored child stuck at home doesn’t have to be one of them.
In this post, you’ll learn why fun and educational activities are important to incorporate over breaks, and 3 activities to do with your child that you both will actually enjoy.👇
Table of Contents
It’s that time of the year again!
The kids will soon be off from school for the holidays and you’ll be hearing the dreaded, “I’m boooored!” exclamation over and over.
Although breaks are highly beneficial (and very much needed), research has shown that extended breaks can cause learning regression in students, especially those with learning disabilities or difficulties.
But, do you really want your child to spend their vacation time doing homework and not enjoying their time off?
Luckily, there are many fun and engaging activities that parents can do with their children over the holiday breaks that are fun and have learning benefits.
Why Should You Incorporate Activities Over Holiday Breaks?
Holiday breaks can be a much-needed reset, but they’re also a perfect low-pressure window to keep executive function skills from sliding backward.
Simple, fun activities give kids a chance to:
practice planning
starting tasks
managing time
handling frustration
following through
...without the usual school-day stress.
The goal isn’t to turn break into “school at home.”
It’s to mix in a few structured moments that feel enjoyable and keep learning alive while still leaving plenty of room for rest, family time, and doing absolutely nothing (which is also a valid activity, by the way).
Common Mistakes Parents Make When Planning Activities With Their Child Over Holiday Breaks
Mistake 1: Overpacking the schedule
Parents try to “make the most of break” and end up creating a nonstop itinerary that leaves everyone cranky.
When every day is stacked, kids don’t get to practice pacing, recovery time, or flexible thinking, and parents end up managing the whole thing like an unpaid cruise director.
Mistake 2: Keeping it too vague
Some parents go the opposite direction and rely on loose plans like “we’ll do something fun tomorrow.”
That sounds nice until tomorrow arrives and your child’s brain hits decision fatigue, you start tossing out ideas, and everyone defaults to screens because it’s the only option that doesn’t require initiation.
Mistake 3: Choosing activities that are either too hard or too easy
If the activity is way above your child’s current skill level, it turns into frustration and avoidance.
If it’s too easy (or totally passive), there’s no real practice of planning, persistence, or problem-solving.
The sweet spot is challenging but doable with light support.
3 Fun and Educational Activities To Do With Your Child Over Holiday Breaks
Activity #1: Create a family vision board
This is a great activity that families can do together, especially towards the end of the year when everyone is thinking of New Year’s resolutions and goal-setting.
Begin with a discussion about what goals you’d like to achieve as a family for the new year.
Some ideas can include:
planning a vacation
getting a new pet
organizing or remodeling a certain part of the house
planting a new garden
spending more time together as a family
On a big poster board, create a collage of pictures, symbols, words, and phrases that represent your big goals for the next year.
Another way to do this would be to have each family member create their own and then put them all together into one large collage that can be displayed in a shared space as a visual reminder.
This activity opens the door for great discussions about why goal-setting is important and the difference between short-term and long-term goals.
It also helps children reflect on what motivates them and how to use that to keep them driven and focused.
Activity #2: Find your favorite recipes and bake together
Baking (or cooking!) as a family has so many benefits.
Not only is it fun to do, but it can be a great bonding experience and can lead to engaging conversations about family traditions and cultures.
It is also a great way to boost a child’s self-esteem and confidence.
The process of baking is filled with many teachable moments, including math and reading skills (measurement, fractions, step-by-step directions) as well as opportunities for learning about life skills, such as planning ahead and time management.
To get the most out of the experience, involve your child in the entire process:
searching for the recipe
planning for it (prepping ingredients and tools needed)
following the recipe directions
seeing the finished product
cleaning up
This will help them understand and appreciate the time and effort that it takes to make a meal, and perhaps even inspire them to help out more in the kitchen!
Activity #3: Arts and crafts or STEAM projects
Sadly, due to national education budget cuts, many school districts have had to cut arts programs from their curriculum.
This is detrimental for many students, especially since many of them look forward to classes such as art, music, dance, ceramics, STEAM (science-technology-engineering-arts-math) or woodshop.
These classes allow for students to creatively express themselves and sometimes serve as their only creative outlet.
This is why holiday breaks would be the perfect time to engage your child in a fun arts and crafts or STEAM project of their choice!
Depending on their preference, have your child choose one project they’d like to start and finish within their break.
If it’s a bigger project that requires more than one day, help them “chunk out” the action steps needed to complete the project and plan for such steps.
The learning benefits of these projects can include:
brushing up on reading skills (reading and following directions)
math skills (measuring, scaling, counting, geometric thinking)
even science skills (chemical reactions, STEAM)
Completion of such projects can help boost your child’s self-esteem and help them feel more confident and happy!
FAQs
How many activities should we plan over break without ruining the “break” part?
Aim for 2-3 intentional, low-pressure activities each week so your child gets structure without feeling like they’re back in school.
The point is to keep executive function skills from sliding backward while still protecting rest and downtime.
What if my child resists every idea or says “I’m bored” all day?
Don’t freestyle it in the moment—give them two or three choices and pick one thing to start and finish, so initiation isn’t a daily fight.
Keep it “challenging but doable” with light support, otherwise you’ll either get avoidance or disengagement.
How do I keep activities educational without turning break into homework?
Choose activities that sneak learning into real life—baking practices reading directions, measurement, and planning ahead without feeling like schoolwork.
Creative and STEAM projects can also reinforce reading, math, and science skills while your child gets to actually enjoy themselves.
The Bottom Line
Holiday breaks can be a fruitful time for rest, fun, and learning.
Here's 3 ideas for fun and educational activities to do with your child over the holiday:
Create a family vision board
Find your favorite recipes and bake together
Arts, crafts or STEAM projects
Hope this helps 🤙🏻
This article is a part of the larger category of:
Related articles:
3 Mindset Shifts for Parents and Educators That Empower Children's Executive Function Skills
How to create a special bond with your child with ADHD (from a parent)
How to show your child you appreciate them (research-based parenting strategies)
Which Executive Function Skills Should I See At Different Ages?
The Dangers of Overloading: How Too Many Activities Can Damage Executive Function Skills
P.S. If you want to work on executive function skills with your students, consider joining hundreds of other educators and parents who have completed my Semester Success Blueprint Course. In less than 2 hours, this comprehensive course will teach you and your student the system I developed to help hundreds of students learn how to manage school effectively and raise their self-awareness and engagement with school.
About Me
Hey! I'm Sean 👋
I'm a former public school special education teacher who realized that executive function skills are more important than knowing when George Washington crossed the Potomac.
Since then, I've made it my mission to teach anyone who will listen about how to develop these key life skills.
In 2020, I founded Executive Function Specialists to ensure all students with ADHD and Autism have access to high-quality online executive function coaching services. We offer online EF coaching and courses to help students and families.
Realizing I could only reach so many people through coaching, in 2021 I started the Executive Function Coaching Academy which trains schools, educators, and individuals to learn the key strategies to improve executive function skills for students.
In 2023, I co-founded of UpSkill Specialists, to provide neurodivergent adults with high-quality executive function coaching services.
When not pursuing my passions through work, I love spending time with my family, getting exercise, and growing my brain through reading. You can connect with me on LinkedIn.
Want me to speak on executive function skills at your event? Learn more about my speaking topics here.