🎨 Make Something From Nothing (And Four Other Brilliant School Holiday Activities)
If your house is full of cardboard boxes, odd socks, and kids bouncing off the walls - you'll want this activity list!
This week at Hello Youngster, we’re celebrating the kind of fun that doesn’t need screens, spending or special equipment. Just a little imagination (and maybe a roll of tape).
Here are five hands-on activities your kids can do independently or together - each one designed to stretch creativity, build resourcefulness and make the most of what you already have lying around the house.
Use them whenever the “I’m bored” moment strikes.
🧱 1. Make Something From Nothing
What to do:
Challenge your child to build something - anything - using only what they can find at home.
📦 Cardboard tubes, 🧦 old socks, 🧃 juice boxes, 🧲 magnets, 🎀 ribbons, 🥄 spoons - it's all fair game.
It could be a robot. A zoo. A brand-new game. A wearable invention. There's no right answer.
Optional steps (for older children):
Design: Plan it out on paper first with a drawing or just a few notes on your ideas, compile a list of the other items you might want to use. Don't be shy, jot down all the options you can think of.
Make: Build with whatever you find
Reflect: What worked? What would you try differently next time?
📥 Download the activity guide (PDF)
🔄 2. Fix It, Flip It, Remix It
What to do:
Find something broken, boring or forgotten - or and give it a brand-new life.
That old puzzle missing five pieces? Turn it into a piece of art.
The doll with one arm? Give it a bionic upgrade.
That board game no one plays? It’s now a treasure map.
Optional steps:
Design: Write down a few ideas of what it could become - on your own or with family or friends. Don't hold back - every idea has potential at this stage.
Make: Transform it into something new and test out if it works. If not, try again or something different. If it does - yahoo, new game!
Reflect: Would you do it differently next time?
📥 Download the activity guide (PDF)
💡 3. Start a Toy Invention Notebook
What to do:
Invent a brand-new toy - just on paper, for now.
Get thinking like a product designer:
What problem does your toy solve? (And your problem could simply being finding something to do - it doesn't have to be a complicated problem!)
How do you play with it? For example, is there a particular way to hold it or are there rules?
Who would play with it? Does it suit a certain age group or does it suit people who want to play indoors or outdoors most of the time, just for example.
What’s it called?
Sketch your ideas, label the parts and even write a jingle if your so inspired :)
Optional steps:
Design: Fill a few pages with concepts
Reflect: Which idea would you love to actually build?
📥 Download the activity guide (PDF)
✍️ 4. Make a Haiku About Your Holidays
What to do:
Write a haiku, a poetry format that originated in Japan. Haikus are a tiny 3-line poem with a 5-7-5 syllable structure.
It can be serious, silly or totally whacky!
School holidays end
I still have glitter on me
Glue in my hair too.
This is a great way to reflect on your holidays and get some language practice in at the same time.
📥 Download the activity guide (PDF)
🎭 5. Your Toys' Secret Lives
What to do:
Seen Toy Story the movie? Well, how about you imagine what your toys do when you’re not looking.
Then bring the idea to life with a photo, a short story or a comic strip.
Did the dinosaurs steal your lunch?
Did the plushies build a pillow fort?
Did the Lego or Sluban people finally escape the bathtub?
Optional steps:
Design: Pick your toy “cast” - select which of your toys will have a role in your story
Make: Pose and photograph the scene or simply write the story down or record it into a mobile phone
Reflect: What happens in their next adventure?
📥 Download the activity guide (PDF)
💬 What next?
Did your child try one of the activities? We’d love to see what your creative kids came up with!
📸 Tag us on Instagram, Facebook or Threads @helloyoungstershop or email a photo to shop@helloyoungster.com.au
And if you enjoyed this, keep an eye out - we've got more creative prompts, competitions and ideas for curious minds coming soon.
