If summer for your family feels like long days of screen time, squabbles, and shouts of “I’m bored,” then it might be time to get together and look at different ways you can all get out together, get active and have a lot of fun as a family.
But here’s the thing about new fun summer hobbies that get you up and moving: they don’t necessarily need to be just for the summer. If you need some ideas to get busy and keep everyone occupied, here are 8 active hobbies to do as a family.
Bike Riding
A classic outdoor hobby that has withstood the test of time. While many children do indeed have bikes, family bike rides aren’t always as common as they once were.
And the best thing is you can ride together at a pace everyone can join in with and in a multitude of places that are safe for riders of all ages and abilities. If your kids don’t know how to ride a bike or the family as a whole needs to brush up on their skills, you can book lessons with a company like Pedal Wise in your area to build confidence and get moving. If you want some suggestions of great bike routes, you can head to the Camel Trail in Cornwall or to the Bristol and Bath railway path for a flat, traffic-free route. You can find maps online of traffic-free cycling routes so you can all ride together in safety.
Hiking
Another outdoor hobby that can scale to your family and abilities with ease. You can start with short walks around local parks or coastal areas at first before moving onto more complex routes. The UK is full of some breathtaking landscapes that are perfect for hiking as a family. Maybe you can head to Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire, which has over 20 miles of accessible, pushchair-friendly trails through woodland. It’s run by the National Trust, so you can be confident it’s worth a visit. If you want a bit more adventure in your life, then Catbells in the Lake District is short, scenic and totally manageable with kids, and Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales is a 3.9-mile route past Janet’s Foss waterfall and is a well-trodden family favourite.
You can find plenty of different hikes in locations across the country, both close to your home and places to travel to for a range of different abilities.
Swimming
Swimming is genuinely both fun and a skill everyone needs to have. Local councils will have swimming pools and some private leisure centres will have pools you can pay to use too. You can start off by getting everyone swimming lessons in your want, but if you want to dive right in, you can use Swim England’s pool finder to find your local pool. Many council-operated pools have fun sessions that include inflatables or floats for an extra fun time.
And it’s one of the few activities on this list you can do whatever the weather.
If you are all proficient swimmers or you fancy a bigger challenge, then you can look for outdoor swimming clubs that you can go to as a family. Typically this will likely be a supervised session, which you can find when you head to the Outdoor Swimming Society. But if you have older children or you’re travelling, you can seek out spots that are popular with outdoor swimmers; there are people around if you need help or support.
Family Football
A kickabout in the garden or local park needs nothing more than a ball and some open space. That’s what makes this one of the easiest active hobbies to pick up on a whim. The FA Discover Football Finder tool lists local grassroots clubs, including family and mixed-age sessions run through council leisure services or local Sunday league clubs, which is an easy way to turn the odd garden kickabout into something more regular without needing to already know a club nearby.
Many councils put on activities throughout the summer which can include football sessions. It’s always worth checking in with your local council and/or organisations to see what they have going on over the summer, especially if you’re considering joining up to a club to keep the kids active once summer is over.
Rock Climbing
Rock climbing isn’t for the faint-hearted, both outdoor and indoor. But there’s been a boom of indoor rock climbing venues springing up across the country, making it easier than ever to sign up and get exploring this fun and physically challenging sport. Chains such as Clip ‘n Climb and Rock Up run auto-belay sessions that need no prior experience or equipment, making it ideal for beginners.
If you want a more structured route, then you head to the National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme, which is a recognised pathway for young climbers and runs across the UK, including several London climbing centre locations.
For younger children, you can find bouldering sessions that use short walls and crash mats rather than ropes and are often the perfect compromise for those a bit more hesitant or too young to get on the main walls. Once you become accustomed to indoor climbing, you can then move outdoors if you wish and take your skills to the real world.
Trampolining
Trampoline Parks such as Oxygen Freejumping and Gravity Trampoline Park run dedicated family sessions with foam pits, dodgeball courts and basketball hoops built in alongside standard bouncing areas, meaning you get more varied activities than just bouncing.
But for families wanting to have more fun together in an environment that allows you to move around the real world for a while, then parents and kids alike can join in on the fun as much as they want to.
For families who want to take this further, you can purchase your own trampoline for home, or you can find local classes for lessons close to you so everyone can learn how to bounce and perform tricks safely and anchor it into their exercise routines for a fun active hobby that long outlasts the summer.
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