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When I started creating our monthly activity calendars, I chose a theme for every day of the week and planned activities based on each of the themes.
But after a busy month of April, on the first day of May I didn’t have any new activity calendar ready for us to use.
I knew that being intentional about having an activity for us to enjoy together every day is more important than preparing a “perfect” calendar, so I decided to create a different kind of calendar this month.
Our May activity calendar includes 31 easy and fun activity ideas for us to try during the month. This time the activities are not grouped into daily themes.
Instead, I chose a monthly theme (nature) and I made sure that every week includes one activity related to it.
Most of the activities on our activity calendar (except the family nights and a few other activities) don’t take longer than 30 minutes, but building this simple habit of spending quality time together every day made such a big difference!
If you are looking for easy ways to keep kids busy and have fun together, I invite you to try this calendar as well!
It will offer you an easy activity to try with your kids every day to connect with them, offer them something fun to do and make them feel loved! And I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do!
How is this activity calendar different
There are plenty of activity calendars online, but I wanted something different.
Although I love discovering awesome activity ideas on Pinterest, I realize that I won’t be able to put them into practice every day.
I don’t want to waste time gathering a lot of materials or preparing activities. I just want to have something easy and fun to do with my child every day so we can enjoy more happy moments together.
This is not a calendar with activities for kids to do on their own. Every single activity is meant to include the parent as well.
Because every time you do one of these activities with your kids, and you draw, build, read, create something with them, you get the chance to get closer to them and build a strong, loving relationship. And this is what this monthly calendar is all about!
How to download and use the activity calendar
The theme for this month’s calendar is nature. Every week includes one activity based on this theme.
The rest of the activities are focused on encouraging creativity, open-ended play, and family fun.
If you want to use activity calendar with your kids, here are 3 easy steps to get started:
- Download the printable calendar using the link below.
2. You’ll receive the printable calendar per email together with a link to a special page where you’ll find all the details about the activities and more printable files to use during the month.
3. Display the calendar in your home, and start enjoying happy moments with your kids every day.
⭐ Click here to download the May activity calendar
Our list of activity ideas for May
Here is a list of all the activity ideas included in our calendar.
After downloading the printable calendar you will also get access to a special page where you will find details about all these activities, including instructions and printable resources.
1 – Start a nature journal.
Use a mini sketch pad or a notebook and invite the kids to keep records of all the interesting things they discover while exploring nature during the whole month.
Encourage them to make drawings and help them add notes about all the things they want to include in their journal.
You can also print images of different flowers, trees, or birds in your area, add them to the journal, and encourage your kids to try to find them when you go outside.
2 – Make a painted walking stick for your next hike.
Find a few fallen branches that could work well as walking sticks and invite your kids to paint and decorate them. Acrylic craft paint works best on branches, but you can also try other ways to decorate them (e.g, wrapping yarn around them).
3 – Design a pretend neighborhood
Ask the kids what materials they want to use to create a pretend neighborhood and let them get creative!
They can use paper, LEGO bricks, magnetic blocks, playdough, recycled items like cardboard and paper tuebes, or any other materials they like.
4 – Pillow case guessing game
Find an empty pillow case and use it for a fun guessing game! Take turns hiding an object inside the pillow case and invite the other family members to guess what it is by touching it through the pillow case and asking yes or no questions about it.
5 – Create “Mommy and me” portraits
A lovely way to prepare for Mother’s Day is to create “mommy and me” portraits together.
After downloading the activity calendar you will also get access to a special “All about mom” questionnaire to fill in with your kids.
6 – Create a puzzle using craft sticks
We tried this activity many times and we always had fun creating puzzles. You can find all the details about this activity here: Popsicle Stick Puzzle (by Frogs and Fairies).
This is a great activity for siblings to do together because they can create puzzles for each other and have fun solving them.
7 – Art: Potato stamping
Prepare a few potato stamps for your kids by slicing potatoes in half and carving an image into the flat surface of each of the halves.
Pour a few liquid paints in paper plates, and invite the kids to use the stamps and paint to create an artwork.
8 – Family game night: Game swap with friends
Find a family with kids of similar ages as yours and invite them to a game swap! Each family borrows three of their favorite board games to the other family for a week.
Once you have the new games, plan a fun family night and try them together!
9 – Make a nature crown
For this activity you will need paper strips (card stock paper works best), a stapler, and double sided tape.
Staple the paper strips together to create a long a strip long enough to wrap around your child’s head. Then place the double sided tape along the whole paper strip (add 2-3 rows of tape to make the crown really sticky).
Go for a walk, and invite the kids to collect nature items like flowers, leaves, and petals, and add them to their crowns.
10 – Play balloon volleyball
11 – Make pasta necklaces
You can find all the details about this activity here: Painting Pasta to Thread (by Picklebums).
12 – Read a book about space (+ try an activity inspired by the book)
The first Friday of May is Space Day, so I used this special day as inspiration for this activity on our calendar.
Read a book about space, ask your kids about their favorite things about space, and invite them to create something inspired by the book.
It can be a drawing or painting, a planet made out of playdough, a spaceship made out of LEGOs, or anything else they want.
13- Make a sock puppet
14 – Mess free painting inside a ziplock bag
Cut a piece of paper that fits inside a large ziplock bag. Invite the kids to add drops of paint on the paper. Then gently place the paper inside the ziplock bag and close the bag.
Then the kids can use their fingers to move the paint inside the bag and create a fun artwork. When they are done, take out the paper and let it dry.
15 – Family movie night: Oscar winners
Check out the list of family-friendly movies that won an Oscar this year or in the previous years and chose a movie to watch together. The easiest way to find a family-friendly movie is to check out the winners for “Best Animated Feature”.
16 – Nature art
Go to the park and invite the kids to use nature items (twigs, leaves, flowers, pebbles, etc) to create nature art. Here are some lovely ideas (from The Craft Train).
17 – Sidewalk chalk play
Invite the kids to use chalk to draw a big town, farm, or race track, then use small toys (like toy animals or cars) to play. For older kids, you can invite them to design a city or draw a big map.
18 – Celebrate International Museum Day *
A great way to celebrate this day is to visit a museum together. If this is not possible, here are two fun alternatives:
- try a virtual museum tour
- invite the kids to create their own “museum” at home (Let them to choose a theme and then add drawings, toy figures, and any other items they want to include in their museum.)
19 – Build a pom pom launcher (instructions here – by Little Bins for Little Hands)
20 – Art: Washi tape birds
Use cardboard (or card stock paper) to cut out some simple bird shapes for your kids. Then invite them to decorate them using crayons, paint, and washi tape.
21 – Shadow drawing
Find a sunny place for this activity. Place a few small toys and blocks on a paper. Invite the kids to use a pencil to trace the shadows of the toys, then use the traced shapes to create an artwork using colored pencils or paint.
22 – Would you rather game
After downloading the printable calendar, you will get access to special page that includes a set of “Would you rather…” questions for kids.
Use the questions to start the game with your kids, then invite all family members to take turns creating their own questions for everyone to answer.
23 – Celebrate World Turtle Day *
Celebrate this special day by reading a book about turtles and creating a few paper turtles with colorful shells.
24 – Scavenger hunt
It’s National Scavenger Hunt Day, so prepare a fun scavenger hunt for the kids.
Make a list of things for them to find inside the house and challenge them to find them in less than 12 minutes. Or try the printable alphabet scavenger hunt included with this month’s calendar.
For older kids who don’t find scavenger hunt very fun anymore, switch roles and invite them to create a scavenger hunt for you or for their younger siblings.
25 – Superhero badge and shield
Invite the kids to create a superhero badge and shield and decorate them.
26 – Design paper airplanes
It’s National Paper Airplane Day, so celebrate by inviting the kids to create some unique paper airplanes. Encourage them to come up with interesting designs and have a paper plane competition.
27 – Playdough ice-cream shop (an easy and fun pretend play idea)
28 – Make a placemat and decorate it
Invite the kids to create a special design for a placemat on a card stock paper.
Once their artwork is complete, laminate the paper and add the placemats to your dinner table. (if you don’t have a laminator, you can use contact paper or self-laminating pouches)
29 – Collaborative drawing: frames
Place a big piece of paper on the table and draw several frames on it. Invite all family members to get creative together and fill in all the frames.
If you want, you can choose a theme for all the frames (e.g, animals, favorite characters, etc).
30 – Nature prints in playdough
On a family walk invite the kids to gather nature items like small twigs, flowers, leaves, then use them at home to create nature prints in playdough.
31 – Sticky collage wall
Tape a big piece of contact paper on a wall (using painter’s tape) and invite the kids to create a big collage using pieces of colored paper and craft supplies like craft gems, felt shapes, or yarn.
Download the May activity calendar
⭐ To get all the details about the activities and the printable files mentioned in the calendar, download the May activity calendar from here.
I wish you a wonderful month of May with many happy moments with your kids!
