There are plenty of ways to celebrate dads on Father’s Day: make him breakfast in bed, give him a thoughtful unique gift, make a special card, laugh enthusiastically at his dad-jokes. Then tell him to get dressed – it’s time to spend the day together! Of all the gifts you could give Dad on Father’s Day, time spent with family will be the most meaningful of all. So we’ve come up with 10 fantastic Father's Day activities for dads and kids – and in these times of social isolation, you don’t even need to leave the house!

Have a Gardening-and-Art Bee

Fun outdoor activities kids can do with Dad for Father’s Day: gardening and art bee

Hedge your bets with a fun day of gardening and outdoor arts. Get kids to help out with planting seedlings, then spend spring watching them grow – who knows, they might even try the veggies! Next, grab some acrylic paints and a good selection of brushes to decorate plain terracotta pots with bespoke designs (future family heirlooms) or paint some rock pets or sticks to make special garden totems. Hold onto boxes – they can be cut into cubbies and decorated with some washable paints. Another garden-based activity is animal-watching – I-spy cicadas, skinks and magpies. The most interesting of all are ants. With a Jungle Ants Ant Farm kit, you catch your own ants then watch them start city-building. Seriously – they’re better than TV.

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Stage Your Own Grand Prix

Indoor play ideas Dad will love doing with kids this Father’s Day: best toy race car track

Even grown-ups who drive their own cars cannot deny the thrill of a toy racing car. Build your very own Bathurst 1000 racetrack at home using coloured card, masking tape and markers, then rummage up all the toy cars round the house and start your (imaginary) engines! This K’Nex off-road truck with a battery-powered motor is suitable for kids aged 9 and up (so dad should be able to figure it out), and with this Vex Gear Racer Robotics Kit, dads and kids can build a race car that uses kinetic energy to go.

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Build Toys Together

Dads who love to tinker can get kids involved and with a bit of time, a little teamwork and some brain-power, you can build some truly cool things together this Father’s Day. Make clocks, trucks and doll’s houses out of empty boxes and bits of cardboard. For younger kids, an Octons kit with simple parts that link together has endless fun configurations. Older kids and their dads can start experimenting with robotics, exploring how simple machines work and creating their own. With a Vex Snap Shot Construction Kit, you’ll make a robot arm that can actually throw; up your game with a K’Nex Power and Play Building Set, which has enough pieces to create 50 different models, half of which are motorised. Dads can teach little learners about gravity with the GraviTrax interactive track system, a cool set that sends marbles rolling.

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Explore the World in Your Lounge Room

Making overseas travel plans in 2020 may seem a little like building castles in the sky – so why not do both? Ravensburger 3D puzzles of monuments including the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben will keep dads and kids busy for hours – and you’ll have a cool model to display once you’re finished. Simple tasks like puzzle-making are an excellent way to open up conversations that we often don’t have time for during the busy week. Don’t know where to begin? Try planning your next Australian adventure together with the enormous (70 x 50 cm) Blue Opal Giant Down Under Map Puzzle. It has more than 500 illustrations, all of which reference a place name or a fun fact.

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Learn How to Drone Together…

Cool toys and games Dad will love playing with kids this Father’s Day: flying a drone

Dads have toys, too; they just don’t call them that. And if yours is the kind of guy who needs the coolest new toys – sorry, gadgets – he’ll jump at the chance to spend the day flying a drone with his kids. The super-compact and lightweight (80 grams) DJI Tello Drone ticks all the boxes: it has a range of 100 metres, can be controlled via a smartphone app, has collision detection and comes with a built-in camera so Dad can take aerial footage of the family, squinting up into the sky. Cheese! Throw in an online Drone Training course, so he can learn all the safety info and rules of drone use to avoid ending up in a drone-created pickle.

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Hold the Inaugural Family Obstacle Course

Cool activities for kids to do with Dad on Father’s Day: best at-home obstacle course idea

We’re envisioning a cross between the Olympics and Ninja Warrior, only with more laughing and less lycra. First event: balance beam or stepping stones. Use logs, large rocks or EDX Education Step-a-Trails Balance Platform to create a tricky path. Next, the catapult catch. Make your own or try a Joey Jumper – the competitor must catch the item launched. Third event: the popular American game of cornhole. You’ll need to make a board (try cutting a hole in stiff cardboard), and use soft balls or beanbags to throw. The final event is the trickiest: a laser maze (think: Ocean’s Twelve or Entrapment). Use sticks, masking tape and rope to create a spider-web effect. The aim is to cross the maze without touching the rope.

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Plan a Barbecue Picnic and Games Tournament

Outdoor activities, games and picnic ideas kids can do for Dad this Father’s Day.

A successful Father’s Day picnic requires three things: excellent food and drinks, a barbecue over which he can preside (if he doesn’t have an apron, a personalised one is a Father’s Day ace in the hole), and games the whole family can play. Start things off with the gear: a cooler jug filled with something refreshing is a must in warmer weather, especially considering some exertion is about to take place. Organise all the favourites, tunnel ball, three-legged races, musical statues. For littler competitors, a balance-ball game is a little like an egg and spoon race, only with less mess. Next in the Father’s Day Games events, pass the footy!

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Nerd Out with Science Experiments

Cool science experiments and novelty joke ideas for kids to do with Dad for Father’s Day

If Dad is constantly setting off the fire alarm in the kitchen or conducting questionable home-brew operations, he’ll love doing experiments with his kids. An oldie but a goodie, the baking soda and vinegar volcano is always fun. Make it easy and use a kit: the Violent Volcano Set includes everything you need to create a spectacular eruption, even goggles. Get gross with a Horrible Science Really Rotten Experiments Set, which comes with suitable accoutrements: a plastic stomach, a “fart pot”, a fake cockroach and more. Dads and kids whose sensibilities are slightly more refined may prefer to study the stars: do something different and head out on Father’s Day night to examine the sky together or stay indoors and map out the solar system on paper or with a puzzle.

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SEE ALSO: The Wonderful World of Science Experiments for Kids

Collaborate on a Father-Child Coding Project

Fun educational games and activities kids can do at home with Dad this Father’s Day

Budding programmers – dads and kids alike – can spend Father’s Day brainstorming, planning and programming together with the Sphero Bolt App Enabled Educational Robot. Using the Sphero Edu app, you can code the Bolt, a ball-shaped rolling robot, to perform movements and light displays, taking coding off the screen and putting it into action. Kids have so much to gain from playing with robotics: learning STEM concepts, the joy of making, coding and critical thinking among them. But remember: dads don’t have to be coding experts. The fun of this activity for both dads and kids is learning – solving a problem together is a hugely satisfying and bonding experience.

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Play Indoor Games for Rainy Father’s Day Fun

Rainy day activity ideas and indoor games for kids to do with Dad on Father’s Day

If you can’t get outside due to inclement weather, there’s still plenty of family joy to be had indoors – and we don’t mean watching Up for the millionth time. Dads always plotting their next chess move or crowing about their Monopoly dominance will appreciate a dedicated games day. You’re going to need plenty of snacks and a very impressive games shelf: we recommend battleship, checkers, card games like snap, or this Laser Chess Game, which is a clever take on the traditional version. Then there is the luck-and-skill testing Pop ’n’ Hop and Rush Hour, an addictive sliding block logic game in which players have to battle gridlock in their attempt to get the cars off the board.

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NOTE: Please allow at least 7-10 days for any personalised items.

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