Fun May Activities for Kids

|

Looking for fun things to do with kids this May? Explore key themes for the month of May and activity ideas to go with them! May is a super fun month for kids with lots to do and craft! Check out our Fun May Activties for Kids today.

themes for May
Fun May Activities for Kids of all ages.

If you like to fill you activity calendar with fun ideas for different months.. read on. Today we explore key themes for the Month of May with some great ideas for kids of all ages. We particularly love crafts of course, so there is a bias towards those activities here today. Crafts are a great way to explore seasonal themes and cultural themes, whilst developing a variety of skills – from fine motor skills, to listening and following instructions. Making the May activities shared here today, PERFECT for both in the home/ homeschooling and the traditional classroom environment.

What are themes for the month of May?

There are some lovely general May themes to explore for may – for example –

And then there are a number of fabulous themes for the month of May that you musn’t miss! The include in order of “appearance” you have:

May is also dedicated to:

  • Mental Health Awareness Month
  • National Pet Month
  • Physical Fitness Month

We won’t be exploring thee last themes in particularly.. but wanted to share them with you, if you are looking for more themed extension ideas to research! Though all crafting is great for Mental health.. we have lots of Dog Crafts and Cat Crafts.. and for fitness, I encourage you all to go out for a lovely long walk, or even a jog!

Top May Activities for Preschoolers

What should you teach preschoolers in May? There are lots of things you can explore as we head into may, but we particularly like to start to think about the great outdoors, some butterflies, bugs and nature.

Pop Up Rainbow cards
  • Kids love rock painting.. make your own ladybug and bee tic tac toe set. Or simply paint the rocks for fun and hide them for people to find as a random act of kindness
  • Bug Hotels – if you know Red Ted Art, you will know that we adore bug hotels.. in fact you can probably make these all year round, but May is a great month to get out and about exploring nature and your local bugs!
  • Go on a Bug Hunt, with our bug hunt printable – a fun way to get kids excited about exploring and searching. This is one of our free printables for you to enjoy!
  • Make some tie dye coffee filter butterflies. A super simple technique that toddlers and preschoolers will love to have a go at. Watch colour theory in action as reds and yellows mix or blues and red… see what happens! Once dry, turn them into fablous butterfly crafts.
  • Then learn how to make this easy rainbow pop up card and send it to a loved one!
  • Have a go at Laly Mom’s butterfly magnet mays – STEAM and crafty fun in one!
  • Preschool inspirations teaches us all about Ladybug facts!

Gardening Activities for May

Of course May is a great time to get kids outdoors – you don’t need a lot of “space” to get kids gardening and planting. A flower pot on a windowsill will do if space is tight. But experiencing and observing things that grow, is always great! Let’s get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine if we can..

grass head craft for kids
Spring crafts container garden
  • Grow cress in egg shells – this is a particularly lovely activity for toddlers and preschoolers. They sprout quickly too, so it is fun to see the progress
  • Make Grass Heads – done with cress heads? Try grass heads with the next age group up – elementary school kids will adore these grass heads made from earth, grass seeds and recycled stockings! A thrifty craft, that you can watch grow, then nuture and style your grass head’s hair!! So fun! We have a similar giant grass caterpillars version for you too!
  • Make seed bombs (and go seed bombing) – seed bombs are a great guerilla gardening activity and gift idea too! Get children thinking about the local habit, wildlife and plants.
  • Make recycled herb gardens – use gum boots to collanders as plantpots! It is amazing what you can turn into a funky plant top. Though recycled containers are often best outdoors, many of these can be used on the window sill too!
  • Explore seed germination with How Wee Learn

May Day Activities – 1st May

May Day is usually celebrated on the 1st May or on the first Monday in May. It is celebrated to mark the beginning of summer. I don’t know about you.. but we are usually VERY ready for summer by the time May Day comes about. Apart from visiting a May Day fair in your local area, here are some fun activities you can do at home or in the classroom to celebrate May Day!

Flower Crowns
  • Learn how to make a flower crown – be mindful of not damaging nature and only “taking” what there is plentiful. Leaving enough for the bugs and bees. Daisies and dandilions are usually plentiful…
  • Make a gift of flowers to someone – this can be simply a decorated mason jar filled with some flowers from the garden or make a May Day Flower Basket or Flower cone like Ever Mine has made as a door decoration. So sweet!
  • Have a May Day picnic! Nothing quite like heading outside and celebrating summer – you don’t have to go far, your own garden, balcony or local park is plenty! If the weather isn’t playing ball, you can always have an indoor picnic..
  • Check out our full collection of ideas to Celebrate May Day!

Hedgehog Awareness Week

Hedgehog Awareness Week is in the first week May! If you would like to join in and find some ideas and activities take a look at our simple guide!

hedgehog awareness week

Star Wars Day Activities – 4th May

Star Wars fans rejoice and May the 4th be with you. Ah I never tire of that old pun! We have a fantastic collection of Star Wars crafts for you to browse already, but picking out a handful, that especially elementary students will love… we have you the following DIY Star Wars crafts!

Cinco de Mayo Activities – 5th May

Cinco de Mayo is an annual celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 – read all about it on Wikipedia! It does give us the opportunity for some super fun and colorful Mexico inspired crafts!

TP Roll Pinata Frida Kahlo style for Cinco the Mayo
diy maracas
  • Make some Frida Kahlo mini pinatas – what is not to love? Frida Kahlo AND Pinatas in one.. and guess what, they are made from my favourite craft material the Toilet Paper Roll… and did I mention how easy they are to make? A no brainer!
  • Mexico is all about the food but also the music! Join in with the musical fun, with these fun DIY Maracas – and you know what? They cost pennies to make – recycled hollowed out egg shells, paper mache and some dried beans.. so fun and easy!
  • Not sure about the Maracas? Try these adorable and easy peasy bottle top castanets instead!
  • Have a go at making a traditional God’s Eye – a mindful craft that uses up odds and ends of yarn and can be combined with sticks from nature, craft sticks or even straws.

Teacher Appreciation Week – first FULL week in May

National Teacher Appreciation Week is in the first FULL week of May. It is a great time to craft some small gifts for your favourite teachers! Here are some great Teacher Gift Ideas to have a go at (including some free printables and links to DIY Hamper Ideas).

Mother’s Day Ideas – 2nd Sunday in May

NOTE: the UK is more or less the only country to celebrate Mother’s Day during the Lent period – ie usually in March!

Ah yes, Mother’s Day!! Crafting for Mom is a MUST in May. Whether you are working with preschoolers or elementary school kids, Mother’s Day DIY ideas are not to be ommitted. Handprint Crafts are popular for Preschoolers, whilst older kids can make some cool Mother’s Day Cards. We do have extensive Mothers Day Idea lists, but if I had to highlight just 4 ideas, I would pick:

Air Drying Clay Heart Bowls
Pop Up Flower Garden
  • Newspaper Frame – they are thrifty to make, look great and make a lovely gift. You can leave them plain or paint them, depending on time.
  • Heart Pinch Pots – we love making pinch pots and have pinch pots for all occassions, but do think thrse heart shaped bowls are rather lovely.
  • Pop up Flower Garden Card – now I mentioned that we have LOTS of DIY Cards for Moms, but I do like this one, as it is so simple, looks adorable and is so easily personalised.

Memorial Day Activities – last Monday of May

Last but not leasy, as we head to the last Monday of May, we have Memorial Day Activities. Generally for this May theme, we are looking for ideas in Red, White and Blue! Once again, we have a more complete list of Memorial Day Activities for you to browse – which also includes a fantastic book list, which helps explain Memorial Day to younger children too. But in the meantime, we have our most popular Memorial Day crafts for you today:

  • Patriotic Paper fans are super quick and easy to make and look fantastic. They make a great hand held “toy” or “thing to wave” at a Memorial Day parade, but also work as large rosettes as Memorial Day decorations – be it at home, the garden or a community hall.
  • Our American Flag Cootie Catchers were ostentatiously made for Flag Day – the quiz found within is all about the American Flag (a  great learning opportunity) but there is also a blank template suitable for any patriotic celebration. Add your own questions, facts or dedications.
  • A free template to help you make these three different Poppy Suncatchers. A reader recently shared a wonderful collaborative Poppy Wreath idea based on these templates!

And that, my lovely readers, brings me to the end of our themed May activities for kids of all ages! I do hope you feel inspired, and that you now have a gorgeous collection of crafts to give a go this May!

Happy May and Happy Beginning of Summer to you all!

Whilst I work on our themed June update.. take a peak at the rest of our Summer Activities for Kids:

Summer Activity ideas for kids
Theme ideas for May with Kids