School Holidays: Do Kids Need More Unstructured Time?

School holidays can create a strange pressure for parents. The calendar suddenly looks empty, so we feel we should fill it: a museum day, a play centre, a class, a movie, a trip, a craft project, another playdate.

We understand why. Children need movement, connection and things to do. Australian research has also found that during school holidays, primary-school children can become less active and spend substantially more time on screens than during the school term.

But we do not think the answer is to turn the holidays into another timetable.

Maybe children need some structure in the holidays — and some space that adults do not structure for them.

In this article: Our short answer · What Australian research found · What about boredom? · Structure without over-scheduling · What counts as useful play? · A practical holiday rhythm · FAQ

Key Takeaways

Australian research suggests school holidays can bring more screen time, more sedentary time and less physical activity for children.
That does not mean every hour needs to be programmed. The evidence supports movement and access to good play environments, not a packed activity calendar.
Unstructured play can give children more agency: they decide what to do, how the game works and when it changes.
“Boredom is good for creativity” is often repeated more confidently than the research warrants. We would treat boredom as an ordinary feeling, not a developmental exercise parents need to manufacture.
A simple holiday rhythm can protect sleep, meals, movement and connection while leaving generous open space.

Our short answer: holidays probably need anchors, not a full timetable

There is a useful middle ground between two extremes: letting every routine disappear for two weeks, and scheduling children from breakfast until dinner.

We like the idea of a few predictable anchors — roughly consistent waking and sleeping, meals, some movement, perhaps one planned outing — with open time around them.

That is not a scientifically validated “holiday formula”. It is our practical reading of the evidence: children benefit from adequate sleep, daily movement, social connection and opportunities for play, while autonomy and child-led exploration are also valuable.

What happens to children’s days during school holidays?

An Australian study involving 358 primary-school children found that during holidays, children were around 12 minutes less active each day, spent about 27 minutes more sedentary, and reported more than an extra hour of screen time compared with school-term days.

It is important not to overread one study. It focused on primary-school children and holiday periods, and it does not prove that holidays themselves cause poor health. But it captures something many families recognise: school quietly supplies a lot of structure — wake times, walking, recess, lunch breaks, PE, friends and limits on when entertainment can happen.

When school stops, that structure disappears overnight.

Australian Government movement guidance recommends at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day for children aged 5–17, plus lighter activity across the day, while also protecting sufficient sleep and limiting prolonged sedentary time.

For preschoolers, the guidance similarly emphasises several hours of movement spread throughout the day.

Those recommendations are useful anchors. They do not say children need three organised activities a day.

Do children actually need to be bored?

“Let them be bored” has become almost a parenting slogan.

There is a sensible idea underneath it: adults do not need to provide instant entertainment every time a child has nothing obvious to do. If every quiet moment is filled by a screen, organised class or parent-led activity, children get fewer chances to decide what happens next.

But we would be careful with stronger claims such as “boredom makes children creative”. Direct evidence in children is much thinner than the confidence of many social-media posts suggests.

Boredom is simply an uncomfortable state that can sometimes prompt someone to seek a different activity. What comes next depends on the child, their age, temperament, environment and what is available.

A child in a home with books, paper, a backyard, siblings and safe outdoor access has a very different set of choices from a child in a small apartment while a parent is working. So “just let them be bored” can also ignore family circumstances.

Our preference is simpler: do not fear every empty hour. You do not have to turn boredom into a lesson, and you do not have to solve it immediately either.

Structure without over-scheduling

The Australian holiday research is sometimes summarised as “more structure is healthier”. That can easily be misunderstood as “book more activities”.

Structure can be much simpler.

Keep a few anchors

Breakfast still happens. Everyone gets dressed. There is some outside time. Lunch does not drift to 3 pm. Bedtime can relax without shifting by hours every night.

These ordinary anchors can protect sleep, meals and movement without recreating school.

Plan one thing, not everything

A library visit in the morning does not require a scheduled afternoon. A playdate can be the day’s plan. Going to the park can be enough.

When we schedule less, the activity itself can also breathe. Children do not need to be hurried away because the next booking starts in 45 minutes.

Leave transition time

Adults often underestimate how tiring fun can be. A big outing, crowded play centre or long social day can leave children needing quiet time afterwards. Open time is not necessarily wasted time.

What counts as useful play?

Recent systematic reviews of outdoor play environments consistently point towards the value of environments that allow movement, exploration, social interaction and varied ways of using the space. Reviews of nature-based and adventurous play also highlight autonomy and agency as potentially important mechanisms, while noting that much of the literature is observational and heterogeneous.

That distinction matters. We should not claim that one afternoon climbing logs will “build resilience” in a predictable way. But children clearly need opportunities to move through the world, test skills, negotiate with other children and make some decisions for themselves.

Outdoor play

A park does not need a complicated playground. Grass, slopes, trees, sand, paths and open space can invite running, climbing, collecting, chasing and invented games.

Making things

Paper, crayons, cardboard, tape, play dough and scraps can stay open-ended because there is no single correct result. The child supplies much of the idea.

Building and sorting

Blocks, stackers, loose parts and simple construction toys can be revisited in different ways. We have written before about why we like simple toys: the toy does less, so the child often has more to decide.

Real life

Not every holiday activity has to be labelled “play”. Washing the car, watering plants, baking, walking to the shops, sorting socks or helping prepare lunch can give children something real to participate in.

What about screens during the holidays?

We covered this in detail in our recent article If We Reduce Kids’ Screen Time, What Do We Want to Put Back In?

Our view is the same here: screen time is not one uniform activity, and reducing it is not the entire goal. The more useful question is what it is replacing.

If a movie gives everyone a quiet afternoon after a busy morning, that is different from screens becoming the default response to every unfilled moment.

If you want less screen conflict, it helps to make alternatives physically available: books where children can reach them, paper already on the table, a ball near the door, a puzzle on a shelf, or simply a plan to walk outside after lunch.

A practical holiday rhythm — not a schedule

This is an example, not a prescription:

Morning: breakfast, get dressed, some outside time or the day’s planned outing.
Middle of the day: lunch and a quieter period — reading, drawing, a puzzle, audio stories, independent play or some screen time if that is part of your family routine.
Afternoon: open play, friends, backyard, park, bike or scooter, errands with a parent or simply being at home.
Evening: dinner and enough routine to protect sleep.

Some days will be fuller. Some will collapse completely. That is normal.

Parents are working, siblings have different needs, weather changes, children get sick, and sometimes everyone watches more television than planned. A useful routine should support family life, not become another standard to fail.

What many “school holiday activity lists” miss

Every September, the internet fills with enormous lists: 50 things to do, 100 activities, daily challenges, bucket lists.

They can be useful when you genuinely need an idea. But they can also create the strange impression that a good childhood requires adults to constantly produce experiences.

We do not think it does.

Children need access — to safe space, other people, movement, materials, nature where possible and adults who are available enough to provide security. They do not necessarily need novelty every day.

There is also an environmental side to this. “Keeping kids busy” can quickly become another reason to buy more things. Often the most reusable holiday resources are the least complicated: books from the library, a ball, crayons, blocks, a scooter, a puzzle, a cardboard box, a park.

A simple parent checklist

Have we protected roughly enough sleep?
Will there be a chance to move today?
Is there at least some face-to-face connection?
Does my child have something accessible they can do without me directing every step?
Have we left any room for plans to change?
Am I booking this activity because my child will enjoy it — or because an empty calendar is making me anxious?
Can we reuse what we already have before buying another holiday activity?
If today becomes a high-screen day, can tomorrow simply look different without turning it into a moral issue?

Frequently asked questions

Should school holidays be structured?

Some structure can help preserve sleep, meals and physical activity, but evidence does not establish that children need a packed schedule. A few predictable anchors plus open time is a reasonable practical approach.

Is boredom good for children?

It is reasonable not to immediately solve every moment of boredom, but claims that boredom itself reliably produces creativity in children go beyond the evidence. Environment, age and temperament matter.

How much activity do school-age children need?

Australian Government guidance recommends at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day for ages 5–17, plus lighter activity across the day.

Do we need to buy activities for unstructured play?

No. Outdoor space, library books, paper, cardboard, household jobs, music, water, sticks, cushions and time with friends can all create things to do without buying anything.

What if I am working during the school holidays?

Unstructured play should not become another burden placed on working parents. Vacation care, family help, planned activities and screens can all be part of a realistic holiday. The goal is balance across days, not an idealised timetable.

Sources & fact-check notes

University of South Australia / Australian school-holiday activity research — 358 primary-school students; holiday changes in physical activity, sedentary time and screen time.
Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing — 24-hour movement recommendations for children and young people.
Recent systematic reviews of outdoor play environments, child-led play and nature-based adventurous play.

Evidence note: Much of the play literature is observational and heterogeneous. This article does not claim that unstructured play, boredom or any particular toy causes a specific developmental outcome.

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