Running a popular holiday camp or growing wraparound care involves hundreds of decisions; programming, resourcing the programmes, staff ratios, venue logistics, compliance, child and staff health and safety, invoicing, parent communications, managing parent payments, overheads, funding scheme oversight and reconciliation, the list never ends! But before any of that, there's one decision that shapes everything else: what activities will you actually offer?
Most providers make that call based on instinct. What they know. What worked last time. What a parent mentioned at pick-up. That's understandable, there's no spare time and extra resource lying around to invest into wider research when you're in the middle of running a programme.
But the data on what UK parents are searching for, and what UK kids are excited about, is more accessible than ever and we cover it in this article. Stagecoach's kids' activity classes statistics offers one of the clearest pictures of the UK kids' activity landscape right now, and what it shows should be useful for anyone planning a summer holiday club or refining their wraparound care programming for September 2026.
Stop guessing. Here's what the numbers tell us, and what it might mean for your provision.
Contents
- The UK kids' activity landscape in numbers
- Sport: the non-negotiable category
- The creative arts surge
- What parents prioritise when choosing a programme
- The age factor: what works for which group
- From stats to provision decisions
- Frequently asked questions
The UK kids' activity landscape in numbers
Let's start with the big picture. According to the Department for Education's Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents (2024) the most comprehensive annual survey of its kind, 44% of children aged 5–11 use some form of formal childcare or structured provision in England. That includes before and after school clubs, holiday clubs, and other registered provision.
For school holiday programmes specifically, the DfE data shows 28% of 5–7 year olds and 25% of 8–11 year olds use formal childcare during the holidays. The figures for informal care, grandparents, family members, friends, are additional to this.
What this tells us: demand for quality holiday provision is substantial and consistent. The question for school aged childcaer operators in 2026 isn't whether parents want structured holiday camps, it's whether they can find yours, whether what you offer matches what they're looking for and if they can afford it.
That second part is where the activity data becomes helpful.
Sport: the non-negotiable category
According to Stagecoach kids' activity statistics sport is the activity type that parents look for first.
Within sport, the most in-demand activities for UK children are consistently:
- Swimming: the single most participated-in activity for UK children across age groups
- Football: high demand year-round, peaking during school holidays when organised sessions are harder to find
- Gymnastics: particularly popular with children aged 5–9
- Martial arts: growing steadily; appeals across mixed ages and suits children who want structure and progression
- Multi-sport: the versatile format that gives children variety and providers flexibility
For wraparound care and holiday club providers, multi-sport is particularly worth noting. It doesn't require specialist equipment or coaches for every discipline, it appeals across a range of abilities, and it gives real variety across a programme week without demanding specialist expertise in a single sport.
Note: Avoid assuming that sport on its own is enough. It's a strong draw card, but additionally what supports families coming back, and what generates the best word-of-mouth, is usually the experience around sport: the friends that kids made, the relationships and trust built with welcoming and fun staff, the educational value gotten out of the programme, the atmosphere and core memory moments.
The creative arts surge
Sport leads, but the data paints a more nuanced picture than "sport wins everything."
Alongside physical activities, there's been a sustained and significant increase in interest in creative arts, and it shows up in what parents search for and what children ask to do when given a choice. The YouGov research on "kidult" hobbies documents this trend across generations: activities like baking, pottery, painting, and textile crafts have moved from niche interests to mainstream demand.
For holiday camp providers, creative sessions carry a practical advantage: they're highly adaptable, relatively low-cost to set up, they produce tangible outcomes, a child taking something home and a lifelong skill learned. Parents show off what their kid bought home, "Look at the ceramic planter she made us," is an operators dream word of mouth moment.
They also balance well against physical activity. A morning of multi-sport followed by an afternoon of creative work is a well structured day that appeals to children with different strengths and preferences, and to parents who want their child to experience more than one thing.
How parents are finding new kids activities
85% of parents in the UK discover new kids’ activity classes on social media.
Social media is non-negotiable if you want to see your programme grow in numbers. Ontop of that, 100% of UK parents evaluate the credibility of a kids’ activity class provider by online reviews.
But guess what? It should be easier than ever to grab reviews from parents to boost your online credibility and social presence. Because 100% of parents find feedback after every session an extremely valuable form of communication from a class provider.
Start sending those review links asap, parents want to give feedback which works in your favour both ways! Either a stunning review or direct and constructive criticism that will improve your programme.
What parents prioritise when choosing a programme
Understanding what appears in the data matters less if you don't know what parents are actually weighing when they make a booking decision. The pattern is consistent across research:
Variety. Parents don't want their child doing the same thing every day for a week. A programme with structured variety, different activities across different days, is more bookable than a single activity camp for most families, unless they're specifically seeking specialist provision.
Enrichment alongside care. Parents increasingly want their children to come away having learned something, made something, or grown in some way. "Fun" isn't enough as a standalone selling point. "Fun, active, creative, life skills" is a different proposition, and one that parents feel better about.
Local access and recognisable booking. Distance to the venue matters, especially for parents who need the programme to fit around work schedules. Being discoverable on a platform like the Enrolmy marketplace helps parents find local options they might otherwise never encounter.
Signs of professionalism. Ofsted registration, clear safeguarding information, professional booking and payment handling, parents notice these signals even when they don't ask about them directly. A programme that looks organised builds the trust that converts browsing into booking.
Want families in your area to find your holiday club or wraparound care? The Enrolmy marketplace connects providers with parents who are actively searching for local provision.
The age factor: what works for which group
One of the most actionable things the activity data tells us is that age matters significantly. Programmes that ignore this tend to have harder conversations with parents. Research shows;
5–7 year olds respond best to sensory-rich, physical, and imaginative activities. Short bursts of different things work better than extended focus. They want to move, explore, and feel safe. Drama games, messy crafts, obstacle courses, and simple cooking activities all land well.
8–11 year olds are more interested in skill-building and activities where they can demonstrate competence. Sports tournaments, STEM challenges, cooking challenges, science experiments, and creative projects with real outcomes suit this age group. They also respond well to having some choice in what they do.
11–14 year olds are the hardest age group to programme for, and the one where many holiday clubs quietly lose bookings year on year. This group wants to feel like the programme isn't designed for younger children. Multi-sport with competitive formats, collaborative creative projects, and activities that feel social (group challenges, shared making, peer-led elements) tend to work significantly better than passive or prescriptive sessions.
Segmenting your programme by age group, even loosely, signals to parents that you've thought about this. It also helps children feel like the week was made with them in mind, not just children in general.
From stats to provision decisions
The point of looking at activity data isn't to copy what's universally popular, it's to make more informed decisions about where to invest your staff time, planning energy, and resources. A few practical takeaways:
If its within your industry, lead with sport, complement with creativity. The data consistently supports sport as the strongest primary draw card. But a sports only programme leaves bookings on the table. Building in one or two creative sessions per week broadens your appeal without significant additional cost.
Make your timetable legible. Parents scanning listings make decisions in seconds. "Multi-sport, art, STEM, drama, and outdoor adventure across the week" is compelling. "Various activities" is not. Being specific about what you're offering does your marketing work for you.
Programme for the age group you actually have, not the one you assume. If most of your bookings are 8–11 year olds, build the week for them. Don't run the same programme for a group of 13-year-olds that you'd run for a group of 6-year-olds.
Use the Holiday Activities and Food programme where you can. If you serve children who receive Free School Meals, the HAF programme funds enriching holiday provision at no cost to families. And its one of the last years for families to use up old HAF vouchers lying around. Promote it with urgency to get bookings.
Start with what you do well, then build out. Trends are useful signals, not mandates. A programme that does four activities brilliantly is more valuable to families than one that attempts eight activities poorly. Use articles with helpful data like the above to make smart choices about where to develop, not as a checklist to tick off.
Frequently asked questions
What activities do UK children most want to do at holiday clubs right now?
Sport, particularly swimming, football, gymnastics, and multi-sport, consistently ranks highest in what parents book and what children ask for. Creative arts (baking, crafts, art projects with a take-home outcome) have grown significantly and now sit alongside sport as the second major category.
How do I use activity statistics to plan my holiday programme?
Use them to validate decisions rather than make them from scratch. If you're planning to offer cooking sessions and the data shows creative activities are in high demand, that's confirmation. If you're planning a very narrow, single activity programme, the data on parent preferences for variety is worth taking seriously.
Is there funding available for holiday club activities?
Yes. If you deliver provision for children on Free School Meals, the Holiday Activities and Food programme provides grant funding specifically for enriching holiday activities.
What's the biggest mistake holiday clubs make when planning their programmes?
Programming for a generic "child" rather than for the age groups they actually serve. Eleven year olds and six year olds have very different ideas of a good week. Providers who segment their timetables consistently deliver better experiences and get stronger word-of-mouth.
Running a great programme and running a smooth one aren't mutually exclusive, but getting the admin right takes as much thought as getting the activities right. Book a free demo with the Enrolmy team to see how UK holiday club and wraparound care providers are managing bookings, registers, TFC reconciliation, and parent communications all in one place.