16 Father/Daughter Activities To Do on Father’s Day

For a dad, raising his daughter(s) to become strong, smart and self-confident is important. It can be by nurturing their curiosity, being supportive, encouraging them to speak out, and helping them to go beyond their imagination. To help create a special bond, we thought we would suggest a few different activities for Father’s and daughters to do together – because after all, life is a series of experiences which make us who we are.

Our suggestions range from indoor activities, crafts, or competitive challenges, but are also playful, relaxing, or meaningful – hopefully you’ll find an idea suited to all tastes! We’ve left it up to you to choose how you can have a memorable Father’s Day ?

8 Father’s Day Activity Ideas for Dads

Cook Your Best Family Recipes

It only takes a couple of hours to make some meaningful memories, and spend quality time with your daughter, which she might remember for years to come. So why don’t you show her how to make a trademark spaghetti bolognese, a classic bangers and mash, or one of your favourite BBQ sauces? Whether it’s a sweet or salty famous recipe by Delia, Jamie, or Gordon which you grew up with, or one of your own which you just love cooking – why not pass it onto the next generation?

Cooking is always an enjoyable time, and can develop children to enrich their palate, or make her feel curious about the world’s cuisines and cultures. To set the tone and make it more fun, you can get yourselves a few cool accessories such as a personalised matching apron, a barbecue kit, or some baking accessories.

Do Some Gardening

If you have a patch of vegetables at the back of the garden, an allotment you love to go to, or just enjoy planting some pretty bulbs around the house, why don’t you share the joy of gardening with her? It can train her memory by remembering the different specimen’s names, encourages healthy eating, develops a green conscience, as well as responsibility towards a living thing. Gardening really is an all-rounder, and great for the little ones.

Volunteer At a Local Charity

You could spend time with your daughter doing a more meaningful activity which is also an opportunity to help people in your community. Showing your compassion, socialising, feeling helpful, and recognised for it, will make your lives more purposeful.

Find your volunteering activity on Do-it.org, the UK database of over one million volunteering opportunities, which are classified by interest, activity or location.

Go Golfing

Have you ever tried to go golfing with your daughter/dad? Most golf courses are actually very accommodating to junior golfers. Some set aside specific times when juniors are allowed to play so you can schedule a time slot at your nearest golf course or driving range at a more relaxed time.

To make it fun try out our tinted lenses that filter out foliage and grass, so your daughter can feel super skilled finding all the white golf balls against trees, rough or fairway. And they fit over prescription glasses too ?

Recreate Family Photos

Recreate your best childhood photos with your daughter to frame them next to the old ones you have, for a ‘now and then’ type image. It will make a memorable and fun gift it for her, and even her own children who might discover it later in life.

You can book a Family Portrait session with a photographer or make it a DIY day activity to organise together. Another good idea is to combine it with a day trip, take your car and drive to the same places where your old photos were taken.

Go Camping

If you both like the great outdoors, camping could be a great way to spend some quality father/daughter time together. Many parents feel that attending Scouts gives their child more confidence and responsibility, with a sense of adventure.

There are loads of easy resources you can use to help you plan the perfect trip in no time at all. If you fancy going to the Lake District, you can search over 57 different camping sites on their interactive map here. Otherwise if you’re looking for somewhere closer to home, but are unsure on where to go, visit nationalparks.uk which lists all 15 parks, or campsites.co.uk for numerous wild camping guides.

Watch Your Favourite Iconic Movies

A simple one, but a good one! Why not buy some tickets to the latest movie release? Or binge watch your top three favourite movies at home? Otherwise, simply watch anything you are passionate about, for your daughter to know which movies have left a mark on you, and why you like them so much.

Initiate A Crafty DIY Activity

If you’d like to spark their imagination and practical skills, you can initiate a crafty DIY activity. Like Nigel Higgins, dad blogger at diydaddyblog.com told us:

“This Father’s Day what I love to do with my seven year old twin girls is crafts. With the big emphasis on technology nowadays it’s nice to put the phones and tablets away and turn off the television and then let my twin girls get all creative.
The other day we made a rocket together I helped make the main part and then I let my twins imagination take over and it sure did, once they made the rocket they then made up a game which involved going to different planets and picking up people from each planet. Of course I couldn’t help but join in and find my inner child.
Sparking your children’s imagination is wonderful to watch and crafting is a fantastic way to allow them to express themselves, and of course learning through play is such a positive experience.”

8 Father’s Day Activity Ideas for Daughters

Build Something / Learn Some DIY

Learn the secrets of your dad’s workshop tools and start a DIY project, because it’s never too late to learn how to be handy. It’s also proven that building something from scratch and working out all the maths and engineering when designing something new can develop a taste for arithmetic, algebra, geometry, or calculus depending on the complexity of the project.

To make this activity come together, you might want to get your hands on our brass-finish 6-in-1 multi-tool pen, or customise your own hammer with your dad’s first name, or initials. Or if your child is a bit too young for DIY, why not spend some time together and build something a bit less practical but great fun like a LEGO set?

Race at Karting

Plan a fun day out go-karting together, a great idea for something where you can compete against one another. A good race can be a great challenge and bring your inner sense of competition and thirst to win at its maximum – perfect for a great playful memory. Karting tracks are often free at Father’s Day, as most families will be out for meals and other activities, so it’s a great chance to book.

For an added laugh, get some matching t-shirts to make the afternoon even more fun by customising them with your nicknames.

Fly Somewhere New

Book some flight tickets to go anywhere new with your dad, to have a change of scenery and explore something new together. Chances are your dad would love to go somewhere close to home, but doesn’t realise how easy short flights are to organise! You don’t have to go far to discover somewhere new and fun! You could even make a poster of your next big adventure together as a reminder to look forward to.

Have A Nerdy Game Competition

Flex your common nerd muscles and enrol in a long battle against one another. It doesn’t have to be computer games, why not dust off an old board game or download a quiz app and see who is the most intelligent.

To build up the excitement you can create some personalised t-shirts with your own names, or iconic characters you will be playing with, or order a couple of beers or personalised alcohol to make this day even funkier!

Bike Riding Across the UK

Take the bikes out of the shed for an epic ride! Challenge your dad on Father’s Day to test if he can rise up to the challenge of a long bike ride with you for the day – especially if the sun is shining. If you think about it, a physical challenge will always be a great adventure you’ll both love to talk about. To join a group of other cyclists, find over 140 different cycling routes, and schedule your journey, visit cyclinguk.org, or nationaltrail.co.uk.

To pack for your cycling challenge, you can get our pocket bike pump to travel light and our loop wireless speaker to cycle in tune – encouraging you to sing along making the day a much funnier experience. Just make sure to prepare a great playlist!

Go Fishing

If your dad took you fishing when you were a kid, you could spend some relaxing time visiting the same places you used to go, or even the places he used to go to with your grandpa. You can plan to buy him some brand new fishing gear, or order a craft lager and Ice bucket to keep the beer fresh and cheers together.

As Susan, mum blogger at susankmann.com recalls:

“My favourite memory with my dad was when we were going fishing and catching some fish. It gave us time to chat and we spent time together.”

Wine or Beer tasting

Another great activity to do with your dad – especially if he is a wine or beer connoisseur – is to book a wine or beer tasting evening/afternoon for Father’s Day. Ideas such as wine tasting parties and brewery tours, are a fun and increasingly popular way to celebrate, plus they are often cheaper than going out for a meal.

Go For A Shopping Spree

Who said “Dads don’t like shopping?”, well not all of them! Like Sarah, lifestyle blogger, at sarahtrademark.com go shopping together and hunt for bargains.

“My favourite thing to do with my dad is to go shopping at Bicester outlet centre. We do this every year for Father’s Day or for my birthday in July, just the two of us and it is so nice to spend quality time together and have lunch together as well as grabbing some bargains at the shops!”

To find out more ideas, you can take a look at our range of experience gifts. From abseiling, to football stadium tours, Eden project entrance tickets, dim sum classes, or river cruises – we have over 100 other activities for you to choose from.