It’s that time of year again when the summer holidays are creeping up on us, and we’re wondering how we’re going to juggle six weeks of work with childcare. Well if you’re local to me, there’s no need to fear as High 5 holiday camps in Plymouth are here to help us out.
This is a collaborative post
You’ll know I have written about High 5 Sports and Activity Holiday Camps before, and I will continue to write about them – because they are awesome!
And now they run holiday and activity clubs at 10 different venues across Plymouth and nearby so it’s easy to find one that suits.
Summer Fun Fest
For summer 2025, there’s also a new theme for the holiday camps – ‘Summer Fun Fest’ with eight different themed weeks full of different experiences in a festival of summer fun.
How great do these look!
Fantasy Fest – Unlock the Magic
Step into a world of wonder, where every day is packed with mythical quests, magical games and legendary challenges. At High 5’s Fantasy Fest, kids will dive into Quidditch matches, dodgeball duels, handball and tag rugby showdowns and even thrilling ice-hockey games – all wrapped into a fantasy-themed sports day like no other.
Kids will race through the Caterpillar Assault Course, aim for glory in soft archery and conquer the epic Snow White Slide Castle, all while unleashing their imagination, building teamwork and making unforgettable summer memories.
Carnival Week
This themed week is full of colour, music and carnival madness. It’s a non-stop festival of fun packed with laughter, wild races, wacky challenges, and the chance to soak your coaches. The children can expect thrilling games, inflatable battles, circus silliness and a carnival atmosphere that’ll have everyone smiling from ear to ear. Sports will include mini tennis, dodgeball, handball, kin-ball, Sumo wrestling, football, Wacky Races on the racetrack, giant kick darts, three-lane bungee run and the new pillow bash inflatable!
There will also be creative fun and carnival magic including a talent show, circus skills, clowning around, bucket drumming, High 5’s 99-1 challenges, and face painting.
Dino Fest
A week filled with prehistoric fun is perfect for those kids who aren’t afraid to get stuck in. There will be fossil digs, dino hunts, bushcraft adventures and inflatable jungle zones. Campers will take part in Caveman School, make their own dinosaurs, and even learn how to ‘wrestle a dinosaur’ in fun, physical challenges. There will be themed scavenger hunts, sand pit excavations, fire-making and inflatable dinosaur costumes – Dino Fest is a wild, muddy, memory-making adventure they’ll never forget!
Sports will include dino dodgeball, dino rounders, Caveman 3-ball, basketball, Caveman obstacle course, inflatable jungle assault course, (safe!) axe throwing, soft archery, egg and spoon races, bushcraft team challenges, track the dinosaur, and dino tag. Or if your children are more into art activities, there will be fossil-making, leaf printing and build-a-dino.
Campers will also join in with a big group creative project during Dino Fest week called the Dino Discovery Wall. It will be a giant mural or display that grows throughout the week with children contributing drawings, fossil rubbings, map pieces and facts they’ve ‘discovered’.
The Big Adventure Week
If your kids go to Big Adventure Week then they’re in for a treat. It’s set to be an action-packed week of outdoor excitement, teamwork and challenge from wild bushcraft, and animal tracking to high-energy sports. Campers will also tackle mega obstacle courses, test their survival skills and conquer adventure races designed to thrill, challenge and inspire.
The sports activities line up includes a mega assault course, mini golf, ultimate frisbee, tag rugby, kinball, Cornish longball, tug of war, dodgeball, adventure circuit races, orienteering and map reading, animal tracking, bridge building and a raft challenge.
Adventure activities will also feature wild children bushcraft, team problem solving and bouldering, search and rescue, and campfire cooking at some sites.
Illuminated Soundscape
It’s time to turn up the volume for a Festival of Sound in this themed week. It’ll be high-energy to celebrate rhythm, music and creative expression through noise, movement and fun. Campers will create their own instruments, form camp bands, beat the drums and bust out some TikTok dances. From rap-writing and karaoke to chant-filled football games and dance battles, every day will be filled with sound and celebration.
Sports will include basketball with chants, football with singing sides, tennis beat rally, dance-based warm-ups, rhythmic obstacle courses, musical dodgeball, handball with beat rules, disco dome challenges and sound trail games.
Art activities will include instrument making, festival wristband and passes, boomwhacker and bucket drum decorating. And another group creative project will be the Camp Anthem and Music Wall where children will work in teams to write a camp anthem or group rap – complete with rhythm and performance time at the end-of-week Festival of Sound showcase. Alongside it they’ll create a giant collage-style ‘music wall’ filled with lyrics, doodles, favourite artists and soundwaves that represent the spirit of their camp band. How awesome does that sound!
Kaleidoscope of Colour
This themed week is set to be a bright, bold celebration of creativity, movement and pure summer joy. From tie-dye T.shirts and paint splatter art to a giant colour run and carnival-style games, Kaleidoscope of Colour week is a rainbow of excitement.
Kids will dress in different colours each day, take part in a traditional sports day with coloured teams, and unleash their imaginations with vibrant crafts. Water balloons, face paints, and hot air balloon-inspired art make this one of the most visually exciting weeks of the summer.
Sport activities will feature colour dodgeball, water balloon target challenge, paint relay race, coloured cone football, parachute colour waves, capture the colour and a traditional sports day, whilst art activities will include tie-dye t.shirts, straw blown paint art, face painting and a colour collage.
This week’s group creative project will be a Rainbow Runway and Colour Wall whereby children will work together to create a long rainbow mural or banner throughout the week, adding handprints, names, affirmations and paint splash art. On the final day, it becomes the rainbow runway for their colour parade – where campers walk the line showing off their tie-dye, painted faces and team colours before launching into a mini Colour Party with music, dancing and optional colour powder or bubbles.
Wet and Wild Bubble Fest
The Ultimate Summer Splash is how this themed week’s Wet and Wild Bubble Fest is being described. And it sounds amazing! We all know High 5 is famous for its water fun and this week is proof of why. Cool down and turn up the excitement with this water-themed week packed with splashes, foam and non-stop laughter. Kids will dive into giant water fights, celebrity cyclone challenges, and wet team games designed to thrill, surprise and soak them from head to toe!
Classic sports like dodgeball, rounders, football and French cricket will also run throughout the week – sometimes with a special Wet and Wild twist! With water polo, bubble football, jungle zorbs, bench ball and beach volleyball also in the mix.
Megasport-tacular
For this themed-week, children are being encouraged to go big and play hard in this ultimate showdown of sports and team spirit. High 5 are keeping the details firmly up their sleeves for the time being, but judging on the other themed weeks and previous years, we just KNOW this is going to be epic.
Which venues run High 5 holiday camps in Plymouth
With more venues than ever before in and around Plymouth, everyone will be able to find High 5 holiday camps suitable for their children. This year they are running at:
- Elburton Primary School
- Stover School
- Mount Kelly Prep School
- Widey Court Primary School
- Stowford School
- Plymouth College
- Old Priory Junior Academy
- China Fleet Club
High 5 Holiday Camps cater for all ages
High 5 Holiday Camps are open to children aged from 5 to 12 and operate in different age groups:
- Rookies for 5 to 7 year olds
High 5 recognise that for this age group, being away from parents can be a new and sometimes daunting experience so Rookies staff are specialists in Key Stage 1 childcare with Childcare, Play work or Qualified Teacher Status so they are in the best possible hands.
- Semi Pros for 8 to 9 year olds
All campers who are 8 and over can access pretty much all High 5’s additional activities including those which run off-site. High 5 offers over 30 different sports on-site as well as working with local providers to bring new activities and experiences for children to try for the first time. If your kids aren’t massively keen on sports though, there are also loads of creative activities to try.
- The Pros for 10 to 12 year olds
Many of the older campers are already at secondary school or about to start, so High 5 gives them much more freedom to express themselves and take part in the activities which interest them the most. The team will encourage them to step outside their comfort zone and get stuck in.
How long is a High 5 camp day?
A standard day at a High 5 holiday camp is from 8.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday. You can however choose the ‘extended day’ option which is 8am to 6pm.
High 5 Holiday Sports Clubs
If your kids don’t fancy the Summer Fun Fest and are more hardcore sports fans instead, High 5 can also sort them out!
This summer they are running the First Touch Football camp at Eggbuckland Community College, where kids can work on their footie skills, take part in mini-games or whole-pitch battles, and enjoy football-themed inflatables. They will run on certain days from July 29 to August 14.
Top Bounce Tennis camps are also being held at Mannamead, Tavistock and Hill Lane tennis clubs. They run as after school clubs during term time and holiday camps in the summer. This year they will be on certain days from July 24 to August 21.
So if you’re wondering how to juggle childcare, entertaining children and manage to work (or stay sane) in the holidays this year, then High 5 is a great answer.
Check them out for more information and to book.
How did I do?
Did you enjoy this post? Keep an eye out for the latest Local Stuff here. And why not check out some of these other Plymouth posts:
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