World Cup Fever: 5 fun football-inspired ideas to try with the kids

The 2026 Men’s World Cup is a fantastic time to get kids active, interested in football, and involved with a global sporting event. And it's an opportunity that only comes around every four years.

Even for those of us who don’t normally like football, the World Cup is something else. It has a unique spirit, it gives us something to be excited about as a nation, and it can be a very formative experience for kids – don’t we all look back fondly on the first World Cup we remember?

What’s more, it can inspire us to be more active and more creative as parents.

Here are our suggestions for getting your kids (and yourself!) involved in World Cup Fever this summer.

Idea 1: Play football!

Is there anything more fun than a friendly kickabout between siblings, parents and friends?

Your kids will love playing you at football – even if you’re rubbish at it.

Getting the kids into the garden for half an hour’s kickabout is one of the simplest ways to give them the daily activity they need. Playing football between World Cup matches could inspire them to build their skills and maintain the daily activity long after World Cup Fever’s over.

If the garden won’t cut it, grab your water bottles and snackboxes and head to the park for a longer, more challenging session – and don’t forget jumpers for goalposts!

Idea 2: Get the kids to compete

Are you watching the World Cup matches at home with your kids?

Fantasy football might be a bit too ambitious for the youngsters, so to encourage a bit of friendly rivalry, get everyone in the family to pick a team from the two playing in each match.

You could make sure there’s a little prize for the winners each time – a grab bag of sweets, or even a toy trophy (sold by Flying Tiger and other retailers).

It’ll get the kids super engaged with the game, and make the final result more exciting for everyone.

And you might find your little winners are more invested in the next round of the World Cup, when their team comes to play again!

Idea 3: Turn the World Cup Final into a real event

The Final will take place on Sunday 19 July – the first Sunday of the summer holidays for most of the UK, so why not make it a special day?

Plan a picnic or a small party, and let the kids stay up late (there’s no school in the morning!). Get them to help decorate the house with the flags of the final teams – drawing and colouring the flags themselves might keep them quiet for a few hours.

If you’re having a picnic, why not use a big flag as a picnic blanket?

Let the kids help you prepare snacks and party food: you could try ball-shaped snacks, such as mini ‘picnic’ eggs, pickled onions on sticks, and balled melon.

Alternatively, you could try snacks from the countries represented in the final. The 2022 World Cup finalists were Argentina vs France – imagine Argentine empanadas alongside French croquettes... or alfajores and macarons, all decorated to look like footballs…

Idea 4: Have fun with flags

The World Cup is also a great opportunity for kids to learn about different nations, and there are 48 nations competing – so you can get creative with 48 different flags.

To insert some World Cup fun into the school day, why not fill the kids' lunchboxes with foods matching the flags of competing teams?

For example, you could try blueberries with yogurt and strawberries for b.box’s home nation of Australia… in fact, that combo works for quite a few flags!

You could try cherry and yogurt for Qatar... cucumber, cherry tomatoes and feta or cream cheese dip for Mexico… a sandwich of white bread, lettuce and cheese for Côte d'Ivoire…. how about tortilla chips with red salsa for Spain? For Germany, the same again, but add some dark chocolate sandwich cookies, or raisins!

Idea 5: Vote on our snacks!

b.box is a global company, so over on Instagram we’re hosting the ‘Global Snack Cup’, a friendly competition between our worldwide accounts over which countries’ snacks are best.

When two nations meet on the pitch, the same nations will meet in b.box’s Instagram Stories, competing over the best ‘Supporter Snack’.

Follow us on Instagram, vote for your favourite (or let your kids choose), and maybe be inspired to try the same snacks at home.

We kick off on 14 June with Netherlands vs. Japan!