The school summer holidays are starting and unfortunately so is the bad weather. In an ideal world our children would be outside playing all day long, but this is a British summer we are talking about, so rainy days are to be expected.

With that in mind, here's a roundup of some recently released indoor entertainment favourites:

Biggest video game release of the summer has to be Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4, which we reviewed in full here. This is a great fun game designed to appeal to both boys and girls aged around seven and over.

If you're not making it to the beach this summer, Big Beach Sports 2 offers an at-home alternative. Whilst the Hawaiian-style beach locations look pretty, the actual games content isn't all that different from the Wii Sports package that comes free with the system.

As video games go it's a bargain at £19.99 (and currently on offer at Amazon for £11.49), including 8 mini-games such as surfing (use your Wii balance board for this), dune buggy and football. Whilst this didn't grab our imagination very much, it could be a good party choice if your outdoor fun gets rained off.

Much more value to be had with Toy Story 3 - The Video Game released this week for all formats. I've had a sneaky peak at this one and it's a fantastically fun game with lots of creative potential for fans of the film. Watch out a for a full review of this here next week.

The handheld Nintendo DS is a great toy for kids when you're travelling. Just released for the DS is Club Penguin - Herbert's Revenge. This is a secret agent mission game best suited to players aged 5 and over. It features the Elite Penguin Force on a mission against Herbert the vegetarian polar bear.

Some reviewers on Amazon have commented that they feel this game is too similar to missions on the Club Penguin website which their children have already played.

But my children have been playing this for a few weeks now and haven't noticed any overlap. If you have a penguin addict in the house who can't bear being away from their puffles, this is a good compromise to take when travelling. And when you return, coins and special items earned in this game can be added to your online penguin's account. RRP £26.99

Also recently released is Sonny With a Chance, from the popular Disney Channel comedy show starring Demi Lovato. The DS tends to have a great range of games for pre-teen girls, and this is no exception. With 40 mini-games there's lots to do. This will appeal to girls with a strong sense of their own fabulousness, since the object of the game is to be the person who gets the most fan letters. Plus you get to throw pies, solve puzzles and play pranks. RRP £29.99, currently with £5 off at Play.

But if you've got a bookish girl or boy in the house, let me recommend 100 Classic Book Collection. It's not new, and it doesn't have a lot of extra features, but then it's only a tenner to turn your Nintendo DS into a well-stocked ebook reader. For confident readers age 10 and over, this offers classics including Black Beauty, Treasure Island and even some Shakespeare.

And finally, if you've got a mini gamer in the house, watch out for a special set of games accessories designed just for them. Minii is 50% smaller than the regular Wii controller, and you can see here the Minii balance board, specially designed for little feet. So that would make it a Tiinii Wiinii Wii. Available from major retailers soon.