Great Summer Activities for Kids = Great Summer Memories
Kids laughing together with neighborhood friends, running through sprinklers, glasses of lemonade. Those are the images of summer I hope for.
Needless to say, 2020 is going to be a little different.
But kids still deserve to have a great summer full of wonderful memories- and you deserve some simplicity with these easy summer activities for kids.
28 Easy Summer Activities for Kids
Even during typical summers, kids are saying, “I’m bored” a week after school ends. These ideas can make summer more fun for you and your kids, while staying safe and socially distant this summer. Bonus- not a single video game is included!
Each of these ideas is in it’s most basic, simplest form. For example, “water play.” That way it’s most easily tailored to what you have around the house- whether that’s a pool, sprinkler, squirt guns, water table or water balloons.
Outdoor Summer Activities for Kids
- Water play (water tables, slip & slides, sprinklers, pools, squirt guns, water balloons, etc. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Water is just fun!)
- Build a fort out of natural materials
- Check out a field guide for birds from the library, and go bird-watching
- Have your own family Olympics
- Blow giant bubbles
- Go on scavenger hunts. To make it simple for yourself, have the kids come up with the list of what they’re looking for!
- Take plenty of nature walks
- Go stargazing, maybe even bring a guide (book or app!) to identify constellations
- Create an obstacle course
- Have a family field day with games like 3-legged race, potato sack race, and water-balloon toss
- Plant something and care for it all summer
- Take indoor toys outside for an afternoon
- Learn to fix a bike
- Play outdoor yard games, like cornhole, ladder golf, badminton, and volleyball (I’ve heard of families who don’t use a net, and just try to volley the ball back and forth as many times as possible!)
- Build a rain barrel
- Go ‘creeking’ (walking in a shallow creek)
Indoor Summer Activities for Kids
And here are some indoor options, too. These are for those rainy/stormy/too hot days when you’re still stuck inside.
- Try a new craft to learn together
- Watch an old “classic” movie
- Write letters to friends/find a pen pal
- Have a family party, complete with Minute-to-win-it games and dessert
- Re-arrange, or redecorate (with stuff you already own) a kids bedroom
- Make your own puppets and put on a puppet show
- Make a meal for a neighbor
- Pick names and secretly do something nice for that person (kind of a twist on Secret Santa, but not necessarily gifts!)
- Create a family flag or crest- great for Flag Day or Independence Day
- Create a time capsule
- Put shaving cream or whipped cream on a baking sheet and have fun playing in it!
Grab the Free Printable
These 28 fun summer activities for the family are also available as a pdf so you can print them and keep them around for those “I’m bored” moments.
You may also be interested in the summer activity bingo card. There are a handful of different games and ideas on there, and it’s in a fun format to challenge your kids to do an extra activity per week (or day!).