Summer is a great time to spend with your kids. There are so many fun activities and places to go that you’ll never run out of things to do. In this article, we’ve put together a list of some of the best things to do with kids during summer. Whether you’re looking for activities that are easy to do or ones that will keep your kids entertained all day long, we’ve got you covered.
From easy summer activities which can be done indoors or outdoors, to activities that are perfect for older kids who are ready for a bit more challenge. Whatever your plans for summer are, make sure to include some of these.
Top tip: You can put together a “summer of fun” jar, write down all of these on little pieces of paper and have your kids pick out something when they are feeling bored.
50 summer activities for kids
- Make a butterfly feeder
- Make a video diary
- Go bird watching
- Make an insect maze
- Make (and throw!) sponge water bombs
- Interview someone
- Play skipping games
- Make ice lollies
- Knit something
- Do something kind
- Try some nature sketching
- Make friendship bracelets
- Build a Lego town
- Make a wormery
- Do something for charity
- Go on a woodland/riverside scavenger hunt
- Play table tennis
- Stencil on your lawn with flour
- Have a snail race
- Do some chalk art
- Make giant bubbles with string
- Make a pooter to observe insects with
- Sew something
- Do a science experiment (we love the Kitchen Science Cookbook for these!)
- Hatch some butterflies (we recently did this using an Insect Lore live butterfly kit)
- Go blackberry picking – blackberries are out already!
- Paint outdoors
- Go on a plant identification walk (we love the app Plant ID for this – ok not quite screen-free!)
- Set up a teddy bear hunt in your garden
- Go insect spying with a handglass
- Open a toy laundrette in the garden
- Go bug sweeping
- Make a nature bracelet or crown
- Surprise someone!
- Bake something
- Play tennis
- Paint and put out rocks in your neighbourhood
- Make fruit kebabs and chocolate sauce
- Hold a card-playing tournament (think UNO, Boggle Slam etc)
- Make a den
- Donate to the local food or hygeine bank
- Play chalk games
- Do something for someone else
- Sow vegetable seeds for Autumn
- Write a letter to a friend
- Draw portraits of each other
- Play dodgeball
- Design and complete an obstacle course
- Have a water balloon pinata party
- Make bath bombs
- Pick out and plant Autumn bulbs
- Set up a face painting/glitter tattoo parlour
- Cooking challenge – pick three ingredients and go cook with them – think Ready Steady Cook!
- Write a song
- Start a compost heap
- Have a dance party
- Walk a dog – don’t have one? Borrow one on Borrow My Doggy which we have been doing recently
- Make a backyard splash pad
- Hold a read-a-thon
- Do some water gun painting (make sure it’s washable paint!)
So while the summer weeks ahead might be filled with more of – well – nothing, I hope these summer activities for kids help to bring a little summer joy into your lives. Do you have any more ideas to add to the list, if so please feel free to add them in a comment below.
Picture credit: Party photo created by pvproductions – www.freepik.com
This is such a useful list for parents! My niece always wants to watch cartoons, but I know she’d enjoy many of these screen-free activities, especially a dance party and making ice lollies!
I love this list and I think I’m going to do a good portion of it with my niece and nephew! I love screen-free activities that allow us to spend time doing things together. I love walking the dog, growing a garden and making lollies lol
I love everything that takes my kids away from the screen. We’ve done a number of these already!
So many great, creative ideas here! It’s so important to fuel their imagination and get them away from technology for bit. Great list!
Great list and we should educate kids to understand learning is fun and made them learn new things and explore to other area such as charity.
These are fantastic ideas. we are in a funk right now with boredom.