The Ultimate List of 100 Fun Summer Activities To Do With Your Kids

As the school year nears an end, the excitement is building! The year was long, the responsibilities were overwhelming and the schedule was exhausting. Kids and their parents are looking forward to the Summer Activities ahead of them, and freedom is so close!

 

You might be the kind of  mom who is every bit as excited as the kids, and can’t wait for less structured days at home with your brood. Or perhaps you’re the mom who is worrying about how you could possibly keep the littles busy all Summer. But we all have the same goal in mind: to fill our days with fun and memorable Summer activities!

As for me, I love having my kids home for the Summer! In the spirit of full disclosure, there are definitely days when the back to school countdown begins to run through my mind. Our Summer is usually loud, chaotic and EXPENSIVE. But the years are short, so I embrace the limited time I get to spend with them. 

In addition to my own children, I watch a few family members and close friends over the Summer. Keeping them busy with minimal expense is essential! It’s a big crew, but it’s also a lot of fun!

Last year, before Summer even arrived, I compiled a master list of Summer activities. Each weekday, we checked something off of our list, and I documented our adventures at the end of each week. My kids lovingly dubbed this Camp Mom! They had so much fun trying new things and checking off old favorites, and they made so many awesome memories along the way! 

When I sat down to compile this list based on everything we did last Summer, I was absolutely shocked at how much we actually accomplished. In less than 3 months, we checked off over 100 activities. I even had to condense this list to only include our absolute favorite Summer activities. I’m sharing that list with you today in hopes that it will give you some inspiration! 

*For the directions and recipes for most of the activities, games, crafts, foods and drinks below, you can scroll through the Camp Mom posts on my blog, as well as the Play tab and the Eat tab.

100 Fun Summer Activities To Do With Your Kids

  1. Have a picnic at the playground.
  2. Kick off your day with donuts and smoothies at the park.
  3. Host a cookout.
  4. Roast marshmallows over a campfire and make s’mores.
  5. Camp out in your backyard.
  6. Go for a family bike ride.
  7. Have a water gun or water balloon battle.
  8. Play shaving cream twister.   Summer Activities
  9. Play backyard Yahtzee with giant dice and a bucket.
  10. Blow bubbles.
  11. Play frisbee and kickball.
  12. Fly a kite.
  13. Play water balloon baseball.Summer Activities
  14. Cool off at a free spray spark.
  15. Place the sprinkler under the trampoline or jump on it with water balloons!Summer Activities
  16. Go hiking.
  17. Have a nature scavenger hunt.
  18. Sit on the ground with your kids and identify the shapes of the clouds.
  19. Put on old shoes and go for a stroll in a stream.
  20. Pick strawberries at a local farm.  Summer Activities
  21. Go to a baseball game.
  22. Watch a movie at the drive in.
  23. Visit the local zoo.
  24. Go to a parade.
  25. Make a sensory bottle aquarium.
  26. Join the Summer Storytime program at your local library.
  27. Go to a beach.
  28. Spend the day at the pool or waterpark.
  29. Go to a carnival or a fair.
  30. Visit an amusement park.
  31. Take your scooters to a local skate park.
  32. Watch a fireworks show.
  33. Play a round of mini golf.
  34. Watch the sunrise.
  35. Build a sandcastle.
  36. Make your own tire swing.
  37. Turn your slide into a water slide by placing a hose at the top and a baby pool at the bottom!
  38. Make water bombs out of sponges.
  39. Create your own backyard splash pad! Summer Activities
  40. Take a dip in a small pool filled with water balloons.
  41. Make goop.
  42. Make a pet jellyfish in a jar. Summer Activities
  43. Play with soap foam.
  44. Make your own cloud dough.
  45. Make homemade slime or fish in a bag slime. Summer Activities
  46. Play with a shaving cream sensory bin.
  47. Cover your slide with shaving cream.
  48. Make homemade play dough.
  49. Make Moon Sand.
  50. Decorate the driveway with sidewalk chalk and have a photoshoot or draw a hopscotch board and play a few games.
  51. Whip up homemade aqua sand.Summer Activities
  52. Make your own homemade bouncy balls.
  53. Make DIY stress balls.
  54. Play with sand foam.
  55. Perform an easy science experiment by making soap clouds.
  56. Create a river out of a rain gutter.
  57. Play with the slip n slide and the sprinkler.
  58. Have a car wash using ride on toys.
  59. Make mud pies and splash in mud puddles.
  60. Make homemade ice cream.
  61. Buy a popsicle mold and make homemade popsicles.
  62. Make milkshakes.
  63. Whip up some sand pail pudding.Summer Activities
  64. Make pudding pops.
  65. Decorate under the sea graham crackers.
  66. Make rootbeer floats.
  67. Make frozen banana pops.
  68. Surprise your kids with jello aquariums or Beach Party Jello Cups.Summer Activities
  69. Make banana splits or have a sundae bar.
  70. Make slushies or snowcones.
  71. Stay hydrated with ocean water.
  72. Make homemade iced tea and lemonade.
  73. Make homemade ice cream sandwiches.
  74. Paint with squirt guns on a canvas.
  75. Make thumbprint dandelions or fingerprint flowers.
  76. Create pressed flower window gardens.
  77. Paint with bubbles!Summer Activities
  78. Make an easy foil fish craft with cardboard, foil and permanent markers.
  79. Make initial art using painter’s tape on a canvas.
  80. Create salt fireworks and shaving cream fireworks prints for the 4th of July.Summer Activities
  81. Make a bird feeder.
  82. Make puffy paint ice cream cones.Summer Activities
  83. Whip up your own lip gloss.
  84. Create puffy paint sand art.
  85. Plant a fairy or a dinosaur garden.
  86. Watch a movie in your backyard.
  87. Catch lightning bugs.
  88. Stargaze with your family.
  89. Work a lemonade stand.
  90. Have a water bucket relay.
  91. Smash water balloon pinatas.
  92. Making a shaving cream ball pit in a baby pool. 
  93. Pittsburgh natives: Visit the water steps, take a stroll along the river and ride the incline.Summer Activities
  94. Play “tennis” with (clean) fly swatters and balloons! 
  95. Build a fort.
  96. Paint with colored ice cubes.
  97. Play freeze tag, sardines in a can, hide and go seek and flashlight tag.
  98. Tie dye a piece of clothing.
  99. Enjoy story time, crafting, block play or coloring outside.
  100. Have your kids create a Summer Scrapbook by keeping a journal about their favorite Summer activities, and adding mementos and pictures.

With Summer break just a few weeks away, my kids are already counting down the days. They can’t wait to check all of these Summer activities off of their list this year!