Summer is just about here! For many of us who don’t do school all year long, this means wonderfully long summer days full of potential (or potential boredom). Often, though, by the time August comes, it can feel like the summer just disappeared. After many years feeling like we missed out somehow, we decided to put a little more planning into our summer fun.
As some of you know, our family has a planning tradition that gets each person involved early in the summer to make sure we plan some of those special summer days in advance. You can go more in depth about the family friendly process here during the 4 Day Summer Fun Homeschool Challenge. To help give everyone in your family ideas for what would make their summer a ton of fun, I’ve put together the following list of fun summer activities!
1. Bake cupcakes in ice cream cones and decorate them
2. Run through sprinklers
3. Go on a family bike ride
4. Have a tricycle race
5. Themed movie nights (perhaps everyone gets to choose a movie or maybe just have them pre-planned with a menu up on the wall to build excitement.)
6. Go canoeing at a local pond, lake, or river
7. Find and go to a bunch of summer concerts
8. Volunteer at an animal adoption organization
9. Go to your closest National Park and become a Junior Ranger
10. Go horseback riding
11. Visit grandma
12. Bake a pie with berries the kids picked
13. Hunt for fossils near a lake or gravel pit
14. Have a luau in the backyard
15. Create leis with wildflowers
16. Get a wading pool
17. Create an at-home art camp
18. Go apple picking
19. Set up a net and play badminton and volleyball
20. Start geocaching
21. Hold a Bigger or Better scavenger hunt for charity
22. Play mini golf
23. String beads into jewelry
24. Have weekly game nights/afternoons
25. Go camping
26. Wade through a stream and search for minnows or tadpoles
27. Make a giant slip-n-slide with a painter’s tarp and shaving cream
28. Make a bunch of greeting cards or birthday cards
29. Visit a local museum or attraction you keep meaning to go to
30. Throw a party just because
31. Put on a play
32. Invite friends to visit
33. Read or listen to a book together
34. Have your own Summer Olympics in your back yard
35. Visit a museum you’ve never been to
36. Learn how to juggle using handkerchiefs
37. Go on a hike
38. Learn how to knit or crochet
39. Create a time capsule
40. Start a garden
41. Make paper airplanes
42. Have a water fight
43. Surprise Dad when he gets home from work with a Nerf gun, a note, and a house of full of hidden challenges
44. Build a giant blanket fort
45. Have a campout in your fort
46. Create a family cookbook with all your favorite recipes
47. Play flashlight tag
48. Finger paint
49. Get a bunch of chalk and draw on the patio, sidewalks, or driveway
50. Play Frisbee
51. Visit a retirement home and read stories to residents
52. Build a tree house
53. Have a yard sale
54. Learn a foreign language
55. Paint some canvas shoes with acrylic paints
56. Get a pen pal and write real letters
57. Go play laser tag
58. Research your family tree
59. Take naps on a super hot afternoon
60. Catch fireflies
61. Do a puzzle
62. Have a pirate day with an “x” marks the spot treasure hunt
63. Start a collection
64. Go garage sale-ing
65. Do an A-Z scavenger hunt or another type of scavenger hunt (There are tons of ideas on Pinterest.)
66. Turn the backyard into a carnival — set up a face painting area and games like ring toss
67. Build a fort out of appliance boxes
68. Decorate bikes and have a neighborhood Fourth of July parade
69. Make popsicles with plastic cups and fruit juice
70. Have a bonfire
71. Fly kites
72. Plan a massive water balloon fight
73. Go fishing
74. Make S’mores
75. Go on a scenic drive and have sing-a-longs in the car
76. Go to an airport and watch the planes take off
77. Visit a farm
78. Go roller skating
79. Sketch, paint, or draw outside
80. Make bird feeders by covering pine cones with peanut butter and rolling in birdseed
81. Tie-dye some t-shirts or pillow cases
82. Find a free outdoor movie or local drive-in
83. Learn some magic tricks and have a show
84. Clean up trash at a local park
85. Learn a dance as a group like Thriller or even square dancing
86. Have a fancy tea party
87. Visit a cave
88. Use face paints to transform each other into magical summer creatures
89. Make Mexican paper flowers using different colored tissue paper
90. Make a piñata by covering a balloon with newspaper strips and tissue paper
91. Have a surprise birthday party for someone NOT on their birthday
92. Set up a bike wash and raise money for a local charity
93. Go zip-lining
94. Make paper boats and have a race in a nearby stream
95. Go fishing
96. Practice making interesting shadow puppets and then put on a show with your characters
97. Interview an older relative about what life was like when they were young
98. Set up a lemonade stand
99. Plan a picnic with food, friends, and games
100. Surprise the kids and forget cooking — set up an ice cream sundae buffet for dinner
101. Record your family summer adventures in a scrapbook or photo album
Here is a link to a printable 101 Summer Fun Activities list to hang on your fridge or wall. Use this to inspire your family during the 4 Day Summer Fun Homeschool Challenge and/or to have around to inspire the kids all summer long. Now is the time to make the most of your summer!
From my family to yours, I hope you have an amazing fun filled summer! Please share your adventures in our Facebook Group or in the comments below.
