60 Super Fun Summer Activities for Kids!

Fun Family Summer Ideas for Kids

Summer boredom is a real thing. Kids are used to being in school and having something occupying their time 24-7! Once summer hits it is hard for them to entertain themselves day after day for months on end.

In my house, my kids would play on their iPads all summer if I let them BUT I don’t want that! I want them to go outside, be active, and make loads of fun memories. I realize though as a mother, sometimes it is so hard coming up with ways to beat the summer boredom.

There are plenty of fun places to take them but if you are going on outings each day, that will really add up financially. As much as I would love to take them to the water park every day, that just isn’t going to happen.

I know plenty of moms who are in the same boat I am in. To help us all out I decided to brainstorm a list of 60 super fun summer activities for kids that are easy and affordable! These ideas are sure to keep them happy all summer long!

At the bottom of the post, we’ve even compiled an easy-peasy shopping list with the stuff you might not have at home (but I bet you have a lot of it!).

Outside Summer Activities for Children

Slap on the sunscreen and get ready to get crafty! These outdoor summer ideas for kids will keep them entertained for hours!

With Chalk:

1. Hopscotch
2. Chalk Circle Game (draw circles in a pattern, and have your kids jump from one circle to a matching one! ~ Vary your pattern depending on ability!)
3. DIY Dress Up with Chalk (trace your kids, and let them color faces, clothing, etc)
4. Snail Hopscotch
5. Draw a parade (bugs, kites, kids, etc) with chalk
6. Draw a rainbow
7. Tic Tac Toe
8. Connect the dots
9. Lily Pad Jump (draw lily pads for the kids to jump to and from, making them different distances apart)
10. Practice letters and numbers
11. DIY Blue’s Clues – Draw Blue Paw Prints on things to have kids guess what the next activity is (a tree, a bike, and a swing could mean you are going to the park, etc)
12. Shape hunt
13. Murals
14. 2D obstacle course
15. Sidewalk Simon
16. Alphabet Games
17. DIY Constellations

With Water:

18. Ginormous Ice Cube of Awesomesauce!
19. Water Balloon Toss
20. Soda bottle sprinkler
21. Spray Bottle War (Fill clean spray bottles with water and let the kids go at it… against each other, and YOU!)
22. Wash Cars (bonus – depending on the ages of your kids, your car might actually get clean!)
23. Water Balloon Pop

With Sponges:

24. Drip Drip Drench (duck duck goose with a sponge ~ Drip a drop of water onto each person’s head until you get to the person you want to drench)
25. Sponge Relay
26. Sponge Bombs (for each bomb cut 3 sponges into thirds, layer, and wrap middle with elastic hair tie 3 times)
27. Sponge Bowling (use bigger sponges for littler kids)
28. Pool Scrabble
29. Alphabet Sponge Letters
30. DIY Chia Pet (You can use sprouts too!)
31. Cool off Necklaces

With Plastic Cups:

32. Mini Marshmallow Shooters
33. Summer snow forts
34. Tower Targets (stack cups in a pyramid and use various things to knock them down… balls, squirt guns, water hose, Nerf guns, etc)
35. Water Relay
36. Bowling (tape 2 cups together and roll balls at them to knock them down)
37. Catch (use cups to catch objects – if it’s super hot out, use them to catch water balloons or Sponge bombs!)

General:

38. Hide and Seek
39. Bubbles
40. Melt Broken Crayons into New Shapes
41. Scavenger hunt (use pictures for young kids!)
42. Fly Kites
43. Angry Birds Live (grab some empty boxes, a few buckets, and some balls you have laying around, and let your kids go to town)
44. Bird Feeders

Away from home:

45. Go to the library (check out summer reading programs, story time, and more!)
46. Check out the park for summer activities and instant play dates
47. Go on a walk around your neighborhood – or a random neighborhood! Maybe even make it a scavenger hunt
48. Instead of eating inside, have a picnic ~ It doesn’t have to be fancy, just take your sandwich, fruit and veggies outside
49. Bowling ~ So many places have FREE bowling
50. Go to the lake – the list of things to do at the lake is limitless
51. Try Geocaching – it’s like a scavenger hunt, where you leave a new prize
52. Feed the ducks (there is strangely a lot of controversy on this… so maybe bring birdseed instead of bread)

Other Summer Ideas for Kids

Although your kids will have a blast with all of the fun summer activities above, they’re mostly daytime activities. Once it’s night time or once they come inside for the day, continue the entertainment with the summer family activities and ideas below!

Inside the house:

53. Living room camp out
54. Family Game Night
55. Table Fort
56. Spy Training
57. Balloon Rockets

Nighttime:

58. Glow stick ring toss (use 4-6 bracelet sizes to build a large ring, then make several “rings” with the other bracelets)
59. City wide movie night
60. Stargazing

Here’s what you need to do everything on the list:

Now – some of the stuff we assume you’ll have (like blankets for the fort), but if it’s not an everyday item, it’s on this list.

• Chalk
• Kites
• Glow Sticks (I highly suggest skipping the dollar store on these… out of the 36 we bought, 6 worked)
• Sponges
• Water Balloons
• Cardboard Boxes (recycled is great! – or you know… from your Amazon deliveries!)
• Balls
• Plastic Buckets
• Liquid dish soap
• Birdseed
• Empty toilet paper rolls
• String
• 12 inch Balloons
• Plastic Cups

There Are SO MANY Fun Summer Activities for Kids!

Entertaining your kids, or better yet, giving your kids ideas on how to entertain themselves really is not that hard. There are so many activities that they can do all by themselves!

Something that I am super passionate about is making sure that your kids have an imagination and PLAY. We don’t want them sitting around, looking at a screen, and never using their brains ALL SUMMER LONG. We want them to be KIDS! We want them to use their imagination and be creative!

Everything on this list will help them stay active and use their brains this summer. With my kids as long as they are playing, they love it! So, why not sneak a few spelling or math games in their so they can continue learning over the summer.

Now, these are just a few of HUNDREDS of different fun summer activities for kids and I am interested in what you do with your kids over the summer? Comment below and share your kid’s favorite summer activity and we would love to feature you in the post.

Check out some of our other posts that will help you plan the perfect summer!

Bust Summer Boredom BEFORE It Starts {Fun Activities for Kids}!

Banish Summertime Boredom with Balloons and Bubbles!

Top 9 Books for Kids this Summer

15 Pool Noodle Activities