Our Favorite Summer Activities for Kids
Summer can feel long and it’s often challenging to keep the kids busy and happy for all that time! Today I’m sharing my favorite super easy and low-effort summer activities for kids! These will help you keep everyone engaged all summer long.
I love having my kids home for the summer but it’s always right around this time in the break that we all start to get a bit stir crazy. We’ve exhausted all of our normal activities and we’re ready for something fresh. So, to help me (and you) figure out how to make it through the second half of summer, today I’m sharing 50 simple – but really fun – summer activities for kids.
And, I promise, none of these fun activities involve hours of your time or a ton of money. We’re keeping things simple, my friends.
30 Of My Favorite (Simple) Summer Activities for Kids
1. Have an Arts + Crafts Day
I love encouraging my kids to stretch their creativity in the summer and one of my favorite ways is to declare a crafty day. Grab some craft kits and supplies (here are some of my favorites), set them out, and tell the kids to go to town. You can even have them set up a showcase of their hard work at the end of the day.
2. Make an Ice Cream Buffet
There’s no better summer activity than setting up a big ol’ ice cream bar after dinner. Buy your favorite flavors and a ton of toppings, then set out a buffet. Bonus points if you do it midday or even before dinner. Ice cream is for all day in the summer.
3. Have a Water Balloon Fight
Set the kids up in the backyard with a few packs of these easy-to-fill water balloons and let them go to town. It’s sure to keep them busy for hours (okay, minutes), and it’s a classic summer activity.
4. Have Them Make Their Own Summer Camp
Give your kids some control over their day and tell them to pretend like they’re planning a summer camp for one another. They can plan snacks, crafts and activities. Let them make out a schedule, name their camp, and maybe even invite a friend or two.
5. Go On a Picnic
One of our favorite fun summer activities is to grab breakfast tacos from our favorite place in the morning and head to a local park for a breakfast picnic. It’s the perfect way to have some fun on hot summer days before the sun gets too intense.
6. Let Them Build a Giant Fort
Listen, I can’t stand building forts but my kids love it. Pull out all of the blankets, let them grab some flashlights and let them go to town. They can sleep in it if they want, or they can just hang out it in for a day or two. Living room forts are the epitome of summer fun!
7. Build a Backyard Obstacle Course
If your kids are feeling cooped up, send them outside and challenge them to build an obstacle course that even you struggle to finish. Turn a blind eye as they pull all sorts of stuff into the backyard – at least they’re busy! Your only job is to supervise to make sure it stays safe, then head outside to try to go through the course when they’re done.
8. Family Bike Rides + Hikes
I love getting outside with the family first thing in the morning or after dinner for a long walk! If we all had bikes, going on a ride together would also be so fun. Getting some outdoor fun in as a family will automatically make the summer feel more special, and you’ll all get a little exercise in, too!
9. Go on an Adventure
I try to take my kids on a little outing once a week or so during the summer. We love to hit up the zoos near us, visit a children’s museum, go to the movie theater, hit up an aquarium, etc. It takes a little more time and effort on your part as a parent, but if you have the capacity it’s the sort of thing that will create core summer memories!
10. Build a Simple Bird Feeder
Jackson and I built this super simple bird feeder together a couple of years back and he had so much fun watching the birds use it. You can keep it even more simple with something like this, too!
11. Bake Something Together
Baking with the kids is exhausting but it’s also one of my very favorite activities. They always feel so special getting to get in the kitchen to make a treat, and the more we do it the more independence they have in the kitchen. We love to bake bread, cookies, cakes, and all sorts of other treats together! If they’re a little older, let them try it out on their own so you don’t have to lift a finger.
12. Paint Flower Pots
My kids absolutely love doing this and it’s such a simple and affordable activity that they can do independently. Terra cotta pots are incredibly cheap and most of us probably have some kid-friendly paint laying around already. Here are some ideas for patterns to paint, if you want some inspiration.
13. Play in the Sprinklers
You don’t need fancy outdoor toys or a special setup to let the kids play with the sprinklers. You can also just turn the hose on and call it a day! My kids love grabbing the hose and setting it up under the trampoline, and a super simple attachment like this can create tons of fun for them.
14. Go on a Nature Walk
If you all need to get outside for a bit, you can create a list of things to find outside and send the kids off on a hunt. They can do it solo in the backyard, or you can go on a walk around the neighborhood with them. You can have them draw or take photos of what they find to make it a creative activity, too! For an even easier route, just grab this and hand it off!
15. Find a Free Concert or Event
If you know where to look, there are so many free events and activities that happen in the summer for kids and families! Just do a quick google for “free events in my city” and get to browsing! It can be a really good way to get out of the house and do something out of the box as a family.
16. Build a Cardboard City
My kids LOVE doing this, and it’s such a great way to take up a couple of hours on a hot afternoon. Gather all of your Amazon boxes for a couple of weeks (or whatever boxes you can find) and let the kids go to town. Yes, it will create a humongous mess, but they’ll have a blast. You can even have a viewing of the Cubby episode of Bluey first to inspire them.
17. Plant a Garden
We planted some tomatoes at the beginning of the summer and my kids have been so incredibly proud watching them start to develop and grow! If it’s too hot to plant now in your area, you can go for herbs or indoor plants. Giving them ownership over taking care of some plants will bring them a lot of joy and give them a chance to practice some responsibility!
18. Have a Family Game Tournament
We love to do this one days when we have a little extra time to devote to some family time. Have everyone pick a game they want to play and play them all over the course of a day (or spread ’em out over a few days, too!). Keep track and declare a winner at the end. You can even have the kids make a trophy – it can be a yearly tradition. If you don’t have time or energy to devote to participating, you can help the kids pick some games they can do on their own. See some of our favorite games for the whole family here.
19. Have a Movie Marathon
We love to pick a movie series and watch the whole thing together over the course of a few days. This year, we’re working on Lord of the Rings! At our kids’ ages, no one has the capacity to actually sit still for multiple movies at once, so we take our time. But, it’s still really fun and special – family movie nights are one of our favorite traditions! And, if you’re trying to get some work done you can make some fun snacks for the kids and let them have their own marathon!
20. Paint Some Rocks
Gather some rocks (or you can even buy some smooth stones if you want them to be a little nicer) and spread them out on the table so the kids can do some painting. Let them paint patterns, animals, letters – whatever makes them happy. You can keep the rocks as a collection or hide them around the neighborhood for other kids to find!
21. Go Stargazing
Bring your pillows and blankets into the backyard and spend a little time finding constellations and gazing at the stars. It’ll feel even more special if you mix up a mocktail or make a special treat to bring outside with you.
22. Do a Paint by Number
I love paint by numbers, and so do my kids! This is a really great simple craft that can be fun for all ages. See some of my favorite paint by number kits here – it’s perfect for those hot summer days where outside feels too hard.
23. Frame a Puzzle
I started framing some of my favorite puzzles and the kids immediately started asking to frame theirs, too! It’s a really easy craft – learn how here.
24. Fold Some Origami
My 11-year-old absolutely loves origami and I love how it pushes his creativity. A kit like this is a really great way to help them learn – soon you’ll find little creations all over your house.
25. Blow Giant Bubbles
Bubbles are fun for all ages but giant bubbles are truly the best. Pair it with the sprinkler toy and they’ll be outside all afternoon!
26. Let Them Do a Lemonade Stand
If you live in a neighborhood where it’s safe/allowed, letting the kids set up a lemonade stand or a cookie table can be a really great way to encourage a little independence and entrepreneurship. And the best part is, the more they handle themselves the more charming the whole thing is!
27. Rank All of the Ice Cream Near You
We did this last summer and it was a blast. We made a giant bracket of all our local ice cream shops (some were just nearby fast food restaurants) and we visited one each week and ranked our favorite. The kids loved it and it only took an hour or so each week.
28. Give them an A-Z Challenge
Once when I was in high school and my friends and I were bored, my mom challenged us to drive to Walmart and take a picture with something for every letter of the alphabet. It was ridiculous and silly and we had the best time. It’s truly a core memory for me, and I think it’s something you could easily have the kids do at home!
29. Make Pinch Bowls
Another really fun craft is to do just about anything with air dry clay. My kids were so proud of these pinch bowls we made, and it required almost no assistance from me!
30. Make Fruit Dinosaurs
We did this back in 2020 and my kids still talk about it. I grabbed watermelon and a ton of other fruit, set it out with some toothpicks, and let them get sculpting. It was fun and silly and one of their favorite snacks ever.
20 More Simple Summer Activities
Need even more ideas? Why don’t you…
- Read a chapter book together
- Ride every slide in your city
- Set up a backyard tent
- Check out some local festivals
- Send them on a scavenger hunt in your house
- Volunteer together
- Pick flowers and press them
- Make homemade pizza
- Make homemade bubbles
- Start a new tradition (it can be anything!)
- Have them put on a paper bag puppet show
- Let them make dinner
- Hold a family talent show
- Visit the library
- Set up a water table
- Play hopscotch
- Fill the driveway with chalk art
- Plan a play date
- Give them some jobs or chores
- Let them be bored!!!!
I think it’s important to remember that, as much as we want to help keep our kids entertained, it’s actually so good for them to be bored on occasion. It pushes them to be creative, it’s good for their brains, and it makes them better people. So, don’t feel guilty! Boredom is a great thing!