100 Ideas for Your Summer Bucket List

I love a good seasonal bucket list. I think it’s so fun to sit down together as a family and make a list of all the things we want to do to celebrate a specific season. It’s become something my kids always look forward to as the seasons begin to turn. And, well, summer is here – today is our first official day! So, I figured it was the perfect day to share some ideas for your summer bucket list!

What is a Bucket List?

First, let’s start off with the obvious – what the heck is a bucket list? Honestly, I think the term really became popular with the 2007 movie (The Bucket List) where Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson have a list of things they want to do before they “kick the bucket”.

Obviously, we aren’t using it in such a morbid sense. I think it’s really evolved to basically mean a list of fun things you want to accomplish in a given period of time.

We create little lists of things to do pretty much every season these days. We hang it on the fridge, and as we accomplish things, we cross them off. It’s a really fun and simple way to make sure we’re really soaking up each season of the year. It makes sure that we don’t skip out on our fun seasonal traditions! Also, it gives us things to do when we’re feeling stir crazy. I love our little bucket list tradition and I hope we keep it going for years!

Our 2024 Bucket List

For our summer bucket lists, I like to let everyone contribute. We started doing it this way last year and it worked really well. I ask everyone to tell me 5 things they’d like to do over the summer. Then, the little lists get combined into one big list of 20 to-do items! This way, everyone feels invested in the list, and it gets a good variety.

Here’s what everyone contributed to the list in 2024:

Amanda’s List

• Ride a roller coaster
• Eat an ice cream cone
• Bake something new together
• Eat at a food truck park

Corey’s List

• Go to a VR place
• Go see a movie
• Tie-dye shirts
• Have a board game day
• Make strawberry lemonade

Jackson’s List

• Go camping
• Eat at The Melting Pot
• Go on a family hike
• Go to the Fort Worth Zoo
• Eat s’mores

Grant’s List

• Have a sleepover at Grandma & Papaw’s
• Have a picnic
• Paint a picture
• Have a play date with our best friends
• Go on a trip

Free Bucket List Ideas

1. Visit a local splash pad
2. Make a fort in the living room
3. Watch a fireworks show
4. Go on a family hike
5. Visit a playground you’ve never been to
6. Have an at-home movie marathon
7. Have a board game night together as a family
8. Go on a family bike ride
9. Find a new trail near your house and walk it together
10. Volunteer somewhere together
11. Have a garage sale (then, use the proceeds for a fun adventure!)
12. Catch fireflies
13. Watch a parade
14. Make it your mission to visit every playground in your town
15. Eat dinner in the backyard
16. Lay in the grass and watch the stars
17. Have a pajama day at home, complete with lots of reading, good snacks, and movies
18. Go on a nature walk
19. Pick a bouquet of wildflowers
20. Watch the sunrise together
21. Play video games as a family (Mario Kart is a favorite for us!)
22. Find a big hill and roll down it
23. Have a family talent show
24. Snuggle in bed during a summer thunderstorm
25. Visit your local library
26. Make an obstacle course in your backyard
27. Let the kids stay up past midnight
28. Have a family slumber party
29. Go geocaching

Almost Free Bucket List Ideas (you may need to buy something)

1. Decorate the driveway with chalk
2. Try a new recipe together
3. Have a picnic
4. Make an ice cream cake
5. Have a water balloon fight
6. Fly a kite
7. Eat a watermelon (and don’t forget to have a seed spitting contest!)
8. Make your own lemonade (bonus points for a lemonade stand!)
9. Try making homemade ice cream
10. Take a nap in a hammock on a sunny day
11. Slide down a water slide
12. Have the kids make dinner
13. Eat a snow cone or some shaved ice
14. Make s’mores
15. Go swimming
16. Have ice cream for breakfast (because why not?!)
17. Give each other a temporary tattoo
18. Play sand volleyball together
19. Get ice cream from an ice cream truck
20. Play in the sprinklers
21. Make root beer or coke floats
22. Bake a sweet treat for your neighbors
23. Play kickball
24. Do a summer craft together
25. Play hopscotch
26. Paint a collection of rocks and hide them around your neighborhood

Affordable Bucket List Ideas

1. Visit a local museum
2. Have a “yes day”
3. Visit the zoo
4. Make homemade pizza together
5. Go on a family ice cream date
6. Go to the movie theater
7. Visit a local festival
8. Visit an aquarium
9. Try out a water park near you that you’ve never been to
10. Go to a drive-in movie
11. Visit a local farm to pick strawberries or raspberries
12. Attend an outdoor concert
13. Visit a local children’s museum or science center
14. Go bowling together
15. Visit your local farmer’s market (be sure to try some new snacks and treats!)
16. Spend a Saturday morning going garage sale hopping
17. Visit a local botanical garden
18. Try a new restaurant as a family
19. Go fishing
20. Rent a kayak
21. Visit a local food truck park
22. Go to a baseball game
23. Visit your state fair
24. Go to the rodeo
25. Find and ride a ferris wheel or a roller coaster
26. Explore a cavern
27. Go on a family date to a fancy restaurant
28. Swim in a lake or the ocean
29. Have a “fancy” build-your-own-hot dog dinner with tons of fun fixings
30. Bonus points it you follow that up with a huge ice cream sundae bar!
31. Go to a carnival
32. Eat a funnel cake
33. Plant flowers or a full garden
34. Run (or walk) in a local 5K together
35. Relax in a lazy river
36. Host a backyard grill-out with your favorite people

Larger Scale Bucket List Ideas

1. Go camping
2. Go to the beach
3. Go on a family road trip
4. Have a staycation at a local hotel
5. Take a day trip somewhere you’ve never been
6. Play tourist in your own city for the weekend
7. Let the kids pick a vacation destination and go!
8. Surprise the kids with an overnight trip somewhere special
9. Visit a national or state park

Whew! I think with all of these ideas, it should be pretty easy to create a summer bucket list of your own! There are so many fun summer activities that are free or super cheap, and you’re basically guaranteed to create some really special memories. I can’t wait to get started on our list, and I hope I’ve inspired you to try the summer bucket list, too!