Summer Activities for Kids (100 Kid-Approved Ideas!)

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No more hearing “I’m bored!” with this list of 100 summer activities for kids. Including ideas for rain or shine, and plenty of free options too!

Has your kid’s school already ended for summer vacation?

Our summer vacation starts in just 6 short days.

The only thing I feel even semi-prepared to do with my girls is our annual Kids’ Cooking Camp. That means we’re covered for 1 week, but what about the other 10?

I think we’ll all go insane if we’re not better prepared than that.

I’m not really a fan of the ‘bucket list’ mentality. I don’t like the pressure of feeling like we have to get certain things done. Summer is supposed to be relaxing, and it’s already pretty busy for our family anyway!

100 Summer Activities for Kids

So instead of coming up with a ‘bucket list’, my oldest and I spent time over the last few weeks coming up with 100 kid-approved summer activities for kids that fit into the “Daily Theme” structure we’ve used before.

We focused on summer activities for kids that can be done on both sunny days and rainy days. Activities that can be done together and independently. And also summer activities that are both short and long-term.

It’s all about variety, right?

Make Something Monday

Sunny Day Activities

1. Make s’mores
2. Make a fairy garden
3. Make flower crowns
4. Make a race track in your backyard
5. Make a bouquet with wildflowers collected from your neighborhood
6. Make a rock garden
7. Make a lemonade stand
8. Make & fly your own kite
9. Make & use your own sidewalk chalk
10. Make your own garden stone

Rainy Day Activities

1. Bake cookies
2. Make a meal together
3. Decorate crazy hats with items around the house
4. Make a pillow fort
5. Make a family video
6. Make homemade ice cream
7. Make a homemade bird feeder
8. Make a time capsule
9. Make a homemade puppet theater & put on a show
10. Make paper airplanes

Try Something Tuesday

Sunny Day Activities

1. Plant a vegetable or herb you’ve never planted before
2. Try a new sport
3. Try to build something with things you find in the backyard/garage
4. Try splatter painting
5. Try to see how long you can hula hoop or jump rope
6. Try bubble painting
7. Try to beat one of your own records (eg. Monkey bars, distance on bike)
8. Set up a treasure hunt in the back yard
9. Try a game that kids played 30, 40, 50 years ago
10. Try to catch bugs like butterflies or lightning bugs

Rainy Day Activities

1. Have a mud day
2. Learn origami
3. Try a Lego Challenge
4. Learn a new card game
5. Learn a magic trick & put on a magic show
6. Try a new food
7. Have an anagram contest (see who can make the most words out of another word)
8. Try a new restaurant
9. Try to fix something that’s broken
10. Learn a few words in another language

Wander Somewhere Wednesday

Sunny Day Activities

1. Go to the farmer’s market or a local farm
2. Find a new park to visit
3. Go explore a new neighborhood
4. Go on a photo walk. Take photos together and compare perspectives
5. Go to a free local concert
6. Go to a state park for a hike or a splash in the water
7. Research a local historic site and then visit it.
8. Go to a baseball game
9. Go geocaching
10. Go on a scavenger hunt

Rainy Day Activities

1. Go to the local library
2. Go bowling
3. Go roller skating
4. Go see a show at the local children’s theater
5. Go to a local children’s museum
6. Take a kids class at your local craft or hardware store
7. Go see a movie at the movie theater
8. Go to an open play session at your local gymnastics or bounce house provider.
9. Find an indoor pool or water park
10. Window shop at the local mall.

Thoughtful Thursday

Sunny Day Activities

1. Go out for ice cream and pay for the person in line behind you.
2. Clean up some litter in the neighborhood
3. Take treats to your local police or fire station
4. Help take care of a neighbor’s yard.
5. Do chores around the yard to earn money for your favorite charity
6. Put coins in random people’s parking meters
7. Put away all the carts left out in a parking lot
8. Help a stranger load bags into their car at the store
9. Write a thank you note and make a treat for the garbage collectors.
10. Help play with the little kids at the park.

Rainy Day Activities

1. 1. Read books to each other
   2. Make food pans for the homeless shelter
   3. Bake cookies for a neighbor
   4. Have a donation day & clear out old clothes & toys
   5. Make and mail cards to grandparents
   6. Make and mail cards to cousins
   7. Make a care package for some soldiers
   8. Make scarves to donate to the homeless in wintertime.
   9. Do something extra special for a sibling or parent.
   10. Make pet beds for shelter animals out of fabric scraps and old linens

Fantastic Friday

Sunny Day Activities

1. Have a picnic
2. Roll down a grassy hill
3. Have a bubble making contest
4. Run through the sprinkler
5. Have a water balloon fight
6. Have a squirt gun fight
7. Catch fireflies at sunset
8. Camp out in the backyard.
9. Watch the clouds and compare what shapes you see.
10. Have a bike decorating contest for Independence Day (or just because!)

Rainy Day Activities

1. Have a dance party
2. Make it a movie day
3. Have a pajama day
4. Mother/Son or Father/Daughter dates
5. Have a backwards day
6. Have a video game day
7. Play Minute-to-Win-it games 
8. Camp out in the living room
9. Play board games
10. Have a ‘Yes’ Day

Even More Summer Activities for Kids!

Want more inspiration? We’re always adding more fun crafts and activities to our Kids Crafts and Activities page. It’s a great place to look for new games to play with your kids, easy crafts for all ages, and even more free printable to enjoy together. 

Now it’s Your Turn

And there you have it – summer activities for kids with at least two things to do for nearly every day of the summer break, plus a few extras!

Most importantly, the list was partially created by a kid! Which means there’s no excuse for hearing “I’m bored” during the next three months!

What summer activities do you have planned for your kids?
What summer activities would you add to this list?

Pssst…love this list? Why not print it off? I made this adorable summer activities for kids print just for you, with everything categorized by day of the week and by rain or shine. It’s part of the printables library, which is a feature just for newsletter subscribers. All you have to do is fill in the subscription box at the bottom of this post and you can get your own copy (as well as plenty of other fantastic free printables!)

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