Fun Summer Activities for kids

Summer fun activities
Summer fun activities

Summer is here! I don’t know about your kids, but my kids seem a little lost without something scheduled in their day. They still have their piano lessons, and martial arts classes, but I wanted to add some creativity to their time away from school. To help those creative juices going, I came up with 30 Summer fun activities for kids.

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Summer fun activity chart versus calendar

I chose to make a chart instead of a calendar. This way, your kids can spend several days on one activity, or skip the ones they don’t like. Additionally, they can cycle back and repeat their favorites. You can either laminate the chart or put it in a page protector and use a dry erase marker to mark off activities accomplished.

Activities that are cheap or free

If you have a good number of kids like I do (though I am down to homeschooling only five now!), you are all about cheap or free activities. I purposely chose projects or tasks in which kids can use household items, or items that can be purchased at the dollar store. Frugality is my jam. In addition to being cheap or free, these activities are easy to implement. I wanted my kids to be able to carry most of these tasks independently.

With all that explanation out of the way, let’s get to the 30 fun summer activities!

Make a STEM project

If you don’t already know, STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. Basically, it means you have to use your brain. Your kids can take on any STEM project they’d like, but if they need some ideas, they can check out these sites.

Playdough to Plato has 40 STEM activities for kids. These activities can be done with everyday household materials. 

Gift of Curiosity offers 15 engineering challenges kids love. I think my kids will love the gumdrop and toothpick building activity!

I usually consult Frugal Fun 4 boys for the LEGO projects it offers. This time I perused the site to find 30 STEM projects which use inexpensive or recycled materials. 

Paint a masterpiece

At first, I had “Paint with Bob Ross” on the chart. I mean, who doesn’t want to paint some happy trees? After giving it some thought though, I decided to make the project more general. You can definitely take the Bob Ross challenge, but can consult other tutorials as well.

If you go the Bob Ross route, on the Bob Ross channel you can watch 25 minute episodes or short 5 minute videos, and paint along with the most encouraging, soothing Bob you’ll ever come across. Concerned about the equipment costs? Check out this post from Everyday Best in which Shannon gives tips on how to help kids paint with Bob Ross. 

If you want to go “all in” there is a Bob Ross paint set for purchase on Amazon. The full set is quite expensive, so you might want to just opt for a nice set of acrylics and cheaper canvases.

For a different tutorial, at Step by Step painting, Tracy posts a gallery of free kid-friendly painting tutorials. In addition to the ones you’ll find on this specific page, she has a plethora of other free tutorials on her site. Of particular interest to me was her “painting bubbles” tutorial as well as her “American flag sky” painting. I may join my kids for this project!

By the way, I found large (bigger than 8 ½ x 11”) canvases at the dollar store. I imagine you could still use paper for the painting projects if you didn’t want to purchase the canvases.

Draw with Art Hub

If you haven’t seen Art Hub for kids videos yet, you will be impressed by what your kids will be able to draw with the tutorials. Rob is the instructor and he draws alongside one of his four kids. I’m always amazed that he draws with permanent markers! He is upbeat, encouraging, and very easy to follow. 

Looking at his channel recently, I noticed that he has some origami lessons to try. In addition to drawing, he also shows how to color in the drawings using different shading techniques. 

Sidewalk chalk time

One Little Project gives 22 ideas for sidewalk chalk art. The drawings are the kind which are “interactive.” For instance, someone might draw an umbrella and have someone lay down and pretend to hold it. Super fun.

For a different technique, you can try a mosaic. At Keeping it Simple, Kaysi shows how she and her kids made a mosaic using homemade chalk paint (by crushing up chalk and mixing it with water).

Try out some Mad Libs

To slip in grammar practice with something fun, try out some Mad Libs. Mad Libs are stories in which words are left out and substituted with words of your choosing.  We own about 10 Mad Lib books, but you can find free Mad Libs online.

At Hess Un-Academy, you can find 21 free printable Mad Libs.

For a bigger collection of Mad Libs, head to Woo Jr. Here you can even find Minecraft, Star Wars, and Disney themed Mad Libs.

Play some beach ball volleyball

The great thing about beach ball volleyball is all you need is a beach ball to play. You don’t even need rules. However, if you want some guidelines, you can watch this video of kids playing “guard the floor” beach ball volleyball. 

Choose a LEGO STEM challenge

Challenge your child to make a vending machine. Or how about a slingshot car? Get your free LEGO STEM printable as well as links for LEGO STEM tutorials. 

Make a new recipe

I’m going to quote from my blog post, “10 Life Skills to teach your kids when you’re stuck inside”:

If you want some simple recipes to try out with the kids, MakinglearningFun.com has pictorial recipes. Recipes are given in pictorial form so kids can see step-by-step how to complete them. Have you ever tried “mug” recipes? BiggerBolderBaking.com hosts a large selection of recipes that can be cooked in a mug in the microwave. Chocolate cake in five minutes? Brilliant.

Use a shower curtain or tarp to make a water slide

Happy Hooligans gives instructions on how to make an easy DIY water slide using a camping tarp. Being in the middle of a drought, we won’t be able to try this one out, but you should give it a try!

Write a fun story with a friend or group

Should your child need inspiration for a story, Scholastic has a really fun, interactive way to start one, Your child selects a grade level and enters his name. A set of four “wheels” appears for your child to “spin.” When they do, they are given a writing assignment. For instance, when I spun the wheels I got this assignment, “Write a blog post about a confident gardener who accidentally sets the science fair on fire.”

If you’d like to try a group story game, in my “Dinner table games for kids of all ages” post, I describe a favorite group story game our high school especially loves to play. Essentially everyone in the group adds a sentence to everyone else’s stories to produce some pretty goofy stories. 

Learn a new dice or card game

The internet is full of fun dice and card games to try. By the way, if you’re short on either, the dollar store sells both cards and dice. You can check out my Drawing dice games and 10 dice games to play on Zoom for some tried and true games my family has played.

Redesign an old tee shirt

Either turn an old shirt inside out or use the back to make a new design. Use fabric paint or markers, or even sharpies to create your look. And yes, you can get permanent markers and even fabric markers at the dollar store or Amazon.

Race paper airplanes

Making paper planes is an oldie but a goodie. My kids love to go to the top of the stairs and send their planes flying. In my 10 Screen free activities for kids post, I provide links to tutorials and printables for different kinds of planes.

Conduct a science experiment

In the same post I mentioned above, I have links to some easy science experiments. Pretty much anything involving vinegar and baking soda is a win. Also, don’t underestimate the power of kitchen science (also known as cooking).

Play a game of balloon tennis

This looks so fun! Fatherly.com has some simple rules for balloon tennis,or you can make up your own rules. You can use two fly swatters or make “rackets” out of paper plates and rulers, or just use hands. You can play standing, sitting, hopping on one foot, or any other variation you choose.

Put together a puzzle

Puzzles are so good for the mind. You can read here about 7 benefits of doing jigsaw puzzles for all ages. My kids love floor puzzles. They will sometimes pull out a group of them and literally cover the floor. 

Make some playdough

Don’t think your kids are too old for playdough. I’ve watched teens enjoy manipulating the dough. If you don’t have any on hand, homemade playdough is super easy and very versatile to make. You can make it your own color, scent, texture, even flavor (for edible playdough). 

The Imagination Tree provides a recipe for a no-cook playdough recipe. If edible playdough is more your style, check out the 15 edible recipes on Kids Activities

Create some fingerprint art

Do any of you remember Ed Emberley? I loved his fingerprint art as a kid. It’s so simple, but also yields very satisfying results.

You can make whatever you want using an ink pad or even pencil lead. However, if you want some inspiration, you can check out some ideas at Hello Wonderful.

Write a card or letter

I wrote a section on letter writing in my post about teaching your kids life skills. You can find links to writing templates for your kids as well as some tutorials. 

If you want to have your kids create their own cards, Tinker Lab has a great round up of 40 different kinds of cards your kids can make.

Design your own obstacle course

Use whatever toys or other items you have in your backyard to make an obstacle course. The great thing about this activity is it’s super easy to change things up to make a new course.

You can learn how to make an obstacle course from Dollar Tree items in this HGTV Handmade You Tube video. 

The Four Ps also has some great ideas for obstacle course stations.

Paint some rocks and decorate outside

Hopefully you have some decent sized rocks for this project. We were fortunate to be able to participate in an Eagle Scout project involving painting encouragement stones. It was a really fun project that looked amazing when it was complete. I mean, how could you not smile when you see stones that look like the ones featured on Artsy Craftsy Mom

LEGO challenge day

Like many of the other activities, your kids can do this one over and over. You can Google LEGO challenges, or you can choose from any of mine (collectively, you have 164 from which to pick):

Lego challenge Free Printable

June Lego challenges

July Lego challenges

Disney themed Lego challenges

Christmas Lego Challenges

LEGO STEM Challenges

Make a marble run out of pool noodles

I had kids make these at my station during a VBS and they had a blast. We used noodles we cut in half lengthwise, and duct tape to tape the pieces on the wall. You can find all the materials you need (pool noodles, marbles, duct tape, and a utility knife for a parent to cut the pool noodles in half) at the dollar store, of course.  

If you can grab some zip ties as well, you can try your hand at this playground pool noodle run

For a fun addition to the pool noodles, Frugal Fun for Boys shows how to make a marble run with DUPLOS.

Try some melted crayon art

By melted crayon art, I do not mean leave crayons in the car to see what patterns they make on the seats! I speak from experience here. Instead, this activity can be as simple as sprinkling pieces of shredded crayon (buy a grater at the dollar store just for this activity or use a pencil sharpener like they did here ) and putting it out in the sun to see what patterns it makes. Or you can strategically place crayon shavings to make a picture.

Another idea is to print out a coloring page and fill it with different colored crayon shavings.You can find a wide variety of coloring pages at Crayola.com or Coloring.ws.

Dig out an old board game to play 

We all have our favorite games to play, but how about going to the back of the game cabinet for an oldie but goodie? Maybe a round of Candyland or Chutes and Ladders would fit the bill.

Use simple ingredients to make slime

Seriously, who doesn’t like slime? It’s therapeutic.

iheartnaptime.net provides a recipe for a three ingredient slime. She mixes white glue, contact saline solution, and baking soda to make her basic slime. From there, you can make different colored slime or glitter slime.

Don’t have contact solution? On cnet.com, you can find a recipe for slime that utilizes shampoo and cornstarch as the main ingredients.

Make a fort outside

Who hasn’t made forts inside on a rainy day? Making a fort outside may be more of a challenge. Moms may need to provide picnic blankets or old sheets to help the building process.

Fashion some bubble wands and try them out

It’s easy to make your own bubble wands. Bubble wands can be made out of pipe cleaners or straws or coat hangers, or pretty much any bendable material.

Kids Spot has some great ideas for bubble wand materials. 

If you want to go for style, check out the cute wands on Natural Beach Living complete with a recipe for a homemade bubble solution. 

Take a virtual field trip

We took a lot of these when we had to shelter in place. Although much of the country has opened back up, you might want to still explore places that are difficult to reach. I have a few virtual field trip round ups, so choose one and bon voyage!

10 Unique Virtual Tours You Can Take Today
360° Must-See Virtual Field Trips
Must-See Virtual Field Trips
Super fun 360° Virtual Factory Tours

Record a “how to” video

Give your kids a camera or your phone and let them record a “how to” video. Let them choose something they know how to do well. They might find it’s harder than they think to describe it step by step. For an extra fun activity, try to follow your child’s directions exactly as they give them and see what results you get!

These 30 ideas should keep your kids from getting bored. Make sure to grab your free fun summer activities for kids printable and get creating, moving and thinking!

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