

School is out. The weather is nice. And your kids are… bored out of their minds. While blog posts about letting kids experiencing boredom have gone viral, we know that sometimes they need a little help figuring out what to do. From activities designed to help kids learn and give back to their communities to those focused on making kids a little money and helping them have fun, we’ve gathered the ultimate list of over 100 summer activities for kids. Best of all, most of these activities can be done at home, so you don’t have to spend the summer running your kids from place to place.

Educational Activities

To help prevent kids from experiencing the summer slide, engage them in some educational activities. Last year we shared 15 summer learning activities for all ages. This year, we have a few suggestions to add to that list.

Reading/Writing

1. Create and distribute a family or community newsletter

2. Keep a summer journal

3. Write and direct a play or puppet show.

4. Write letters to family and friends

5. Join a summer reading program, such as one found at your local library or Barnes and Noble.

6. Challenge yourself to finish all of the books on a list, such as the ASLC Summer Reading List.

Science

7. Spend rainy days looking at the resources found on the Ultimate Guide to Teaching Science.

8. Conduct a science experiment

9. Find out what plants are in your yard using a field guide or an app like Project Noah.

Math

10. Take a free summer math course, such as the Summer Math Challenge

11. Grab a measuring tape or ruler and start measuring random plants outside

12. Figure out the perimeter of the local pool

13. Count your steps as you walk and try to get in a certain number of steps each day

Other Activities

14. Plan a trip by getting out a map and tracking where you want to go. You don’t have to go, just pretend

15. Go geocaching

16. Go letterboxing

17. Take a course or learn a new skill, using some of the resources on the Ultimate Guide to Free Online Self-Learning for Kids

18. Visit a museum. Many museums offer free days throughout the summer. Bank of America customers and military families can also get free admission to museums during the summer

Socially Responsible Activities

Summer is also a great time to teach kids to give back to the community through volunteering, taking care of the environment, and other socially responsible activities. Try out a few of these suggestions this summer.

Volunteering

19. Read stories to or play games with residents of a local nursing home

20. Spend time visiting the animals at a local animal shelter

21. Serve a meal as a family at a local food bank

22. Use a service like VolunteerMatch.org to find organizations in your area that need volunteers.

Helping Others

23. Visit with elderly neighbors

24. Offer to do chores for neighbors free of charge

25. Raise money for a local charity

26. Hold a neighborhood food drive

27. Donate items to a thrift store or charity

28. Do random acts of kindness

29. Take snacks to the local police or fire station

30. Offer to watch a friend’s dog or cat while they go on vacation

Helping the Environment

31. Clean up trash in your neighborhood or at a local park

32. Start recycling cans and bottles at home and encourage neighbors to do the same

33. Plant a garden

34. Make bird feeders

35. Go the farmer’s market. Check out Local Harvest to find one near you

36. Pick your own fruits or vegetables. Find a farm using Pick Your Own

37. Practice conserving water by taking shorter showers and watering plants in the evening

38. Start a compost pile

39. Raise butterflies

Money-Making Activities

While most kids aren’t old enough to get an official summer job, they can use the summer to make some extra spending money. Encourage them to earn money to save up for a toy or other item they really want instead of just going out and buying it for them. Some suggestions for making money include:

40. Mow lawns

41. Sell lemonade

42. Make and sell crafts like bracelets

43. Ask parent or neighbors to do chores for pay

44. Bake and sell baked goods

45. Have a garage sale or toy swap

46. Walk dogs

47. Weed gardens and water plants

48. Play an instrument in a public place

49. Sell clothes and toys to a local consignment shop

Fun Activities

Of course, at the end of the day, summer is a chance for kids to have fun. There are lots of ways to have fun at home and in your local community.

Cooking and Food

50. Make a pitcher of sun tea

51. Make ice cream in a bag

52. Make sculptures using fruits and vegetables

53. Mix whipped cream and food coloring to make edible paint

54. Place different flavored fruit juices into paper cups, add a wooden stick, and freeze to make popsicles

Arts and Crafts

55. Paint or draw a picture.

56. Practice your photography skills by taking close-up photos of animals and plants

57. Host an art show featuring artwork created by kids

58. Make a picture or sculpture using items found in nature

59. Draw with sidewalk chalk

60. Create a sidewalk chalk mural

61. Paint on the house or sidewalk with water

62. Tie-dye a t-shirt

63. Put watered down paint into a squirt gun and spray it on paper outside

64. Collect and paint rocks

65. Gather leaves and create leaf rubbings

66. Dry out flowers by pressing them between two heavy books

67. Mix bubbles with food color to make popped bubble art

68. Paint your feet and walk on white paper outside

Community Events

69. Listen to music. Many towns offer free outdoor musical performances during the summer

70. Go to a fair or festival. Fairs and Festivals highlights many of these events around the United States

71. Attend a baseball game. Many minor league games offer inexpensive tickets

72. Host a neighborhood carnival with simple games such as ring toss and bean bag toss

73. Go bowling. Kids Bowl Free partners with local bowling alleys to let kids bowl free all summer

74. Take a picnic to a local park

75. See a movie. Many movie theaters, such as Cinemark’s Summer Movie Clubhouse and Regal’s Summer Movie Express play free or $1 kid movies during the summer. Cities and towns also often sponsor summer movies under the stars.

Rainy Day Activities

76. Play a board game

77. Make up a new card game

78. Design a new board game

79. Have a movie marathon

80. Visit a fun website, like those found on our Top Free 100 Education Sites

81. Jump in puddles

82. Make a rain gauge and measure how much rain you get

83. Redecorate your room

84. Set up a tent indoors and have an indoor camp out

Water Activities

85. Have a water balloon fight

86. Hold a wet sponge toss where you try to land wet sponges on a target on the ground

87. Run through the sprinkler

88. Buy a kiddie pool and soak your feet

89. Play “Does it sink or float?” in a kiddie pool

90. Fill a tub with water and use measuring cups and other water toys to play with it

91. Fill bottles with different amounts of water and blow across them to make music

92. Fill buckets, squirt guns, and other containers with water and have a water fight

Backyard Activities

93. Make a fort using cardboard boxes, sheets, or tree branches

94. Have a picnic in your backyard

95. Camp in your backyard

96. Make a mini-golf course using plastic tubs with holes cut in them

97. Lay on a blanket and watch the clouds

98. Blow bubbles using different items, such as slotted spoons and funnels as bubble wands

99. Grab glow sticks and play a game of glow tag in the dark

100. Make a stunt track for your toy cars in a pile of rocks or dirt

Fun with Friends

101. Have a neighborhood scavenger hunt and see who can find all the items first

102. Ride bikes around the neighborhood

103. Have a dance party

104. Challenge friends to competitions, such as who can stand on one foot for the longest or who can jump the highest

105. Make up a special summer song or chant

106. Start a game of kickball or capture the flag

Whether it’s Make Something Monday, Wander Somewhere Wednesday, or Fabulous and Fun Friday, there’s plenty of fun to be had all summer long. What do you love to do with your kids in the summer? Share your ideas in the comments to help our list grow!