25+ Fun Summer Activities for kids

Summer is that time of the year that includes restless kids who become easily bored of being at home & want to wiggle out somehow and stressed-out parents who become void of ideas to keep the kids engaged.

Of course, you want your kids to have lots of fun during their summer holidays. But, it’s not uncommon to become out of ideas for doing so.

That’s why I have put together a list of 25+ fun summer activities for kids that can help you limit kid’s screen time & keep them active.

This is an exhaustive summer bucket list for activities that include games, crafts, educational activities & much more.

Fun summer activities for kids

Summer can, at times, be stressful for kids & the family. These fun summer activities can help everyone come out of the gloom and enjoy as a family. They are not only just fun & engaging, but also educational and refreshing for your mental and physical health.

You can also get the printable list of activities for kids to do this summer. Click here for your copy.

Colorful squirt gun painting

Squirt gun painting can be a colorful way to get your kids to have utmost fun. Get the creative little monster out of them with this messy yet completely worthy activity.

Set up-

• Clip sheets of paper on an easel in your backyard or someplace where the mess is ok. 
• Fill your squirt guns with liquid watercolors.
• Get the painting fun started.

Paint with nature

Why not make simple drawing & coloring activity a bit more fun & engaging by making a DIY coloring brushes with fresh twigs & leafs from your backyard or garden?

Set up –

• Go for a walk to collect right-sized twigs & different types of leaves.
• Tie them together with a thread & use them as a paint brush.
• Take some paper & watercolors.
• Use the freshly make leaf& twig paintbrush to paint something & unleash the artist out of your kids.

Sponge bomb fights

Get soaked in some watery fun as a family with this easy & cool summer activities for kids & adults alike. Perfect for a family play time or get together activities.

Set up-

• Get strips of sponge or cut normal sponges into long strips.
• Lay 9 to 10 strips together and tie them with a string.
• Shift their shapes a little to make it look like a sponge pom pom balls!
• Now your sponge bombs are ready to be loaded with water from a bucket & shot at the opponent.

Scavenger hunt in nature

Let your kids indulge in the beauty of the nature by letting them hunt for things around your yard or garden.

Set Up-

• Prepare sheets with names & pictures of things you can find in your yard.
• Ask your kids to find them and match it on the paper or just show the group.

Simon Says

Play Simon Says, the most interesting game out there, with your kids. Let them master the art of listening, understanding & executing actions in the fun way.

Set Up-

• Gather a group of kids.
• Let a parent or a caretaker be the leader or elect one among the group to be a leader.
• Leader needs to say phrases like ‘Simon says wiggle your nose’ or simply ‘wiggle your nose’
• The team needs to do the action stated by the leader immediately – only if the phrase is preceded by ‘Simon says’.
• Whoever does not do the action when the phrase has ‘simon says’ or who does the action when the phrase does not have ‘simon says’ are out of the game.
• The last one remaining in the game wins.

You can even have a hand out of this 100 simon says command ideas for easy and spontaneous game.

Climb a tree

Help your kids engage in some risky play with safe environment. Risky play is developmentally recommended for every kids.

Let your kids have fun climbing trees in your yard.

Make sure they are of safe heights & the ground is soft and harmless in case of accidental fall.

Water fight

How about some wet & messy water gun fights to beat the heat of the sun? Perfect for a bored group of kids looking for a fun way to pass their time.

Set up-

• Split the kids into 2 or 3 three teams depending on the number of kids.
• Each kid gets a water gun or simple spray bottle filled with water.
• Each team aims to shoot the members of the other teams.
• The team with the least number of wet kids wins.

Balloon dodgeball

Balloon dodgeball can be one another fun water activity for kids during summer holidays.

Set up-

• Fill balloons with water and tie them up.
• Split a group of kids into 2 teams.
• Each team throws the water balloon on the opponent team and try to make them wet.
• The team with the least number of wet kids wins.

Outdoor chalk obstacle course

Obstacle course activities can be one of the most interesting outdoor or indoor fun for kids. When set up correctly in an interesting way, this can hook up your kids for a very long time while helping them get better with gross motor skills, understanding skills, visual perception, and much more

Set up –

• Use a chalk to draw some interesting obstacle paths like wiggle paths, jumping dots, hopping space & more on the side walk or your backyard.
• This obstacle course can lead your kids from one place to another or in circles.
• you can also add some rewards at the end to make the game more interesting

Indoor obstacle course

Let your kids enjoy an endless hours of fun with a perfectly planned and executed obstacle course area inside your home. You can build as much as 10 stations for your kids to enjoy it for a long time without getting board

Set up-

• Start with planning out an area for setting up your obstacle course.
• Choose the path of the course and what is the end point or the goal of the entire course.
• Depending on the age of the kids involved set up different obstacles in the path between the starting point and the end.
• You can add interest to your game by having rewards or some real surprises to be revealed at the end of the game.

Here are a few ideas for you to start with on your obstacle course for your kids.

• Build steps-like path with pillows
• Walk with pillow or a bean bag on the head
• throw certain number of balls in a net
• walk with one leg
• Jump in certain path
• &much more

Die a fabric

Have fun with your kids this summer with an endless list of activities you can do with fabric and paints.

Set up-

• Buy some kid safe fabric paint and some fabric to paint on
• You can do various creative activities with fabric painting
• Get them to twist the fabric and dip it on paint and let it dry to get awesome patterns of dye on the fabric

Wash a car

Is it only just a special activity or a game that can keep your kids engaged? Even a regular home chore can engage them for a long time with more fun.
Let them join in on your routine car wash time or allocate a special time to wash cars or any vehicle with the kids.

Don’t worry if it gets messy. You can always wash your car again, but the memory you create together as a family during such simple life activities are priceless. (Just don’t let them break something, that may cost you literally!

Related read – 30+ Chores for 2-4 Yr Old Kids to Help You With

Shadow drawing

Shadows have always been effortlessly fascinating for little kids. If you have little kids in exploratory stage, you must definitely try out this activity.

Set up-

• Start this activity in a place where sunlight or any light is behind you so that you can actually see shadows.
• Make sure you use a place where drawing with a chalk or a marker is ok.
• Let your kids have endless fun by trying to draw on their own shadows on the floor. Lots of giggles guaranteed.
• You can also tweak it to some much more interesting game by having any other objects on the line of light and drawing on their shadows.

Swimming

Swimming and having fun in the waters will never go out of trend, isn’t it? You can always let your kids have some cool time in the pool or a beach swimming.

Build a sandcastle

What are summers for, if not for some breezy moments on the beach? Let you kids have fun building cute little sandcastle on the beach while you surf or take a sun bath.

Set up-

• Take your kids to a kid-safe beach or just a pool of sand in your backyard would do too.
• Use beach toys or simply hands to make fun sand castles.

Related read – How to Stir the “Desire to Explore” in your kids?

Splatter painting

Art activities will always be the best indoor activity for kids during summer holidays. Splatter painting is one of those art activities that can bring about so much fun with simple accessories.

Set up-

Dip a straw or a stick in liquid paint.

Splatter the straw or the stick near a paper and have fun seeing the patterns that form on the paper.

Gaze at stars

No-prep, no materials needed. Just you, your kids, the never ending sky and, of course, the stars during night. 

Set up-

• Get yourself comfortable in an open ground or a terrace where you can have a wide view of the night sky.
• Gaze at the stars, have fun finding various constellations and prominent stars.

Make paper airplanes

Get creative with your kids by making perfect paper airplanes and making them fly. Teach your kids the process of making paper airplanes and let them make paper airplanes with you.

Blow bubbles

From little babies to age-old grannies, blowing bubbles always gives a ticking feeling of happiness. Blow bubbles with the family and make it a memorable activity during summer for your kids.

You can also add spice to the game by rewarding the one who blows the largest bubble.

Related read – 12 Balloon Games for Preschoolers with Just 1 Balloon.

Bubble pictures

Love to add more fun to blowing bubbles. Here is one way to make these bubbling memories permanent.

Set up –

• Mix colors in the soap water and blow them
• Catch the bubbles on a paper and see interesting shades of colors and patterns captured on the paper.

Tin can bowling

Bowling is interesting, isn’t it? Why not bring the game to your home with easily available tins and play an easy sport with your kids.

Set up –

• Get 10 used tins or as much as you have, and arrange them as a triangle as in the bowling game
• Use a ball to roll and hit the tins.
• The one who topples more tins wins!

Feather or leaf painting

Nature has the best art materials. Why not use them to make something creative and memorable along with your family?

Set up –

• Go for a nature walk and collect some feathers or leaves.
• Put paint on them and stamp it on white paper and make interesting art.

Make real life size portraits

Have kids who enjoy learning through play? Then, you must try this out.

Set up –

• Have one person to lie on the ground or on a large paper.
• Let another person trace around the other with crayon or a chalk
• Get learning into play by drawing body parts or clothes inside the life-sized outline

More activity ideas – Screen-free activities for kids

I spy

Let your kids get thinking and have fun in a creative way with this interesting game.

Set up –

• One person thinks of an object or a person currently near you or can be viewed from your location and the other person needs to find out.
• They must say the clues with a phrase similar to ‘I spy with my tiny eye something that is’ followed by the description of the object.
• For eg – I spy with my tiny eye something that is soft, round & can be played with.
• The other person must find out the object being described

Build with match stick

Get your kids creative by letting them construct 3 dimentional building or any structures using match sticks.

Set up –

• Get a bunch of matchsticks or any little sticks
• Make some 3D structures using it and any other materials you can use.
• To join matchsticks together, let them use their creativity to find something to do the job. For example. gum, jelly, playdough, etc.. can be useful.

Hope you liked this list of various summer activities for kids you can do as a family and engage your kids in a better and fun way.