It’s the second week of summer at our house and, even though we homeschool, schedules have changed and I’m already hearing little voices talk about how bored they are. And while I’m okay with letting littles be bored, sometimes we need to DO SOMETHING. Something that’s not online, not on a screen, and doesn’t cost a lot. Something that is simple, easy to prep, and that I actually enjoy, too.
So…here are 101 Scree-Free Activities to Make this the Best Summer Ever:
- Read a book
- Reading helps minimize the summer slide, in which many children lose some of the skills they learned in school during the summer. Read a book with your kiddo, any book.
- Visit a local splash pad
- Go get snow cones
- Water balloon fight
- Try a new ice cream flavor
- Go on a hike (Visit this website to find hikes near you)
- Visit a local museum
- Set up a lemonade stand or find a local children’s market
- Go to an art gallery
- Go out to try a new treat
- Make a new treat at home (See this website for easy, kid-friendly recipies)
- Ride bikes
- Paint rocks
- Search online for ideas, they are so fun!
- Have a fancy dinner just because
- Get out the candles, fancy table cloths, and fancy clothes, even if it’s just mac and cheese for dinner
- Work on a craft or art project
- So many ideas for any interest and skill level on Pinterest
- Bubbles! Everyone loves bubbles.
- Put up a tent and camp out
- Make a fairy house
- I doesn’t have to be fancy. Just use some rocks and sticks to build a tiny house. Sometimes fairies even visit and leave treats or small trinkets behind
- Go to a local farmer’s market
- Go on a picnic
- Go fishing
- Play a sport you or your kids like
- Go on a photography trip. Give cameras to each kiddo, and take pictures of what you see. Share pictures with each other afterwards
- Watch a meteor shower (Visit this website for schedules)
- Build a fire in the firepit and roast smores
- Celebrate the summer solstice
- Feast, dance, sing, light a bonfire – celebrate the sun and warm days that give us life
- Go swimming
- Have a dance party
- Just clear space in a room, turn on some music, and dance together
- Learn a new skill
- A lot of companies have camps during the summer-dance, theatre, crafts, gymnastics, martial arts. You can also look online for tutorials and online classes (though those are not screen-free)
- Build a blanket fort
- Help your teen get a summer job
- Visit a you-pick farm or orchard
- Go to a Renaissance Fair
- Have a Nerf war
- Go to a local (or a new) park
- Draw, paint, write, create
- Host a read-a-thon
- Bring blankets, pillows, and snacks, turn off all electronics, and just spend an hour or two reading in piles of comfort all over the house
- Have a game night with friends and ask everyone to bring treats to share
- Learn to crochet (Woobles are great for beginners)
- Plant a garden or garden box
- Learn how to preserve food (dehydrate, freeze dry, can)
- Have a BBQ with family and friends
- Take a nap
- Participate in a community event or festival
- Hatch your own butterflies or ladybugs (Amazon has kits)
- Go to a water park
- Visit a craft store and let your kiddo pick out a new project
- Catch and release some bugs
- Look for ladybugs, praying mantis, roly-polies, butterflies
- Spend time learning about each one and how it help
- Warn about bugs that should be left alone (e.g. ants, spiders)
- Fly kites
- Host a neighborhood talent show
- Enroll the kids in your local library’s summer reading program. Many even have something for teens
- Scrapbooking
- Encourage your child to improve a skill they’ve been working on
- Finish a project that has been neglected during the busy school year
- Go for a drive- look for something specific
- Try to find all the letters of the alphabet on license plates
- Count how many red cars you see
- Look for a new place to visit
- Cardboard boxes
- These are magical things, especially big ones. Make a castle, start a pizza delivery business with your new car, open a flower shop, or just sit inside like you are a cat
- Paper airplanes
- Balloon races
- Cut a straw to about 4 inches in length and string onto yarn or string. Tape or tie the string across your kitchen on the backs of two chairs. Repeat with another set of two chairs. Blow up two balloons, do not tie them. Tape balloons to straws and bring them to one side of the room. Ready, set, go! Let go of your balloons and watch as they race to the other side.
- Start a journal
- Go cart racing/bumper cars
- Make a volcano
- Some playdoh, clay, or mud shaped into a volcano, with some vinegar and baking soda inside = hours of fun
- Invite the neighbor kids or friends over to play
- Cup stacking
- See who can stack solo cups the highest or fastest
- Go rock climbing
- Make sure you know what you are doing, or visit an indoor rock climbing area that has all the right equipment
- Learn to sew
- A small pillow is the perfect first project
- Start a business
- Lawn mowing, yard clean-up, babysitting, pet sitting, car washes
- Target practice
- Archery, firearms, sling shots- whatever you are comfortable with
- Make sure children are mature enough, supervised and taught proper etiquette
- Many places have classes for this
- Let the kid’s pick and plan
- Kids plan the entire outing/activity and have to pack, prepare, and run the show
- Take a first aid/CPR class (Website here)
- Volunteer
- Many local food banks, animal shelters, and community organizations have opportunities for kids to volunteer
- Learn a new instrument
- Work towards a new fitness goal
- Learn local history
- Go on a local history tour, visit historical sites, or look in the library for information about your town
- Watch the sun rise
- Watch the sun set
- Host your own mini-Olympics
- Try out different sports, you can even get metals on Amazon to hand out
- Do a puzzle
- Go mini-golfing
- Laser tag
- Have each family member make up a new board or card game and then spend a few nights trying them out
- Host a cupcake decorating competition or party
- Try snacks from around the world (We’ve used this site before and it was so fun!)
- Do 5-minute stories or paintings
- Everyone starts with their own paper (for stories) or canvas (for paintings). At the 5-minute timer, everyone passes their work to the right. The next person has 5 minutes to add to the work. Repeat until each piece reaches the original owner and then take turns sharing the results.
- Play the one-word game
- Tell a story together, but each person can only say one word at a time. Person A starts with one word, then Person B adds a word, and so on, until you feel the story is finished, or you can’t talk anymore because you are all laughing so hard.
- Improv games
- Get two bowls. In one, put characters (e.g. teacher, fireman, monster, princess). In the other, put different situations (e.g. grocery shopping, car is broke down, cleaning my room). Take turns in pairs. Each person chooses a character and then you choose a single situation. They have to act it out.
- Sometimes a dragon and a fireman end up trying to figure out how to go grocery shopping
- Work on your homemade Christmas gifts
- Make a shelf-stable treat (we give jam to all our neighbors and friends), a DIY craft, or a make-it-yourself gift that can be finished and wrapped before school starts
- Saves so much time in December
- Look on Pinterest for ideas that cater to your kids skills and interests
- Go on a litter clean-up walk
- Find a local place that could use some TLC
- Take trash bags, gloves, and grabber sticks and teach the kiddos what is ok and what they should not pick up (e.g. needles)
- Work together on a project for the house
- Got a room that needs painted? A shelf that needs built? An air filter that needs changed out? Teach the kiddos how to help out in age-appropriate ways
- Tell fun family stories
- Even teens like to hear stories about when they were little, or what their parents were like at their age
- Teach them about their grandparents and other ancestors
- Cook a meal together
- Having everyone in the kitchen is….challenging, but it can teach team work, listening skills, patience, and problem solving. And your kiddos will learn how to cook
- Have a house-cleaning day
- Assign chores or a house zone to each child and ask them to help with deep cleaning. Teach them the proper tools, techniques, and safety. The house gets cleaned in a day, and the kiddos know how to do new things
- Wake up early and have a donut day
- Go out in your PJ’s to get donuts and chocolate milk (or coffee) at a local place. Eat them at a park, in your yard, or in the car and just enjoy each other’s company
- Do something special for your kiddos
- Suprise them with something that supports a goal they have. Buy a nice notebook for the writer, visit an animal show for the aspiring vet, go to a play with the young actor, etc.
- Create an around-town scavenger hunt
- Make a list of items or photos that can only be from your town (e.g. a ketchup packet from a local restaurant, a picture with a certain statue, a bag from the local grocery store. Make a list with 15-20 items
- Break into two teams- each with a legal driver
- First team that comes back safely with all the items wins
- Christmas in July
- Decorate, buy small gifts, and have a fun excuse to party in the middle of summer
- Make family t-shirts
- Vinyl, tie-dye, fabric paint
- Pick a food (e.g. hamburgers) and go on a summer-long hunt for the best one in your town
- Learn some magic tricks
- Use a simple magic kit, or search for tutorials (I know, not screen-free) and then try to replicate the tricks you’ve learned
- Ice Cream Party
- Buy a tub of ice cream and all your favorite toppings
- Heart-attack
- Make small hearts with positive messages and secretly leave them around town for people to find
- Leave small gifts (e.g. rubber ducks, tiny frogs)
- Use chalk to write positive messages on sidewalks around town
- Have a family fun day
- No phones, no work, just family fun
- Spend the day doing whatever you want together as a family (e.g. board games, a small trip, eating snacks, etc.)
There you have it, 101 (mostly) screen-free activities to make this the best summer ever.