60 Free Summer Activities for Kids

Ever feel like everything costs money? There’s no reason to break the bank just because the kids are home for the summer.

Here are 60 FREE summertime activities you can do with the kids to keep you all busy and having fun.

But I’ve expanded my list to include OVER 200 FREE summer activities here.

FreeSummerIdeas

    1. Go on a picnic
    2. Walk around your local farmer’s market
    3. Go for a lazy walk
    4. Play with bubbles
    5. Draw with sidewalk chalk
    6. Run through the sprinkler
    7. Visit local nature preserve
    8. Find figures in the clouds
    9. Play in the kiddie pool
    10. Find local free museum days
    11. Take a hike
    12. Make mud pies
    13. Water the plants
    14. Set up your tent and have a camp out
    15. Take a family bike ride
    16. Make s’mores
    17. Visit the local pool
    18. Watch a high school baseball game
    19. Wash/vacuum out the car
    20. Play restaurant. Have the kids “make” lunch
    21. Play in the rain/mud
    22. Go on a scavenger hunt
    23. Fly a kite
    24. Plant a garden (or anything)
    25. Pick flowers
    26. Eat dinner outside
    27. Go fishing
    28. Play in the sand
    29. Watch the sun set
    30. Swing. Get really high and jump out
    31. Lay in the grass
    32. Participate in story time at book store
    33. Catch fireflies (or butterflies)
    34. Read a chapter book aloud. Do 20 minutes a day
    35. Put on a skit
    36. Play I spy
    37. Try out geocaching
    38. Create a relay race
    39. Find figures in the clouds
    40. Swing in a hammock
    41. Make paper boats; sail them down a stream
    42. Build an outdoor fort
    43. Visit your library
    44. Check out the local parks, one by one
    45. Play tag
    46. Collect bugs
    47. Locate free art programs through regional museums
    48. Learn to throw a frisbee
    49. Watch birds
    50. Take in a free movie under the stars through local programs
    51. Host a neighborhood baseball game in your yard
    52. Create a backyard obstacle course
    53. Take pictures of outside nature
    54. Go bowling on free days (Kids Bowl Free and AMF Free Bowling)
    55. Create a board game night
    56. Find free tours at local food factories
    57. Dance
    58. Create art projects using “found” objects
    59. Rent a movie from your library
    60. Volunteer!

12 Comments

  1. Hey there thanks for those tips, you listed a lot that I couldn’t think of. Thanks again!

    Reply

    1. And I keep thinking of more. Next summer I may just hit 100 free ideas!

      Reply

    1. Glad to join your linky. And I just love bike rides. My preschooler just got too big for a baby bike seat but is still too little to do a serious bike ride. So I’m benched right now. But we’ll get back out there.

      Reply

    1. I would wholeheartedly agree. It just happened to be summertime 🙂

      Reply

  4. I TOTALLY just cut and paste this and it’s now on my desktop so when the (ferals) kids get bored I can WHIP these out! Great list Jenny 🙂

    Reply

    1. What?!? That’s awesome 🙂 I’m curious to know how many of those you’ve already gone through.

      Reply

    1. Yeah! Thanks for the feature! After publishing, I have even more I should add…

      Reply

  6. Phew… awesome ideas, now if I could-just-find-the- e…n…e…r….g….y…….When does school start again?
    Thanks so much for hooking up to the Hump Day Hook Up!

    Reply

    1. Ha! I know. It was easier to put this list together than it has been taking advantage of all of my ideas. Some days, vegging out in front of the TV sounds really good.

      Reply

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