Ever feel like everything costs money? Last summer I started to come up with free summertime activities that I could do with my own kiddos.
There’s no reason to break the bank just because the kids are home for the summer. You already have the basic materials at home to make this a memorable summer without killing your wallet.
This year, I’m blowing out my list to include 200 FREE summer activities you can do with the kids to keep you all busy and having fun!
If your kids say they’re bored, it won’t be because you didn’t try.
Be sure to check out our other fun family-friendly kid activities and crafts!
200 FREE Summer Activities for Kids
- Go on a picnic
- Walk around your local farmer’s market
- Play with volleyball
- Draw with sidewalk chalk
- Get new free ebooks
- Host a toy swap
- Run through the sprinkler
- Visit local nature preserve
- Find figures in the clouds
- Play in the kiddie pool
- Find local free museum days
- Take a hike
- Make mud pies
- Water the plants
- Make paper dolls
- Start a nature journal
- Set up your tent and have a camp out in the backyard
- Take a family bike ride
- Make a origami fortune teller paper game
- Make s’mores
- Visit the local pool
- Watch a high school baseball game
- Wash/vacuum out the car
- Play restaurant. Have the kids “make” lunch
- Play in the rain/mud
- Go on a scavenger hunt
- Have a PJ day
- Search for animal tracks
- Make your own Mad Libs
- Host a movie marathon on a rainy day
- Fly a kite
- Plant a garden (or anything)
- Play beach volleyball
- Make a craft from Pinterest
- Create an online photo book
- Pick flowers
- Teach your kids to cook
- Eat dinner outside
- Have a yard sale
- Go fishing
- Have a building challenge (use ALL the Lincoln logs)
- Go camping
- Build a Lego castle
- Play in the sand
- Watch the sun set
- Play cards
- Try a new recipe
- Tell ghost stories
- Create a kid art gallery
- Visit the grandparents
- Kick the soccer ball
- Play dress up
- Go for a scenic drive
- Visit the local fire station
- Swing. Get really high and jump out
- Lay in the grass
- Create an obstacle course
- Participate in story time at book store
- Catch fireflies (or butterflies)
- Read a chapter book aloud. Do 20 minutes a day
- Rent video games from the library
- Put on a skit
- Find a local water play park
- Earn a free book
- Make popsicles
- Melt crayons or ice in the sun
- Have a water fight
- Learn origami
- Donate old books and toys
- Write poems
- Play rock paper scissors
- Play I spy
- Try out geocaching
- See who can spit a watermelon seed farthest
- Create a relay race
- Watch a parade
- Play Simon Says
- Have a sleepover
- Make your own book
- Create a chore chart
- Go to Apple Camp for older kids
- Take pictures
- Play catch
- Learn about different countries
- Have a book exchange
- Have a pillow fight
- Make up each other’s hair
- Take a free American Girls summer class
- Skip rocks
- Craft your own musical instruments
- Find figures in the clouds
- Learn Frisbee golf
- Create a memory jar
- Play kick ball (make up your own rules)
- Attend a free children’s workshop at Lowe’s, Home Depot or Michael’s
- Swing in a hammock
- Build a campfire
- Make a backyard aqueduct
- Organize a Summer Camp exchange with other parents
- Nap
- Put on a fashion show
- Play hide and go seek (or sardines)
- Create racing tracks out of old paper towel rolls
- Set up play dates at different local parks
- Visit a lake or river
- Find a penpal
- Take a break with free online storytime
- Make paper boats; sail them down a stream
- Learn about your family’s history
- Create a simple scrapbook
- Visit historical landmarks
- Try the Microsoft YouthSpark Summer Camp for older kids
- Freeze things in ice then break them out
- Learn how to juggle
- Make a treasure hunt with clues
- Create sensory bins
- Attend local free evening concerts
- Build sand castles
- Visit on free entrance days in National Parks
- Read stories to each other
- Build an outdoor fort
- Play name that tune
- Make a map of your neighborhood
- Make your own maze or puzzle
- Play kick the can
- Learn a new dance via YouTube
- Visit your library
- Stage a “war” between action figures
- Pick wildflowers
- Recreate famous artwork
- Check out the local parks, one by one
- Play tag
- Visit the pet store
- Collect bugs
- Play 20 questions
- Create your own trivia game
- Paint your nails
- Visit a boardwalk
- Create a backyard obstacle course
- Go on a nature hunt
- Play on kid-friendly websites like PBS Kids
- Create your own stand-up jokes
- Do a science experiment
- Paint rocks
- Roll down a sledding hill
- Locate free art programs through regional museums
- Learn to throw a frisbee
- Make paper airplanes
- Host boardgame night
- Find worms after it rains
- Color using free online coloring pages
- Photo scavenger hunt
- Feed the ducks
- Identify the night sounds you hear
- Have a wheelbarrow race
- Make shadow puppets with flashlights
- Play charades
- Thumb wrestle
- Watch birds
- Go bowling
- Take in a free movie under the stars through local programs
- Host a neighborhood baseball game in your yard
- Learn to jump rope
- Take pictures of outside nature
- Watch fireworks
- Attend a local dog show
- Create a dandelion chain necklace
- Play freeze tag
- Use cardboard boxes to create a dollhouse/playhouse
- Attend Bass Pro Shops free Family Summer Camp
- Create a board game night
- Find free tours at local food factories
- Learn a magic trick
- Visit other town’s libraries
- Use Bank Of America Museums On Us program
- Practice tying knots
- Get the binoculars out
- Dance
- Visit Pottery Barn’s free summer activities
- Play hopscotch
- Build a marble run using household objects
- Make your own movie
- Stargaze
- Have a “Frozen” sing along
- Create art projects using “found” objects
- Put on a puppet show
- Climb trees
- Dry flowers
- Draw a self portrait
- Check out Target’s free community events
- Visit the dog park (even if you don’t have a dog)
- Rent a movie from your library
- Jump in puddles
- Make pasta or cereal jewelry
- Play one of your favorite childhood movies for the kids
- Host your own “American Idol“
- Take a nature walk at night
- Play Red Light Green Light
- Race to pick up toys
- Volunteer!
Need ideas for more summer kid activities? Consider the following affiliate links:
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Be sure to right click this graphic about 200 FREE Summer Activities for Kids and save it! You can easily print it out at home and post it on your fridge for fast inspiration 🙂
Totally AWESOME list! My daughter went to Apple Camp last year and really loved it. And we always love the Bass Pro summer camps plus the cool crafts at Michael’s. Can’t wait for summer – yea!
I’m so excited for summer, too. My boys aren’t quite old enough for Apple Camp. But when they are… I am definitely signing them up!
this is really a great list, will be doing some of these, every summer i’m completely going crazy trying to figure out what to do with the kids. especially now that they are older and get bored easy.
Thanks
Keep it handy! I’m planning on checking things off so we’ll always have something new to do 🙂
What an awesome list of ideas! My son has only been off a week and is already bored. I’ll be sure to implement some of your ideas!
Keep it bookmarked! I’ve actually printed it out, cut up the options and placed them in a box. If they ever say one of them are bored…. they’re pulling out a piece of paper to do that afternoon!
Love the list. Pinning it to my Summer! board for quick reference.
Awesome. I’m keeping mine handy as well 🙂
Very comprehensive list! Excellent ideas and suggestions — We are doing some of them already. I posted something about this issue few days ago, although my list only included 20 items.
I love your post!
Thanks! I had actually started my list last summer and it just grew and grew from there 😀
Awesome list! Thanks for posting.
Whoa! What a FUN list!! I gotta print this out so we can tackle it this summer!
Thanks for sharing your fun summer activities at #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup !
I actually started this list a couple of years ago for me… but then branched it out. Definitely print it! I do… and then we highlight the things we absolutely MUST do for the summer 😀
Great list!Thanks for sharing #bloggersbrag
so many totally awesome ideas!! thanks for sharing, this is sure to be a budget friendly and super fun summer!
Budget friendly is always good, right?!? 😀
This is such a great list! I just had to feature it at this week’s #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup! http://themadmommy.com/small-victories-13
Awesome! Thanks for the feature. I started this list just for my boys… and oh my how it grew into this list! 🙂
Thanks for a great list of Free activities. You put great work into making it from 60 to 200. Pinning! Thanks for sharing with us a the Home Matters linky party. We hope you join us again!
Pinning! So happy that my kiddos are old enough for the first time that they can pick from this list. I am done being cruise director 7 days a week!
BTW, thanks for posting to Allie’s Worthwhile Wednesdays.
Ha! I call myself the cruise director as well 🙂
Wow! This should keep us busy all summer! Wonderful ideas! Thank you for partying with us at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop!
So much inspiration here! We are still working our summer bucket list!
There’s always room for a couple more, right? 🙂
Great ideas! I was just saying that I wanted to have a schedule of activities throughout the weeks of the summer, because just like them I get lazy during the summer too! Thanks for the ideas!
It’s so easy to let the summer breeze away without getting out…. it’s actually why I started a list in the first place… to get us all outside and going!
Such a great list! If I hear those dreaded words “I’m bored”, I’m just going to refer to this! Thanks so much for linking up with Share The Wealth Sunday!
xoxo
Lisa
LOL! That’s exactly why I started this list in the first place 😀
I love all your fabulous ideas. Pinned and tweeted. Thank you for bringing this to our party and we hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm. Lou Lou Girls
These ideas are awesome!! I feel like if my children are bored they forget how to behave. Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty I hope you will join us again this week!!
What a fantastic list! I’m going to print this out and put on the fridge! Hoping to never be bored this summer.
Ha! That’s exactly what I do with my kids every year and the initial reason I created it 🙂
Wow! Great list! Pinned.
This is such a great list. Enjoy staying with the kids while having tons of fun.
I’m always looking for new things to do with the kids and this is a great list! Thanks so much for joining us at Share The Wealth Sunday!
I love lists like this – even though I don;t have a youngster, I always find some ideas for things I haven’t done in a while – or maybe ever!
Thanks for bringing it by Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
It’s never too late to relive your childhood! Happy summer 😀 😀 😀
AMAZING LIST! great job. Good one to pull out when I hear “I’m bored!”
It’s been a wonderful template for us to figure out what we want to do!
Such a great list!
Why is going on a picnic on this list? That’s not free. You have to pay for food and supplies right?
You’re going to eat lunch either way. Making it a special occasion by taking a blanket outside or to a park is definitely free 🙂