“I’m bored!”
—the two words no parent wants to hear their child say, especially during summer break. When school is out and the kids are home all day, you can quickly run out of ways to keep them entertained. So how do you stop them from losing their minds (or just spending all day on their screens)?
We put together a list of 54 fun summer activities that your family can do at home, along with info on in-person and virtual summer camps.
What activities can you do at home during summer break?
Looking for a fun new way to keep your child occupied for an afternoon? Here are a bunch of simple games, crafts, and activities that you can do with stuff you’ve already got lying around the house — and that your kids will love.
Summer game ideas for kids
- Set up an obstacle course in your backyard
- Set up a mini golf course in your backyard
- Set up a frisbee golf course in your backyard (with buckets or hula hoops)
- Set up water bottle pins and go bowling
- Hold toy car races on a homemade race course
- Play hopscotch
- Play two square or four square
- Play Duck Duck Goose
- Play balloon ball (hit a balloon back and forth with rackets or your hands)
- Play bingo
- Play charades
Easy and fun summer crafts
- Cook or bake something simple (like cookies or ice cream in a bag)
- Build with Legos
- Build a slingshot or mini-catapult
- Build a homemade “vehicle” (like a boat for the bathtub or a cardboard box car)
- Build a Rube Goldberg machine
- Build a miniature city (with cardboard and whatever you have on hand)
- Make paper crafts (like airplanes, origami, hats, and flowers)
- Make fingerprint art
- Make flower art
- Make playdough
- Make slime
- Make puppets (from socks or paper bags)
- Make musical instruments
- Make a kite
- Play with washable face paint
- Paint rocks
- Create a macaroni necklace
- Decorate picture frames
Outdoor summer activities
- Explore outside (try hunting for bugs or collecting leaves)
- Have a picnic
- Take pictures of things of every color in the rainbow
- Go on a treasure or scavenger hunt
- Go for a bike ride
- Scavenger hunt
- Go jump roping
- Draw with sidewalk chalk
- Play with water in the sink or tub
- Perform a science experiment
- Make your own bubbles
- Build a blanket fort
- Take a family nap together
- Call family and loved ones
- Do yoga
- Try to stump each other with riddles
- Tell a silly story together one sentence at a time (or even one word at a time)
- Listen to an audiobook or podcast
- Fall in love with reading!
- Write a letter
- Write and illustrate a comic book
- Do a puzzle
- Sing along to your favorite songs
- Play dress up
- Play with shadow puppets
How else can I entertain my kids this summer?
Want to try something more structured for your child during summer break? Check out one of the many different types of summer camps for kids out there. No matter what your child is interested in, there’s a camp where they can learn more about what they love from experienced instructors and meet other kids with the same passions.
At Sawyer, we’ve gathered the best day camps for kids — both in-person across the U.S. and virtual online—covering every topic and interest under the sun. We’ve got STEM camps, art camps, sports and exercise camps, and more, lasting anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Find the right summer camp for your child here. HAGS!
