Make your summer one to remember!
I know it can be a challenge to keep your kids, especially your teenaged ones, entertained during the summer. But, fear not, I will help give you some ideas so you don't have to hear those dreaded words.... "I'm bored!"
And as an added bonus, you'll create some really freaking awesome memories together (and hopefully you take lots of pictures of them! and hopefully YOU'RE in them Mama!)
So, I have put together a list of some fun summer things that everyone can get on board with! You can create you very own Summer Bucket List!
Disclaimer: I'm not a Pinterest mom, so these ideas will take minimal effort and little to no crafting. Sorry not sorry.
Summer Activities for Kids and Teens
- Rainy day? Movie marathon! Pick a movie theme, grab some snacks (maybe themed as well?), get in your favorite comfy clothes, grab your blanket, and veg out on the couch! Don't forget the popcorn!
- Disney Animation Studio has free drawing tutorials online so that you can learn to draw your favorite characters! Check out the channel here!
- Organize a family or neighborhood water gun fight! How fun would that be!? Nerf guns could work well too, but that's more clean up...
- Make a photo album! Pick out some fun photo albums and start organizing and filling your albums. We just got one exclusively for our Instax photos and it's so nice to have a place to put them. We love looking at the album!
- Look up hikes that are local to you and pick a few to do. You'd be surprised how many will be local.
- Find a pool to hit up!
- We're lucky enough to live in a beautiful beach community, so beach days are always a must for us.
- Summer Library/Reading programs are usually really cool with some great incentives for kids/teens. We do them every year!
- Backyard camping! This was a huge hit for us previously. If you are more adventurous, go camp somewhere outside of your backyard.
- Volunteer at your local animal shelter. Ours has a fantastic volunteer program where you can exercise the animals or even take them on field trips. What a difference you could make in these animals lives! If you are in Hampton Roads, check out the Portsmouth Humane Society!
- Make homemade ice cream
- Attend music festivals or concerts (Hampton Roads has a ton of free concerts and music festivals! I usually highlight them in my newsletter if you aren't already signed up for it!)
- Kayak, paddleboard, or canoe at a local park. You don't have to own them to do this, lots of places have them there that you can rent.
- Trampoline park
- Putt putt golf
- See if any carnivals are in town or coming to town
- Go to the movies- lots of movie theaters have summer movie specials that are super cheap!
- Tie Dye something fun! We've done sheets, towels, socks, shirts, etc. It's fun- can be very messy- but I think worth it.
- Flashlight tag at night ooooorrr....
- glow in the dark capture the flag
- catch lightning bugs
- make homemade bubbles- super easy and it's really fun to make the giant ones!
- Host a slumber party
- Take a class to learn something new
- Prepare a fancy picnic and go to the local park to enjoy it
- Bonfire and smores
- Catch a baseball game (The Norfolk Tides are super fun and have family friendly pricing!)
- Find a day trip you can take less than 2 hours away. Leave early in the morning and be back by bedtime.
- Train for a 5k
- Visit a historical site
- Spend a Saturday morning hitting up yard sales and see if you can find some cool vintage items
- Check out the local museums
- Go bowling
- Find a petting zoo, how can you not have fun holding baby goats?!
- Make a list of local playgrounds and visit one new one a week
- Watch the sunset and maybe do a dinner picnic
- Find a you-pick farm and get some fresh fruit
- Do a Tour de Ice Cream and visit local ice cream parlors in your area. At the end of the summer, rate them!
- BFF photo shoot! I did this with my kids last summer and it was a huge hit!
- Go to a theme park
- Go roller skating
- Outdoor movie night
- Go to a waterpark
- Go to a farmers market
- Visit the aquarium or zoo
- Do a prep-for-school closet cleanout
- Make a blanket fort
- Experiment with watercolors and make a greeting card to send to someone
- Make homemade pizza
- Make seashell art
- Host a backyard BBQ or potluck- it doesn't have to be fancy, just get everyone together!
- Find a hammock or comfy spot outdoors and read a book
- Mario Kart Tournament with family/friends
- Host a good, old fashioned playdate
- Go to an arcade (I can highly recommend Circuit Social in Norfolk. Great for kids, tweens, teens, AND adults!)
- Play Pokemon Go
- Learn to skateboard
- Back to School shopping with friends
- Try a new recipe
- Thrift store scavenger hunt- make a list of totally random items and the first one to find them all (and snap a selfie to prove it!) wins a prize (or bragging rights!)
- Tour your own city - visit iconic spots and act like a tourist. Fall in love with your city!
- Teach your dog/pet a new trick
- Go fishing
- Watch fireworks
- Join the 1000 Hour Outside Challenge (too much to explain here, but it's changed our lives! Read about it here!)
- Go for a night swim
- Do a Lego Masters style competition
- Take a trip down memory lane and bust out alllll the old photo albums
- Put together a puzzle
- Learn how to make balloon animals
- The old Southern tradition of "going visitin' ". Go visit friends or relatives, some of my fondest memories ever are from visitin' folks.
- Go to the batting cage
- Play in the rain
- Make an application for the show Survivor
- Make a photo record of your summer and curate it into a keepsake photo album at the very end! (This would be very easy to do with an Instax camera and a Instax camera photo album- we got ours on Amazon.)
- Do a water balloon war- the reuseable water balloons are fantastic- ours are foam, not the silicone plastic ones, those kinda hurt!
- Make homemade playdough (super simple, I promise... and very little mess too!)
- Have a paper airplane competition
- Build a terrarium
- Take a long bike ride
- Plant parsley or dill or both everywhere in your garden and raise black swallowtail caterpillars
- Make the ultimate Taco Bar with all the fixings
- Make a fairy garden
- Play a board game
- Do shadow art
- Grab a slip n' slide and play!
- Purge stuff that no longer serves you around the house
- Put together a puzzle
- Get one of those hummingbird feeder things for your face and try to attract some hummingbirds! (Please have the camera handy for this one! Ha!)
- Slip n Slide Baseball game
- Do a cake (or cupcake) baking/decorating competition
- Do a park/beach cleanup
- Exercise with a specific goal in mind- family workouts!
- Binge watch a Netflix series
- Pick up a game of basketball with the neighborhood kids
- Tour street art in the Vibe District of Virginia Beach - seriously so much fun
- Visit a flower farm
- Family Olympics
- Vacation Bible School
- Barnes and Noble Storytime
- Make Slime (don't hate me, this keeps my kids busy forever!)
- Balloon Tennis- or as we like to call it "Keepy Uppy" because we're big Bluey Fans
- Night Movies outside on the Great Lawn at the luxurious Cavalier Resort in Virginia Beach- it's open to the public every Monday! (Hampton Roads locals)
My kids wouldn't let me conclude this blog without letting me know that they wouldn't be mad if I had added more arts and crafts. Hahaha! Don't underestimate your kids desire to use more glitter and make messes! You know what though? They are only little once, seize the day my friends!
Sooooo.... what did ya think of my ultimate summer bucket list?
I hope this helps you, gives you some ideas, and sparks your creativity. Life is too short to not fully live each day. And that doesn't necessarily mean to do *all* the things. It just means to do what you do intentionally- whatever that may be. And it's okay to have LAZY DAYS! Honestly, what's summer without a whole lot of relaxing?!
Want me to come along with your daily adventures and document your summer? That's awesome! I'd love to! Gimme a holler and we will figure out exactly which session is right for you. I can't wait to get YOU in the frame with YOUR family this summer!
