Summer Activities For Kids

I need all the summer activities for kids ideas I can get! So, using this list will help us get through summer with less chaos. There are printables, backyard activities, crafts, watermelon and slime ideas! Fun, fun!

The last school bell has rang for most families. The kids are so excited! It means it’s Saturday everyday for them! Whoo Hoo!

But, are you screaming Whoo Hoo, Mom and Dad?

Maybe.

Maybe not so much. What the heck do you do with your kiddos so they don’t turn into those creatures from Where the Wild Things Are?

I mean, when my kids are cooped up in the house all day, a wild ruckus does begin. Fights happen. I hear, “Mom, brother poked my eye with Captain America!” or “Mom, sister is pinching me!”

I was sort of jokingly saying to my husband yesterday, that there should be a place where parents can go to drop off their kids in a sound proof room (with babysitters of course) and right next to that room is a pillow room. A pillow room that parents can take a lovely nap in complete silence.

Doesn’t that sound ah-mazing?! A mama can dream.

But, I digress…

Now, what to do with those kiddos before they turn into little tornadoes, destroy the house and drive everyone bananas {insert thinking emoji}.

I got your back, Mom and Dad! I compiled a list for you to draw from. Now are you screaming Whoo Hoo?

Read on for the 25 Best Summer Activities For Kids

25 Best Summer Activities For Kids

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Printable Summer Activities For Kids

#1 Lindsay from Artsy Fartsy Mama made a Free Printable Summer Word Search Coloring Page for you all. It’s for older kids. But, you can most definitely get the younger kids involved. The younger kiddos can color the top of the word search, the older kids (or you) can do the word search and then everyone can do some fun activities based off some of the words in the search. Like make homemade ice cream, BBQ, go on a road trip. It’s like a summer bucket list too!

#2 She also has a Free Printable Summer Reading Bingo Page that helps your kiddos keep on reading through the summer. Which is awesome! Reading helps those little imaginations turn into big, fun activities. So, print this out for some reading fun. Like: read in a fort, read in your pajamas and read on a swing!

#3 Andreja from Easy Peasy and Fun made a Shark Puppet Printable! Just print it out, have your kids color it, cut it out and fold! The kids can simply play with the puppet or suggest to them to put on a shark puppet show! You can build a small puppet stage together out of a cardboard box (cut a square out of the box’s bottom, paint it blue, and paint seaweed and small fish on it).

#4 Want your kiddos to learn a new skill? How about trail marking signs? Christina from There’s Just One Mommy made a printable for you to print out and take on a hike to do a fun scavenger hunt to teach trail marking. Our family hikes alot. So, we will be doing this activity for sure!

Backyard Summer Activities For Kids

#5 Katelyn from What Up, Fagans? compiled a list of easy backyard activities you can do with your kids. Simple always works. It’s really the best fun you can have. Yesterday, a box entertained my kids for at least an hour. So, they will love these 10 backyard activities Ashley came up with.

#6 Have a Sponge Sailboat Race in the backyard! It can be done in a large bucket of water or in the pool! Andreja from Easy Peasy and Fun shows you how to make the sponge sailboats. I can see my kids wanting to take one of these in the bath during bath time. So, I think singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat is in my future.

#7 Sandra from Frogs and Fairies had her kiddos play with an Ocean Sensory Bin in her backyard! She combines regular toys with other items and elements for the ultimate sensory play. Your kiddos’ imaginations will run with this bin! Just imagine: a pirate adventure in search of the lost treasure at mermaid island. Sounds so fun! Then, when they’re done you can have them draw a picture of the adventure they just had! Need Ocean Toys? We love this Coral Reef Toy Set.

#8 And, if your kiddos enjoyed the shark puppet mentioned above, continue the shark fun with these Shark Games by Christina from There’s Just One Mommy. You can do these at a party or just for funzies! The activities mainly use materials you would have laying around the house (like cardboard and pool noodles).

#9 Shannon from Joy in the Works put a Summer Box together that is full of summer activities your kids can do in the back yard. It takes one day to prep, but then your kiddos can independently go grab from it to do something when they’re bored.

#10 Becky from Kid World Citizen suggests mapping your backyard for a treasure hunt! Genius! Having your kiddos draw a picture of your backyard and doing a treasure hunt sounds like a fun time!

Summer Crafts to Do with Your Kids

#11 Cerys from Rainy Day Mum shows you how to make simple tin can lanterns with your kids. After you’re done, set them out in the backyard or your living room floor and have a lantern-lit story time! That would be so fun!

#12 She also shares how to make bubble prints! These are so fun! We did some last summer that turned into some fun projects. We used the bubble art as the background for this mermaid aquarium we made:

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#13 Collect those seashells at the beach! Maggy from Red Ted Art has an amazing salt dough seashell necklace you can make with your kids! And then, they can wear it all summer long! Have extra salt dough? Use that extra salt dough for building sea animals. Paint them the next day for an extra activity! Whoo hoo! Don’t have a beach with shells nearby? Here is a set of shells to use for crafts.

#14 And if you have extra shells, paint them red and green to make these oh-so adorable Crab and Sea Turtle Magnets by Red Ted Art! My kiddos will love making these. I will need to make a small ocean scene to put on the fridge for them to play while I prep lunch!

#15 And if you can’t get enough of sea turtles, have your kiddos make this Weave a Cute Baby Turtle by Leslie from Pink Stripey Socks. This is great for developing fine motor skills (which is important for holding a pencil while writing).

#16 Jacquie from EDventures shows you how to make a Sun Print T-shirt. This looks so fun! And you can talk to your kiddos about how the sun bleaches things, the effects the sun has on our skin, how to protect our skin from the sun, how shadows happen and so on.

#17 And Summer wouldn’t be Summer without a frozen treat. Well…this one is a cardboard popsicle. But, you can always enjoy a real popsicle later. Shelly from Creating Creatives shares how to make pretend play popsicles! They’re so colorful! Get popsicle sticks for this craft here.

Watermelon Summer Activities For Kids

#18 And we absolutely love watermelon! It’s so refreshing! Dana from The Art Kit Blog agrees! She shows you how your kids can make this fun paper plate watermelon!

#19 I love involving my kiddos in the kitchen! There is so much they can learn (math, science, team work, etc.). So, I got super excited when Carrie from Kenarry shared her 2-Ingredient Watermelon Soft Serve! We will be eating this all summer long! Yes Sir!

#20 Tara from Homeschool Preschool has an easy watermelon craft and counting activity you can do with your preschooler. Who said learning has to stop during the summer?

#21 My kids love seeing stuff fiz! Science is so cool! Kimberly from Natural Beach Living is doing a science experiment with her kids. Check it out: Watermelon Fizzy Science Activity.

#22 We read The Watermelon Seed last summer and it’s still one of our favorites to read. We made a watermelon seed matching game to go along with it. It’s still in our activity corner and gets played with! It includes a free printable if you’re not feeling so crafty.

Slime Summer Activities For Kids

#23 This ocean theme slime from Natural Beach Living is so vibrant! It surely will have your kiddos wanting to play with it for at least an hour. Adding ocean creatures to it makes it even more sensory and fun! Here is a Slime Starter Kit!

#24 Sarah from Little Bins for Little Hands makes the coolest ultraviolet slime with color changing beads. You can do a science experiment with this one and ask questions such as, “what happens to the beads on a sunny day versus a cloudy day?” or “Do ultraviolet rays still come out when there are dark clouds?”

#25 She also has homemade sand slime perfect for those extra beach shells you collected. Slime just looks so fun to play with. I might just play with it myself!

What would be real neat is to combine the sea slime (#23) and the sand slime (#25) on a paper plate to make a beach small world play! That was totally my son’s idea while watching me type up this post. Whoo Hoo! Creative thinking at it’s finest! High Fives all around!

And for even more summer activities for kids ideas, visit Simple Little Homestead! Brianna has 12 more ideas that you can do! Are you shouting Whoo Hoo now, Mom and Dad?

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