100 FUN Ideas for Kids’ Summer Bucket Lists

Get ready for a summer full of fun, memories, and creative activities your kids will remember forever! We have over 50 fun ideas for summer! These summer activities include ideas for indoor, outdoor, exploring nature, summer craft ideas, and more! Add these to your summer bucket list ideas with toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th graders too!

Fun Ideas for Summer

Summer nature activities

• Geocaching learn how to start geocaching with your kids for some summer fun!
• Berry Picking – find a local u pick farm to pick strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, cherries, and more! This is not only fun and delicious but is a great way to help kids explore where food comes from and dive into some cooking skills too.
• Trip to the River – Explore nature with a fun river trip filled with quiet and excitement at the same time
• Go camping – Vacations don’t have to be expensive or thoroughly planned out! We have tips for taking kids of all ages camping to learn and explore nature while having a break from the usual hustle and bustle of life!
• Go Climbing – Get kids active and strengthening their bodies and gaining new confidence by taking a family climb or hike
• Go on a sound walk – Learn to listen to the sounds around you and discover a whole world of sounds in nature with this fun idea!
• Foraging for Food – foraging doesn’t only happen in the kitchen pantry – try this idea!

Summer arts and crafts

• Epic Squirt Gun Painting allows kids to play and create a unique summer art project
• How to Draw – take some time to learn how to draw with a class, youtube step-by-step tutorial, and other free offerings
• Bubble Prints This engaging and beautiful summer art and craft project is one of our favorites! It is as fun to make as it is pretty at the end!
• Paint with Water – You don’t need any fancy supplies to try this simple project for young kids!
• Suncatchers are always a fun summer project! They look so pretty when the sun shines through them and brightens up indoor spaces! Try these flower suncatchers that use actual flowers, simple watermelon suncatchers, these Pony Bead Suncatcher, or these simple and cheery sun summer suncatcher craft
• This is a zany Color Mixing activity or you can try this no mess painting activity where kids can mix colors
• As a kids I loved making scratch art! You would use crayons to create a fun, colorful image, coloring every square inch of your paper. Then color over the colorful crayon with black crayon until it’s all covered. Now use a craft stick or finger nail to make a design and watch the colors come ack out out. You can also try this activity with pre-made scratch art papers
• Rock Painting is such a fun, classic activity that mixes nature and crafts for a fun, keepsake craft that will decorate your garden beds!
• You’ve heard of a pet rock, but now meet this adorable Pet Cactus
• Every year at camp we woudl alwasy make tie dye shirts. I was alwasy amazes when I took off the rubberbands to see the cool designs in my custome Tie Dye Shirts
• Create beautiful designs all over your driveway with this fun, easy, and cheap sidewalk paint recipe
• This painting with marshmallows is quick, easy, and super fun!
• Got a lot of crayon pieces? You can turn them into pretty Upcycled crayons
• This Color-changing Sidewalk Chalk is a fun twist on a classic activity! Your kids will flip
• If your summer is hot, you’ve got to try this Frozen Paint to allow your kids to get creative making art while cooling off at the same time!
• Or make this fizzy sidewalk paint recipe that is a fun twist
• My kids would love this Stomping Bubble Wrap Painting
• Shell Windchimes kids love the sound of windchimes gently maing music in the summer breeze. This project allows kids to make their own windchimeswith shells you buy at the craft store or have leftover from a recent trip to the beach
• Ready…. Set….. Fold! These Scrapbook Paper Planes are fun to make, personalize, and fly. We like to have competitions on whose will go the farthest.
• This Land Art is another fun art in nature project for kids of all ages!
• Amazing Tin Foil Art Project for Kids of all Ages
• This zany balloon drop painting is sure to be a favorite summer arts and crafts project with children of all ages

Summer STEM

• These Glow in the dark fairy lights are super easy and pretty to make
• What kid doesn’t like collecting bugs from around the yard?! They can house them temporarily while they are making their observations in these custom Bug Jars for kids to make
• Explore seeds and how plants grow with this easy, and outrageously FUN grass house project
• Work on balance and exploring nature with this Stacking Stones activity
• Who said the train tracks had to stay in the houst? Take your play outside with this book based activity that will have your kids hapiily making Backyard Roads for hours
• Make this quick and easy Marshmallow Shooters STEM activity – go over 30 feet!
• Not only is this Ice Cream in a Bag fun-to-prepare, but it is absolutely declicious too!
• Make your own cute Straw Rockets with the free template
• Footprint Trail Detective is a fun way to teach kids about animals and how scientists learn where animals have been
• Head to the beach for this Beach Tidal Pool activity
• Catching Lightning Bugs is one of my all-time-favorite activities to do at my Grandma’s house every summer. THey had a big property I could wander and catch these fascinating insects!
• Frozen Flowers is a unique way to explore nature
• Ready to cool off? Try these Stacking Ice Logs activity for kids
• Making a Solar Oven is a classic project that not only amazes kids, but helps them learn about scientific principles and use creativity and problem solving to get the desired results from their summer science project.
• Egg Shell DIY Chia Pet Craft – Silly Spring / Summer Activities for Kids

Summer Science

• Volcano Watermelon Experiment – Summer Activity for Preschoolers
• Simple Summer Science Sunscreen Experiment
• Water Balloon Experiment – exploring densit with an EPIC summer activity for kids
• Lemon Volcano is a fun Summer Experiment for kids of all ages
• Exploding Watermelon Science Experiment is easy enough for all ages with a big BANG!
• Vinegar and Baking Soda Rocket Science Experiment for Kids
• EPIC Mentos and Soda Experiment is super simple with geyser like results that will WOW kids!
• Simple Tomato Battery Fruit Science Experiment or this lemon battery activity
• Try this how to make a lemon clock to explore electricity

Summer Play

• My kids all-time favorite summer activity was making this ice cream edible playdough recipe! It looks, feels, molds, and tastes like ice cream, but you can play with it like playdough!
• Nothing says summer like a big bowl of strawberries! Bring that summer sensation to your summer play with this easy, scented strawberry jello playdough recipe
• This bright and cheery lemon playdough is fun to design with and wonderfully scented too
• Super Simple Sand Slime
• Scented, Watermelon Playdough Recipe for summer
• Whip up a batch of Kool Aid Playdough – it smells amazing!
• Whip up a batch of this fun Fluffy slime
• Glitter glue Slime is quick and easy to make for summertime play
• How fun is this – Pudding Slime
• DIY Flubber is perfect to pair with the old DIsney classic movie Flubber
• You’ve GOT to try this homemade solution for Giant Bubbles
• This fun, colorful snake kids will make is so simple, but so silly and fun at the same time!
• Beach Playdough is perfect for summer