Here's your go-to list for all things fun in the summer. How many can you do?
1.
Go on a hike.
2.
Pick wildflowers.
3.
Do leaf-rubbings.
4.
Collect and sort rocks.
5.
Go on an outdoor scavenger hunt.
6.
Have a picnic outside.
7.
BBQ.
8.
Play in the sprinklers.
9.
Launch water balloons.
10.
Swim and dive at the pool.
11.
Visit all the parks in your community.
12.
Spy wild animals at the zoo.
13.
Tour a factory.
14.
Feed ducks at a pond.
15.
Make sidewalk chalk art.
16.
Play hopscotch.
17.
Jump-rope.
18.
Host a hula-hooping contest.
19.
Play Simon-Says.
20.
Create an outdoor treasure hunt.
21.
Join your library’s summer reading program.
22.
Cook food inspired by books you read. Mmm, green
eggs and ham.
23.
Set a $10 limit for each child and buy anything
at the craft store to make at home.
24.
Build a marshmallow-and-toothpick tower.
25.
Knock down the marshmallow-and-toothpick towers
creatively.
26.
Strap on some aprons and paint like crazy!
27.
Paint with spray bottles.
28.
Paint with found objects- bottle caps, pipecleaners,
leaves, sticks, etc.
29.
Be a hippie for a day and tie-dye some shirts.
30.
Paint a bird house, fill it with bird seed, and
hang it outside your window.
31.
Make a personalized sign for your room.
32.
Buy transfer paper at the craft store and design
your own t-shirts.
33.
Create gigantic bubbles with a kiddie pool,
water, soap, and a hula hoop.
34.
Attend your library’s summer programs.
35.
Giggle at a clown show.
36.
Be amazed at a magic show.
37.
Listen to music.
38.
Attend an outdoor music festival.
39.
Escape the heat at a dark and cool movie
theatre.
40.
Try every frozen yogurt place in your community.
41.
Listen to 50s summer music.
42.
Build sandcastles and sandcreatures.
43.
Dip around in a tide pool.
44.
Catch a wave at the beach.
45.
Tour an aquarium.
46.
Start a run-along-the-beach race.
47.
Star-gaze.
48.
Moon-gaze.
49.
Watch a spectacular fireworks show.
50.
Send a kite soaring.
51.
Climb trees.
52.
Go mini-golfing.
53.
Spend a day at the county fair.
54.
Ride bumper cars.
55.
Eat cotton candy.
56.
Play a few carnival games.
57.
Scream your heart out on some rollercoasters.
58.
Grow delicious summer strawberries.
59.
Plant a garden.
60.
Raise butterflies.
61.
Purchase an ant farm and observe.
62.
Make homemade ice cream.
63.
Make homemade smoothies.
64.
Present an ice cream sundae buffet.
65.
Make root beer floats.
66.
Make homemade play-dough.
67.
Host a pizza party.
68.
Spend the day at an amusement park.
69.
Take time to ride the carousel.
70.
Take lots and lots of pictures.
71.
Give your kids disposable cameras and let them take
pictures.
72.
Make a summer scrapbook with all the photos.
73.
Paint self-portraits.
74.
Decorate a summer-themed frame for your favorite
summer picture.
75.
Celebrate Dad on Father’s Day.
76.
Make a list of everything you aren’t good at yet
but always wanted to try. Pick something from the list and do it!
77.
Go camping.
78.
Go kayaking.
79.
Toss rocks in the river.
80.
Catch a frog and let him go.
81.
Go fishing.
82.
Create a fun obstacle course.
83.
Hop around in a potato sack race.
84.
Build Lego structures.
85.
Help with the creation of a lemonade stand.
86.
See a play.
87.
Put on your own play.
88.
Dress up in costumes.
89.
Make your own puppets.
90.
Put on a puppet show.
91.
Aim at a bulls-eye on your fence for water gun
target practice.
92.
Pick blueberries.
93.
Visit your farmer’s market and buy a colorful
collection of produce.
94.
Ride bikes, trikes, and scooters.
95.
Explore the area with a road trip.
96.
Adventure on an unknown road trip. Label dice
with N, S, E, W and drive whichever direction the dice tell you. Stop when you
find something new and interesting to explore.
97.
Devour watermelon.
98.
Paint rocks to look like strawberries.
99.
Freeze treasures in a block of ice.
100.
Read ghost stories in a tent with a flashlight.
101.
Take a warm evening stroll.
102.
Rent a huge inflatable waterslide for no special
occasion and invite friends.
103.
Roast s’mores over a campfire.
104.
Make a giant fruit salad inside the cavity of a watermelon.
105.
Bake a pie with a fruit you’ve never used in pie
before.
106.
Lay in the grass.
107.
Make wishes with dandelion seeds.
108.
Take walks in the outdoor floral department of a
hardware store and smell the flowers.
109.
Adopt a flower and add it to your home.
110.
Press flowers in an old book.
111.
Adopt a new kitten.
112.
Make a list of summer adventures near you and do
them.
113.
Take grandma/grandpa out to lunch on a beautiful
day.
114.
Fight gladiator-style with pool noodles.
115.
Go “golfing” with pool noodles and balloons.
116.
Take early morning walks.
117.
Indulge in cocoa butter (great for moisturizing
and treating sunburns).
118.
Tour a local historic mansion.
119.
Dispense some cash to the kids and visit yard
sales.
120.
Wander around the flea market.
121.
Buy those bubble-blowers at the flea market and
shower everyone with bubbles.
122.
Try a new restaurant where you can eat al
fresco.
123.
Go to Disneyland/Disney World!
124.
Take advantage of the warm evenings and relax on
the porch.
125.
Talk late into the night.
126.
Attend a baseball game.
127.
Buy the kids peanuts and cracker jacks until
they don’t care if they ever come back.
128.
Root, root, root for the home team.
129.
Organize your own little baseball game at a
park.
130.
Play catch.
131.
Watch baseball movies like The Sandlot. Or Rookie
of the Year.
132.
Beach-comb for treasures.
133.
Plant a tiny fairy garden with little trees,
mini roses and other itty bitty flowers and shrubs.
134.
Get together with extended family for a reunion.
135.
Read The Relatives Came for a silly story about
extended family.
136.
Visit a nature center or raptor sanctuary.
138.
Play with shapes! Buy colorful shape blocks and
build a castle.
139.
Encourage your child to write a summer journal.
140.
Try a brand new art medium.
141.
Leave a pair of binoculars and a bird book by
the window.
142.
Borrow a science experiment book from the
library and try some out.
143.
Let kids play on a computer paint program.
144.
Dictate a story told by your child.
145.
Decorate your table with a colorful summer
cloth.
146.
Don wacky smiles with orange slices.
147.
Build an outdoor arch and cover it with vines
and flowers.
148.
Make up a dance routine.
149.
Paint pictures on rocks.
150.
Visit a planetarium.
151.
Tour a space center.
152.
Learn all about your favorite animal.
153.
Paint 5 rocks to look like ladybugs and 5 to
look like bumblebees and play tic-tac-toe.
154.
Make banana splits with all the fixings.
155.
Make a sundial.
156.
Pick peaches and make peach cobbler.
157.
Make your own trail mix.
158.
Play a game or two of croquet.
159.
Break out the deck of cards and play the best card
games.
160.
Track the phases of the moons.
161.
Craft an inspirational idea from Pinterest.
162.
Carve a watermelon-o-lantern.
163.
Have an all-out pillow fight.
164.
Play in the mud.
165.
Learn some magic tricks and stage your own magic
show.
166.
Connect with Mommy-Daughter makeovers.
167.
Connect with Father-Son makeovers.
168.
Cut watermelon with cookie cutters to make
watermelon “cookies.”
169.
Play Jenga.
170.
Play Chutes and Ladders and Candyland.
171.
Buy a huge poster board and have your kids design
their own world and name it.
172.
Play Giant Jenga outdoors with 2x4s.
173.
Play a game of family tag.
174.
Paint rocks with really creative designs and
hide them outside for a Painted Rock Hunt.
175.
Ride in a hot air balloon.
Does your family do something in the summer that is not on the list? I'd love to hear it!
We munched on Cinnamon Toast Crunch. 
by Sonia Levitin,
and eventually an episode of 
in which they read 
