43 Things to Do Outside With Your Kids This Summer

Summer has officially arrived, and that means it’s time for some serious family fun! Today I’m sharing 43 things to do with your kids outside this summer, and it’s making me so excited to get outside and have fun with the kiddos. Here’s to the best summer ever!

1) Get an inflatable water slide for the backyard. Depending where you shop for them, they can be pretty pricey, but we got our last summer, and it has been SO worth it! I linked a few different options here.

2) Play with bubbles. My kids love running through bubbles, trying to pop them or catch them, and blowing them all over the place.

3) Go on a walk and make up a fun scavenger hunt for them to find different leaves, flowers, etc along your walk.

4) Watch a movie outside.

5) Make fun chalk drawings and take super fun pictures of them. This Pinterest post has tons of ideas for chalk drawings.

6) Go swimming. It’s no secret that kids love to swim, and as mamas, we know it makes them take a good nap too. So whether you’re heading to the beach or somewhere else on vacation, going to the neighborhood pool, or in your backyard – just go swimming! 

7) Make s’mores over a fire. 

8) Take a trip to the zoo. You could also do a fun scavenger hunt where your kids see which animals they can find.

9) Pack a picnic and have lunch at the park.

10) Ride bikes.

11) Build a sandcastle.

12) Go camping in your backyard.

13) If you have a water slide, pool, slip and slide, water table, or any other water toy – add some bubble bath to it. We do this to our water slide, and the kids go crazy every time and it keeps them busy playing for hours.

14) Jump on a trampoline. We have a small trampoline in the backyard that Santa brought the kids last year and they love it, but we also live going to the trampoline park.

15) Run through the sprinklers.

16) Play with water balloons.

17) Plant a garden and watch it grow all summer long.

18) Have a water gun war.

19) Make a lemonade stand. Tell your neighbors about it, or just have some of your family or friends stop by for some lemonade.

20) Make an obstacle course with sidewalk chalk (follow the line, hop, spin around…)

21) Take a nap or just layout a blanket in the grass and see which cloud shapes you can find.

22) Make a necklace out of the flowers you find in the yard or on a walk. If you’ve never done this before, just twist the stems on the flowers together to connect them until you have made it long enough to be a necklace.

23) Go on a road trip or just a drive for the day and stop and some fun places along the way. Sometimes a change of scenery does wonders for kids.

24) Catch lightning bugs.

25) Dance in the rain. You know we’ve got some summer storms coming, so just make the most of them, and have a little dance party.

26) Put a blanket under a shady tree and read a book.

27) Put a bird bath in the yard and watch what birds stop by.

28) Go fishing.

29) Mix sidewalk chalk paint with some water and put it in a water gun. Then paint a water gun masterpiece on the driveway.

30) Visit your local children’s museum for the day.

31) Start a rock collection and see what kinds of different rocks your kids can find.

32) Paint sea shells.

33) Save the cardboard boxes from packages you receive, and make a giant fort out of them.

34) Plan a cookout. Invite your family and friends and their kids, and let the parents hang out while the kids run and play.

35) Fly a kite.

36) Visit the aquarium. If you don’t have an aquarium near by or can’t get to one while you’re on vacation, go to the local pet store and look at all of the different kinds of fish there.

37) Go to the playground.

38) Treat the kids (and yourself) to some ice cream or shaved ice. That’s the best on a hot day!

39) Add some Orbeez water beads to the water table.

40) Grow your own butterfly garden. Catch some caterpillars, put them in a jar, and watch them turn into beautiful butterflies.

41) Tape a large sheet of paper across the garage door and paint a giant wall mural.

42) Wash the car.

43) Go to the splash pad.

A summer spent with your kids doesn’t have to be extreme or expensive. Kids have fun doing the most simple things and just being with you! I hope you got some great ideas from this post. Enjoy all of your summer fun!