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Every summer starts with the best intentions. You’ve got a vision of long, unhurried days — kids outside, exploring, creating, doing all the things that don’t happen during the school year. And then by mid-June, someone is standing in your kitchen saying they’re bored.

A summer bucket list fixes that. Not because it schedules every day, but because it gives kids something to look forward to and work toward — and because there’s something genuinely satisfying about crossing something off a list. The act of checking it off makes ordinary afternoons feel more intentional, and the list itself becomes a little record of the summer.

This list has 100 ideas organized into the same five buckets I use across all my kids activity posts: getting outside, getting creative, keeping the brain going, staying active, and having a plan for rainy days. Most of these cost nothing. A few require a small purchase. All of them are things kids actually want to do.

Print the checklist below and hang it on the fridge. Let your kids circle their favorites. Check them off as you go. By the end of August, you’ll have a pretty good record of the summer you actually had.

📥 Download the Free Printable PDF
📋 Open the Editable Google Sheets Version

In This Post:
Get Outside · Get Creative · Keep Learning · Stay Active · Rainy Day · Free Printable

🌿 Get Outside (1–20)

Some of the best summer memories don’t cost a thing — they just require getting out the door. For gear that makes outdoor time even better, see the full Get Outside activity guide, or browse the Nature Explorer Kit for Kids guide for nature-specific gear.

1. Run through the sprinkler
2. Have a water balloon fight
3. Catch fireflies in a mason jar
4. Go on a nature scavenger hunt
5. Start a nature journal
6. Build a fairy garden
7. Plant a pollinator garden
8. Go on a listening walk
9. Try shadow tracing with chalk
10. Set up a kiddie pool in the backyard
11. Blow giant bubbles
12. Catch bugs with a bug catcher kit
13. Go on a neighborhood adventure with walkie-talkies
14. Draw a life-sized town in sidewalk chalk
15. Make a lemonade or popsicle stand
16. Camp out in the backyard overnight
17. Cloud watch and find funny shapes
18. Build a stick fort at the park
19. Watch the sunrise or sunset somewhere new
20. Plant a kitchen scrap and watch it grow

🎨 Get Creative (21–40)

Creative projects are the ones kids return to again and again — and the ones that produce something they’re genuinely proud of. For supplies and full project ideas, see the Creative Activities guide.

21. Make friendship bracelets
22. Tie-dye old t-shirts or socks
23. Build a fort out of blankets and couch cushions
24. Make a summer scrapbook
25. Write and illustrate a comic book
26. Make rock pets or painted garden stones
27. Do a paint-by-numbers kit
28. Try origami
29. Press flowers between books
30. Build a cardboard box city
31. Make a puppet show
32. Set up an outdoor painting station
33. Build a DIY marble run
34. Make a time capsule
35. Write a family recipe book
36. Create a stop-motion video
37. Design a dream bedroom on graph paper
38. Do leaf printing
39. Make a found-object sculpture
40. Try a paper airplane distance contest

🧠 Keep Learning (41–60)

The best summer learning doesn’t feel like school — it feels like being curious about something. For books, science kits, and more ideas, see the Summer Learning guide.

41. Sign up for the library summer reading program
42. Start a summer reading challenge
43. Keep a summer journal
44. Write letters to grandparents or pen pals
45. Track the weather every day
46. Start a coin or stamp collection
47. Learn a new card game
48. Take a virtual field trip
49. Learn one new constellation each week
50. Cook a meal from a different country
51. Do a country-a-week geography project
52. Interview a grandparent about their childhood
53. Watch a documentary together
54. Listen to a kids podcast
55. Memorize something (a poem, the state capitals, the presidents)
56. Try a kids science experiment kit
57. Grow something and observe it every day
58. Learn to use a microscope
59. Check out free museum passes from the library
60. Let a kid plan a family outing on a real budget

⚡ Stay Active (61–80)

Worn-out kids are happy kids. These are the activities that burn energy, build skills, and get everyone outside and moving. For gear and more active ideas, see the Active Play guide.

61. Host a neighborhood Olympics
62. Set up a backyard obstacle course
63. Play Capture the Flag
64. Learn to juggle
65. Have a jump rope challenge (can you do 100 in a row?)
66. Go on a family bike ride to somewhere new
67. Learn to roller skate or rollerblade
68. Try a slackline between two trees
69. Play four square, kickball, or freeze tag
70. Have a dance party in the backyard
71. Do family yoga with a YouTube video
72. Climb a tree
73. Skip stones at a creek or lake
74. Time a sprint and try to beat it each week
75. Play Red Light Green Light
76. Have a wheelbarrow or three-legged race
77. Build a DIY mini golf course
78. Try a daily movement challenge chart
79. Hike a new local trail
80. Have a long jump contest

🌧️ Rainy Day (81–100)

Every summer has rainy days. Having a plan for them is half the battle. For games, puzzles, and building toys that make indoor days actually fun, see the Rainy Day Activities guide.

81. Bake something from scratch
82. Put on a living room talent show
83. Have a family movie marathon with homemade popcorn
84. Play The Floor Is Lava
85. Write a family newspaper
86. Build the biggest blanket fort possible
87. Do a living room obstacle course
88. Set up a treasure hunt with handwritten clues
89. Make homemade play dough
90. Have a board game or card game tournament
91. Do a big puzzle together
92. Have an indoor picnic on a blanket
93. Write a story chain as a family
94. Have a “Yes Day”
95. Create a family playlist and dance
96. Play “Backwards Day”
97. FaceTime a grandparent or cousin
98. Race to match all the socks from the laundry
99. Set up a house mailbox system with paper bags
100. Build a Rube Goldberg machine from stuff around the house

Free Printable Checklist

Want to print this out and hang it on the fridge? I made a free printable checklist with all 100 activities organized by category — designed to print cleanly on a standard sheet of paper. There’s also a Google Sheets version you can duplicate and customize: add your own ideas, check things off as you go, or let your kids add their own picks to the list.

📥 Download the Free Printable PDF
📋 Open the Editable Google Sheets Version

Looking for more? Each of the five categories above has its own full guide with gear picks, free activity ideas, and more detail than fits in a single list. Start with the Kids Summer Activities hub to see everything in one place, or jump to whichever guide sounds most useful right now.

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