My kids are home for summer, what now?
INSIDE : The kids are home for the summer time, what kind of kid activities should we do now??! Check out these 60+ Fun Summer Boredom Buster Ideas to do with your children!
This post may contain affiliate links. See my full disclosure.
This post has been updated from it’s original June 2018 publish date.
My kids are home for summer, what should we do?
It is the age old question. Your kiddos are finally home for summer break and all you can think about is not having to wake up early for school, keep up with all the homework and after school activities! It’s finally time to just sit back and enjoy your time together… until you hear the dreaded, “I’m bored”.
Now I had every intention of getting my two kids in a few summer camps or programs, but I will be honest – it just didn’t happen. I did squeeze them into our city swim lessons and I signed them up for our church’s vacation bible school. But… otherwise, it’s me and them this summer – which is both wonderful and challenging.
Regardless of the age of your children, there are tons of fun summer ideas that are both fun and inexpensive. I also have 35+ Screen Free Summer Activities to do with kids post and a Kid’s At Home School Schedule.
60+ Fun Summer Kid Boredom Buster Ideas
15 Kid Indoor Activities
- Attend your local library’s children story time.
- Spend the afternoon making amazing Paper Airplanes and have races to see who can go farther, do the most loops and more.
- Make a fort out of blankets and watch movies on the iPad in it.
- Let your kiddos spend some time filling out a Summer Journal with all kinds of fun prompts to get them started.
- Have a cotton ball indoor fight.
- Get out a slime bubble lab playset!
- Get out books and have your kids set up a library. Let them “check out” books and then sit and read them together!
- Have a blast with the most creative “Wreck This Journal“. We have three and LOVE them!!
- Make a silly movie on the iPad using iMovie or another fun kid friendly app.
- Create a Lego city.
- Have fun making origami.
- Setup a puppet show.
- Setup a pretend restaurant and “sell” snacks and cookies to each other.
- Use play-dough to spell out words and your name in play-dough.
- Listen to kid-friendly audiobooks together.
18 Kid Outdoor Activities
- Run through a backyard sprinkler.
- Have a water balloon fight with the neighborhood kids.
- Create a race track on driveway with chalk.
- Setup a treasure hunt with a snack at the end as your treasure!
- Go camping (even if it’s in your own yard!).
- Go to an afternoon matinee movie and eat popcorn.
- Visit your local zoo.
- Visit your local botanic garden and draw your favorite plants.
- DIY the coolest large scaled Dominos and make up games with them!
- Make up a silly scavenger hunt.
- Make and play HUGE outdoor pickup stick game.
- Grow a vegetable garden together.
- Make Summer fun Fish Ice in your backyard kiddie pool or water table.
- Spend time at the pool or local lake and bring the best summer floats available!
- Setup an outdoor bubble party with a bubble machine
- Draw out a chalk city
- Ride bikes through the neighborhood
- Learn to grow a pineapple plant!
19 Kid Craft Activities
- Get out a watercolor set and paint silly portraits of each other.
- Enjoy summer reading and make Marbled Paper Bookmarks to go along with them!
- Make homemade play-dough and containers.
- Paint rocks and leave them around your town.
- Get out Perler Beads and get creative!
- Craft Braided Clay Bracelets.
- Make homemade sidewalk chalk paint.
- Make slime.
- Make scrapbook doll houses (girl and boys).
- Have fun with Tie Dye and make pillows!
- Create crafts from Popsicle sticks.
- Be inspired with 1,001 Boredom Busting creative ideas.
- Get your craft on and make organizing everything pretty!
- Make a fort with blankets and twinkle lights.
- Make a Custom DIY Twister Game!
- Enjoy Heart Coloring pages
- Marble bookmarks with acrylic paint
- Paint a Rattan Pencil case
- Make an easy watercolor basket project!
12 Quiet Kid Activities
- Enjoy some quiet coloring time with this cute summer page.
- Keep their brains working during FUN summer learning with Summer Brain Quest books!
- Have your kids draw a picture of their dream vacation.
- Learn to sew a simple drawstring bag or pillow.
- Do some fun coloring on this Cactus Printable page.
- Learn how to make a simple finger knit project!
- Create personalized pencil cases.
- Have your children write and illustrate a book.
- Make a bouquet out of Felt Flowers.
- Write or draw letters to family and friends.
- Make a lego creation together
- Do a silly puzzle together
11 Active Family Friendly Activities
- Go mini golfing.
- Find a fun Kid’s yoga class online and do it as a family!
- Go roller skating.
- Put on your favorite tunes and have a dance party.
- Setup a water toy zone outside and plan to GET WET.
- Go to your local farmer’s market.
- Go roller blading.
- Go to a local sporting event (baseball, soccer, etc) and cheer on your favorite team.
- Have your kids create an obstacle course and time them going through it.
- Go to an Art Museum
- Paint pottery together
8 Food Related Kid Activities
- Create a kid friendly Watermelon popsicle bar.
- Find a fun kid’s cookbook and kid safe knife set and try a new recipe together once a week!
- Have a lunch picnic in the backyard.
- Bake sugar cookies.
- Make homemade ice cream with a simple ice cream machine (we have this one).
- Make homemade popsicles (2 of my favorites are Layered Popsicles or Lime Cream Popsicles).
- Enjoy some Watermelon Lemonade, yum.
- Create a Summer Ice Cream Bucket Checklist.
What fun plans do you have this summer to keep those kiddos entertained??!
And you might be interested in my 35+ Screen Free Summer Activities to do with kids post.
Looking for a plan for the summer time? Check out my Kids at Home Summer Schedule printable!
Or possibly this Kids At Home Schedule would be interesting for you for a little routine before your kiddos head off to Elementary school.
Looking for more summer fun? Check out some of these great ideas…
Great ideas in this post! Summer can feel overwhelming with the kids home, but your tips on fun activities and keeping them engaged are really helpful. I love the idea of a themed week! Thanks for the inspiration!
I loved your suggestions for keeping the kids engaged over the summer! I especially appreciate the idea of creating a daily schedule with a mix of activities. It’s so helpful to have a plan to avoid the “I’m bored” moments. Looking forward to trying out some of those fun DIY projects you mentioned!
Loved this post! It’s so relatable to feel the pressure of keeping kids entertained during summer. Your ideas for indoor activities are fantastic, especially the DIY projects! I can’t wait to try some with my kids. Thanks for the inspiration!
Loved this post! It’s always a challenge to keep the kids entertained during summer break. Your ideas for activities are super helpful—especially the outdoor adventures! Can’t wait to try some of these with my kids. Thanks for sharing!
Great tips! I love the ideas for keeping the kids engaged and active over the summer. Creating a schedule with fun activities sounds like a perfect way to balance playtime and learning. Thanks for sharing!
Great post! I love how you’ve shared practical ideas to keep the kids engaged over the summer. It’s so important to balance fun and learning. I’ll definitely be trying out some of these activities; especially the idea of creating a summer bucket list! Thanks for the inspiration!
Great post! I love the idea of creating a summer schedule to keep the kids engaged. I’m definitely going to try some of those fun activities you shared. Thanks for the inspiration!
Great tips! I love the idea of setting a summer schedule to keep the kids engaged. We’re definitely going to try some of these activities to make the most out of our time together. Thanks for sharing!
What a relatable post! I always struggle with keeping my kids entertained during the summer. Your suggestions for outdoor activities and DIY projects are fantastic. I can’t wait to try some of these ideas with my kids! Thanks for sharing!
Great tips! I love the idea of setting up a summer schedule to keep the kids engaged. It can be challenging to come up with activities that everyone enjoys, so I appreciate your suggestions. Looking forward to trying out some of these ideas!
I loved this post! Summer can be overwhelming with the kids home all day, but your tips on planning activities and creating a routine are super helpful. I especially liked the idea of themed days! Can’t wait to try some of these suggestions with my own kids. Thanks for sharing!
Great post! I love the ideas you shared for keeping kids engaged during the summer. It’s so important to make the most of this time together. I can’t wait to try some of the activities you suggested!
Loved your tips for keeping the kids engaged this summer! I especially appreciate the idea of incorporating learning into fun activities. I think we’ll try some of those craft projects you mentioned. Thanks for the inspiration!
I loved this post! It’s so relatable to have kids home for the summer and trying to find that balance between keeping them engaged and giving them some downtime. Your ideas for activities are super helpful—especially the outdoor adventures! Can’t wait to try some of them with my kids. Thanks for sharing!
Great post! I love your ideas for keeping the kids engaged over the summer. I especially appreciate the emphasis on hands-on activities and getting outside. Can’t wait to try some of these suggestions with my own kids!
Loved this post! It’s so relatable to have the kids home for the summer and the challenge of keeping them engaged. The suggestions for activities are fantastic—especially the outdoor adventures! Can’t wait to try some of these out with my little ones. Thanks for sharing!
Great ideas! Summer can feel overwhelming, but your tips on creating a structure and planning fun activities really help. I love the idea of setting aside reading time and exploring local parks. Thanks for sharing!
I loved your ideas for keeping kids engaged this summer! I definitely need to implement some of those fun projects you suggested. Thanks for sharing tips that make summer planning a bit easier for us parents!
Great post! I love the suggestions you shared for keeping the kids engaged during the summer. It’s always a challenge to find the right balance between activities and downtime. I’m especially excited to try some of the creative projects you mentioned. Thanks for the inspiration!
Great post! I always find that having a structured routine helps keep the kids engaged during the summer. Love the idea of themed activity days—definitely going to try that out! Thanks for the inspiration!
Great tips! Keeping the kids engaged during summer can be a challenge, but your ideas for activities and routines are super helpful. I especially love the idea of creating a summer schedule to balance fun and learning. Thanks for sharing!
I absolutely loved this post! It can feel overwhelming having the kids home for the summer, but your ideas on activities and structure are so helpful. I especially liked the suggestion about creating a summer bucket list together—what a fun way to keep them engaged! Thanks for the inspiration!
Loved this post! I always struggle with keeping my kids engaged during the summer. Your ideas for fun and educational activities are so helpful. Thank you for the inspiration!
I loved your ideas for keeping the kids engaged during the summer! It’s such a challenge to balance fun and structure. I especially appreciated the suggestion of themed weeks—what a creative way to spark their interests and keep boredom at bay. Thanks for sharing these tips!
I loved this post! It’s so relatable to feel overwhelmed with kids at home during summer. Your suggestions on creating a routine and turning chores into fun activities are great! I’m definitely going to try out the ‘field trip jar’ idea. Thanks for the inspiration!
I loved your ideas for keeping the kids engaged over the summer! It’s so important to balance fun and learning during those months. I’m definitely going to try out a few of these activities. Thanks for sharing!
I loved this post! It’s so relatable to feel a bit overwhelmed when summer hits and the kids are home. Your suggestions for fun activities and how to structure the day really resonated with me. Can’t wait to try some of those ideas out! Thanks for sharing!