Summer is almost here and it’s the perfect time for families to pursue creative, fun activities together. During the school year, family schedules are often dictated by bedtimes, school days, etc., but summer break is a great chance for your family to get intentional about time together and make memories that will last forever.

Check out these 60+ family summer bucket list ideas and create the most unique and memorable summer for your family yet!

Best Summer Activities for Families

Many of these ideas are curated from activities our family has enjoyed together, but there are also several I’m hoping to include for my own family this summer. As my kids grow older right before my very eyes, I’m realizing how important these memory-making opportunities are. I’m sure you’ll find several that will get your family excited for the months to come.

1. Camp in the backyard
2. Grow a garden
3. Visit a farmer’s market
4. Join a summer reading club
5. Stargaze
6. Go for a walk in the rain
7. Head to a garden center
8. Invite friends for a cookout
9. Have a squirt gun fight
10. Build a campfire and enjoy s’mores
11. Organize a block party
12. Go on a nature hike
13. Make homemade popsicles
14. Go berry picking
15. Go kayaking or canoeing
16. Go play in a creek
17. Go to a waterpark or splashpad
18. Visit a zoo
19. Watch a movie outside
20. Have family game night
21. Go for a bikeride
22. Start birdwatching
23. Take a tour of your city
24. Try an escape room
25. Invent a new family game
26. Bake treats for the neighbors
27. Catch fireflies
28. Go to the beach
29. Make homemade ice cream
30. Conduct a messy science experiment
31. Go putt-putt
32. Attend an outdoor play or concert
33. Play flashlight tag
34. Hold a sidewalk chalk competition
35. Fly a kite
36. Plant a fruit tree
37. Support your local ice cream shop
38. Have a water balloon toss
39. Hold a shaving cream sculpture contest
40. Attend a car show (many support a good cause)
41. Have a picnic
42. Visit a state park
43. Make an entry into your county or state fair
44. Go fishing
45. Eat at a food truck
46. Attend a festival
47. Have a garage sale and donate the proceeds
48. Plant flowers
49. Go swimming
50. Establish a new family tradition
51. Make a family movie or play
52. Learn a new hobby together (candle-making, soap-making, carving, wood-burning, etc.)
53. Print family pictures and make photo albums
54. Eat at an outdoor restaurant
55. Create a backyard obstacle course
56. Volunteer at your favorite ministry or charity
57. Try a 5K or family fun run
58. Have a lemonade stand
59. Go antiquing
60. Visit a flea market
61. Make homemade donuts
62. Go for a hike
63. Attend a local parade
64. Send cards to family/friends that live far away
65. Start a family gratitude journal
66. Document your family’s awesome summer and compile pictures into an album, video, slide show, etc.

How to Choose Summer Activities

You can try them all, but I suggest you present the list to your children and have them rank their top favorites. If you wanna be a little more adventurous, you can put all the options into a hat and everyone can pull out two or three. This is perfect for families that can’t decide between too many options!

Of course, don’t forget to add your own ideas to this list. Every family has their own goals. Great questions to ask the kids are:

• What is one thing you’ve always wanted to try?
• What are you most interested in learning about right now?
• Where is one place in town you would like to visit? How about in our state? In our country?
• What is an activity that would bring our family closer together?
• What is something you think our family is good at?

These questions will open up conversations with your family that can help guide how you plan activities for summer.

Be Intentional With Summer Break

I like to plan a summer routine for kids that isn’t too full, but also has plenty of opportunity for fun. One thing I’ve realized is that it doesn’t take long for our summer schedule to get very full with activities. I used to think of summer as this big block of time with less to do. The older I get, the wiser I am. Summer can feel just as busy!

Our schedule often fills up with good things like birthday parties, graduations, holiday celebrations, church VBS, etc. These are good and fun summer activities, but not necessarily things from our bucket list. To make family summer bucket list activities happen, you really do have to plan, and this means scheduling them on the calendar BEFORE summer arrives.

Summer Self-Care for Moms

Just a quick note for the busy moms who are often the ones behind-the-scenes planning all this family fun time. In the middle of all the activities you and your family are enjoying this summer, don’t forget to take moments of time to care for yourself. I believe self-care for moms is an important practice year-round, and that doesn’t stop just because it’s summer.

Need some fresh ideas for summer self-care? No worries! I’ve get 40+ summer self-care activities for homeschool moms (or any moms, really). You can also get them as a free printable list to hang on the fridge. Consider it your own bucket list for summer 🙂

Conclusion

I hope these family summer bucket list activities strengthen the bonds of your family and create some truly amazing memories for you. I hope you discover unique places you might have been unaware of before. Whether you decide to stay close to home, or adventure out and about, I wish you and your family an amazing summer together!