50 Free Summer Activities for Little Ones

So are you wondering what in the world you are going to do to entertain your little ones ALL summer long!! Well I found the most awesome extensive list of fun things to do over on Adventures in Diapering!  She has listed “100 Fun Activities” – I narrowed down the list to my favorite 50.

My plan is to print this page, hang it up and mark them off as I do them.

I know so many times in the morning the kids will whine “what are we doing today?”

Now I’ll look at the list and pick one fun activity to do with them and cross it out – this just helps me to be more creative and intentional about my time spent with them.

50 Free Summer Activities For Little Ones

• Make a Dog House out of a Box
• Play the “Hot/Cold” Game
• Have an Easter Egg Hunt- Anytime of the Year!
• Help Them Make a Letter/Picture to Mail to One of Their Friends
• Have a Picnic in the Living Room (this is something we do regularly)
• Make Cut-out cookies (share some with the neighbors or a Sunday School teacher)
• Take a Walk Somewhere New
• Make Sock Puppets
• Create Your Own Movie
• Plant Some Flowers or Vegetables From Seeds
• Lie Down on a Blanket Outside and Name the Animals You See in the Clouds
• Have an Indoor Pretend Campfire
• Have a PJ Party (we do these regularly too – we all sleep in my sons room on the floor)
• Play Restaurant (I did this as a surprise for my family one night. I made menus, transformed into a waitress and made the kids pretend to pay me – it’s a fun twist for dinner – even my husband enjoyed this!!!)
• Go for a Nature Walk
• Have a Scavenger Hunt (my kids LOVE to make these for me and it keeps them busy hiding things for over half an hour – and it only takes a few minutes for me to follow the clues)
• Make Collages (give them old magazines or ads – this will keep their hands busy for a long time – love it!)
• Finger Paint with Chocolate Pudding (I’ve never tried this but we will this summer)
• Have a Popcorn Movie Night (this is a regular in the winter time)
• Write a Story Together
• Act Out a Bible Story (this is an excellent teaching tool)
• Play on a Playground- TOGETHER! (burn a few calories!)
• Set up a Pretend Hospital (my husband loves this cause he gets to lay on the couch for an hour while the children dote on him!)
• Count Your Blessings- Seriously, Make a List and Count them.
• Exercise and Stretch Together
• Have a Bike Wash
• Go Pebble Hunting
• Have a Color Theme
• Look at Old Family Photos Together (my kids LOVE to see their baby photos)
• Make a Fruit-Loop Necklace
• Color Pictures to Send to Family Members that Live Far Away
• Have a Reading Day- Check Out a Ton of Books from the Library, and Then Spend all Afternoon Reading (perfect for the next rainy day!)
• Have a Tea Party
• Set Up an Obstacle Course (my son does this regularly on the driveway for his sister)
• Decorate Your Bikes and Have a Little Parade (we did this one year for the 4th of July with streamers and all!)
• Play with Shaving Cream
• Have a Pots and Pans Musical Band
• Make Pet Rocks
• Build a Fort Out of Blankets
• Play Volleyball Using a Balloon
• Create an Alphabet Book
• Play Red Light/Green Light
• Play Indoor Basketball Using a Laundry Basket and Stuffed Animals
• Create a Mini-Salon and Give Each Other Funny Hair-Dos
• Play Freeze Tag
• Go Bug Hunting in the Backyard (another one of my sons favorite past times! Ick!)
• Decorate Cupcakes and take them to a neighbor
• Learn About a Different Country
• Have a Backwards day
• Play hide and seek (I love to count very slowly and then go from room to room uncluttering while I “pretend” to look for them – they are having fun and I get work done – is this wrong? Maybe I shouldn’t have admitted this!!! haha!)
• Walk with the King!