Summer Bucket List for Families

As we approach school dismissal, families are looking two months of freedom squarely in the eye. But what can you do with the days and weekends ahead? We suggest making a family bucket list of goals and activities for this summer. Sit everyone down to discuss options, and to formulate a custom list of fun stuff you want to accomplish before you start shopping for school supplies. I promise this will be a good time because the process won’t be difficult, in fact you’re going to love it! Here are a few super cool suggestions to get the party started:

• Hike a new trail
• Have a scavenger hunt
• Visit a local nature center
• Host a water fight
• Buy a kiddie pool and make it a backyard bubble bath
• Make a lemonade stand
• Catch fireflies
• Pitch a tent and camp in the backyard
• Make homemade popsicles with fresh fruit and juice
• Host a backyard neighborhood movie night by projecting the show on a sheet
• Create a concession stand for the movie night
• Pay Frisbee golf or tag
• Hold a lip sync or karaoke contest
• Sculpt with flour, salt and water dough
• Make up some slime
• Go to the zoo
• Visit your local Humane Society
• Go tubing together on a shallow and lazy river—don’t forget life jackets!
• Make birdhouses from craft kits
• Buy some paint by number sets and get to work
• Hold a neighborhood backyard talent show
• Offer to volunteer to read to nursing home or retirement home residents
• Go disco or moonlight bowling
• Play flashlight tag
• Go roller-skating
• Make tissue paper flowers
• Create a fairy garden
• Run and play in the sprinklers
• Go to a drive-in movie
• Play miniature golf
• Make and decorate sugar cookies on a rainy day
• Roast marshmallows and make s’mores
• Make homemade ice cream
• Host a sundae bar with all the toppings for the ice cream you just made
• Roast sweet corn
• Make butter by shaking heavy cream in a chilled plastic jar—use it on the roasted sweet corn
• Attend an outdoor family-friendly concert
• Paint rocks and stash them in places for people to find
• Have a tug-of-war
• Build a fort out of free wood pallets and scraps—wear gloves and watch out for splinters!
• Host a neighborhood tea party
• Have pool noodle relays
• Attend a baseball or softball game (Any level will do!)
• Have a vintage movie night with classic favorites like Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast
• Host a series of “Minute to Win It” challenges—award dollar store prizes
• Make homemade dough and have everyone make their own pizzas with assorted toppings
• Plan a “Kids in the Kitchen Night,” where the children plan and cook dinner for the family
• Host a “Cupcake Wars” play date—kids can compete for the title of Cupcake Champion
• Visit Kids Quest and enjoy an adult night out!