45 Cheap (or Free) Summer Fun Ideas
The official start of summer is just days away and I know how hard it is to keep kids entertained all summer long. I found making a list on my calendar helped me pick a fun thing to do every day. Here are 45 cheap or better yet free, great ideas for summer fun for you and the kids:
Catch firelies
Decorate t-shirts outside with paint or dye
Have a tea party outside
Make a birdhouse
Make your own ice popsBake a pie or cookies
Feed the ducks
Go swimming
Plant a garden or a herb garden
Play with water balloons
Play with water guns
Go on a scavenger hunt in your neighborhood
Play hide and go seek in the dark
Have a picnic
Make S’mores
Learn how to knit and teach your kids, maybe even take a class
Visit the zoo
Visit a museum or children’s museum
Let your children play outside in the rain
Make a theme day, like a “red day” wear red eat only red foods (tomato, apples, strawberries, polish your nails red) or “dinosaur day” (read about dinosaurs, color dinosaur pictures, eat only veggies that day)
Write a letter to a grandparent or friend
Have a lemonade stand
Pick fruits or veggies at your local farms
Make an indoor sand or (Rice!) box
Find free movies in your town
Play hopscotch
Draw with sidewalk chalk
Play with bubbles, have a biggest bubble contest
Race some bug you find on the ground
Join a reading club for grades 1-6
Have a “day of beauty” paint nails, have masks, give your kids a massage
Buy a hammock and take a nap together
Play with a remote controlled RV or boat
Visit a day fair or carnival
Go for a hike
Can berries for the winter
Grab your sleeping bags and sleep on the floor together
Do some arts & crafts
Grow butterflies (My kids LOVE this!)
Visit a neighbor
Make a bubble pool in your backyard
Make a trip to a board walk
Just be together
What are your favorite family summer fun ideas?
June 18th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Great ideas Erinn! I forgot about what fun it was to feed the ducks. I also like the t-shirt and bird house idea.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Sandra, Feeding the ducks is so much fun, my kids and I love it and it is a great way to use up the old bread!
July 21st, 2008 at 11:28 am
[...]  So this morning, I hit google looking for ideas and I found two great blog entries with ideas. You can find them here and here. [...]