200 Fun Ideas for Your Summer Bucket List

Have you ever made a summer bucket list for your family? It’s a great way to list out all the things you hope to do over the summer and it holds you accountable to having some family fun. I’ve got 200 fun ideas that you can add to your list. But, caution, don’t add all 200! Pick and choose the best summer bucket list ideas for your family. And, don’t list so many that you’ll stress out!

Note: This post was updated on May 28, 2016 with updated links and graphics.

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Go Swimming

Go Camping

Go on a hike

Make homemade lemonade

Make popsicles

Make homemade ice cream

Go stargazing

Plant a garden (Rainy Day Mum)

Go to a farmer’s market

Go to a pick-your-own farm

Go to the zoo

Go to an amusement park

Go to a “new to you” park

Go on a bike ride

Play hopscotch

Do splat painting (Mummy Mummy Mum)

Play Red Light Green Light

Play tag

Have a family board game night

Have paper airplane races

Host a cook-out

Make ice cream sundaes

Bake a pie

Go on a scavenger hunt

Make story stones

Make garden stones (NurtureStore)

Walk on a balance beam (In Lieu of Preschool)

Have an outdoor movie night (Word Play House)

Experiment with baking soda and vinegar (Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas)

Make a rain gauge & measure the rain (The Imagination Tree)

Make a mud pie (Small Potatoes)

Make a wormery (NurtureStore)

Climb a tree (Childhood Beckons)

Decorate flower pots (NutureStore)

Start a rock collection (Inspiration Laboratories)

Catch fireflies

Read books outside

Go to story time at the library

Go on a color palette nature walk (Glittering Muffins)

Keep a nature journal (Rainy Day Mum)

Go bird watching

Make homemade play dough (The Imagination Tree)

Make pool noodle hurdles (Learn Play Imagine)

Put shaving cream on the slide (Growing a Jeweled Rose)

Make nature wands (Sun Hats and Wellie Boots)

Fly a kite

Run a race

Go on a picnic

Paint with patio toys (Sun Hats and Wellie Boots)

Visit a pond

Visit a garden

Build a sand castle

Play with ice

Make land art (Playful Learning)

Make dirt cake (Kids Activities Blog)

Dig for dinosaurs (Let’s Go Fly a Kite)

Go to a museum

Visit a nature center

Make butter (Kids Activities Blog)

Hunt for bugs

Play paintman (Kids Activities Blog)

Build a boat

Make your own board game (Mama Scout)

Do science experiments with candy (Mama Smiles)

Paint with your mouth (Crayon Freckles)

Do a raised salt painting (One Perfect Day)

Trace shadows

Make plaster balloon sculptures (The Artful Parent)

Play with sticks

Play with frisbees

Play tic-tac-toe on the sidewalk

Make suncatchers

Write a story and illustrate it

Make smoothies

Learn to hula hoop

Make s’mores

Cook over a camp fire

Eat watermelon

Make strawberry jam

Make a fruit salad

Make fresh salsa (Craft Create Cook)

Hunt for sea shells

Have a water balloon fight

Look for shapes in the clouds

Be a nature photographer

Go to a splash park

Watch a fireworks show

Make your own slip & slide (Inner Child Fun)

Go for a walk on the beach

Go on a sound hunt (Strings, Keys, & Melodies)

Go to a parade

Watch the summer Olympics

Have a lemonade stand (Curly Birds)

Make bird feeders

Have a puppet show

Paint with bubbles (Housing a Forest)

Make homemade bouncy balls (Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas)

Go to a baseball game

Play mini golf

Write a letter

Make homemade cards and mail them to faraway friends or relatives

Make a marble run (Inner Child Fun)

Paint on cardboard

Paint a self-portrait

Watch the sunset

See what happens when you add salt to ice (Juggling with Kids)

Have a root beer float

Make coffee filter butterflies

Make friendship bracelets

Participate in your library’s reading program

Eat fresh peaches

Make rainsticks (Mama Pea Pod)

Swing as high as you can

Learn about a different country

Try a new food

Build a fort

Make tie-dyed socks (Juggling With Kids)

Put on a play

Slide down a water slide

Go to an outdoor concert

Bake cookies and deliver them to a neighbor

Have a dance party

Make giant bubbles (The Enchanted Tree)

Grill pizzas (The Kitchn)

Make finger paints

Play beach ball volleyball

Examine a tidal pool

Memorize a poem

Do a sink or float experiment

Tell ghost stories

Play Pooh Sticks

Go to a local festival

Go pretend fishing (Childhood Beckons)

Make nature mandalas (The Golden Gleam)

Play hide & seek

Learn to paint like Monet (The Crafty Classroom)

Play with water beads (The Artful Parent)

Play book bingo

Play with cloud dough (Happy Hooligans)

Have a party for no particular reason

Make a terrarium (Kids Activities Blog)

Play t-ball

Have silly races

Play with a messy spaghetti sensory box (One Perfect Day)

Go for a walk at twilight

Learn how to use real tools (hammer, screwdriver, wrench, etc.)

Go to an art museum (Mama Scout)

Make recycled crayons (Make and Takes)

Make super hero capes and pretend to be a super hero (Racks and Mooby)

Paint with cars (Hands On: As We Grow)

Make ribbon wands and dance outside (Sun Hats and Wellie Boots)

Make old-fashioned silhouette pictures (123 Homeschool 4 Me)

Fill a sketch book

Make frozen banana pops (Mess for Less)

Make a life-size robot (Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas)

Learn to sew a simple pillow (Kids Activities Blog)

Make campfire cones (Come Together Kids)

Make egg carton finger puppets (Red Ted Art)

Watch carnations change colors

Make your own compass and learn how to use it (Kids Activities Blog)

Go to a local festival

Make an Olympic Rings collage

Build Lego towers

Make a cork-print tree

Make a hat out of newspapers

Make your own jump rope (Mama’s Little Muse)

Make homemade alphabet books (Life with Moore Babies)

Make raisins dance (Juggling With Kids)

Examine nature with a magnifying glass

Learn a few jump rope rhymes

Learn a new card game

Paint with fly swatters (Reading Confetti)

Paint with water color spray paint (Creative Connections for Kids)

Make your own paper dolls (Imagination Soup)

Have a 3-Legged Race

Work a jigsaw puzzle

Go geocaching (The Flourishing Abode)

Make hand print fireworks (No Time for Flashcards)

Make stick men (Red Ted Art)

Mail a hug (Tons of Fun)

Learn to do a cartwheel

Dive off a diving board

Paint the sky (Growing a Jeweled Rose)

Make a twig & twine raft (Word Play House)

Paint with golf balls (Mess for Less)

Create a fairy garden (Inner Child Fun)

Build a ramp for your toy cars (Hands On: As We Grow)

Play Follow the Leader

Swim in a lake

Swim in the ocean

Be a tourist in your own town

Play flashlight tag

Make a cd hovercraft (Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational)

Set up a pretend potion lab (Inspiration Laboratories)

Go on a road trip

Wash the car

Have a sleepover

Go to a movie

Read a chapter book together as a family

Make a scrapbook of all your summer fun!

Did I forget anything? What would you add to this list?And if that’s not enough, here are 100 more fun ideas for your summer bucket list!