Summer vacation is fast approaching, and as excited as most kids are to be out of school, some will be complaining of boredom soon after. In order to beat the boredom blues, and still stay under budget, here are 8 fun and free activities for kids’ summer vacations, some are even classics with a few new twists to make them more interesting.
1 Build a Blanket Fort
This is a great activity if it’s rainy and the kids can’t get outside. To make it even better, have a contest to see who can build the best one. Set rules up ahead of time if you are concerned the competition could lead to bickering. If your children are younger, read to them by flashlight inside the tent instead. Your kids might even decided to have a living room camp out if you let them leave up the blanket fort overnight.
2 Have a Pillow Fight
Another great indoor activity for kids’ summer vacations is to have a pillow fight. You could turn it into a game and assign points, such as 5 points for a hit between the knees and shoulders, 10 below the knees, and -5 if it hits someone in the head. Make sure the pillows are fluffy and you move anything fragile to a safe area before the game begins!
3 Play Hide & Seek
Set a timer and assign points if you want to turn traditional hide and seek into a more challenging game. Or, add glow necklaces or string some other glow in the dark object around each child’s neck and play at night. Always make sure your kids are in a safe area first if you go this route.
4 Have a Treasure Hunt
You could give the older kids a pre-printed list of items to find. Challenge each younger child to come up with an object that corresponds to a letter of the alphabet. Another twist would be to have them come sit down with you after a certain period of time, then go around the circle one by one and tell you about each “treasure” they chose – where they picked it up, why it caught their eye, etc. This could be done either indoors or outdoors, which is great in case of bad weather.
5 Go to the Park
Walk or drive to their favorite park. To make it extra special, invite a few of their friends. Don’t forget drinks and snacks for a hot summer’s day.
6 Have a Dance Party
This activity could be done either indoors or outdoors. If the kids are stuck inside because of bad weather, it’s a great way to burn off energy safely. You might even be able to have a dance party competition with a game like Dance Dance Revolution. If your dance party is outdoors, they can turn the music up a little and go a bit crazy to burn off some more energy.
7 Play Dress Up
Get out those old funky clothes in the back of your closet and let the kids have fun with them. Older kids could practice being “prim and proper” in some of your old career clothes. Add another twist to dress up by having kids talk with an accent or put on a play using the clothes for their costumes.
8 Play Tag/Duck, Duck, Goose
You probably don’t need any explanation on this classic!
We hope this list gets the ball rolling for some great summertime fun and free activities for kids’ summer vacations. I’m sure this will be a summer vacation your kids won’t soon forget.
How many other fun and free activities for kids’ summer vacations can you come up with? Have you done any of these things on your kids’ summer vacations?
Good advice as things need to start getting planned now, even though in our neck of the woods, summer break doesn’t start until mid-June. I know that some areas in the south and such get out way earlier, so I’m sure this will be a good guide.
Thanks! I’m glad you like it. I know Summer vacation for kids starts at different times across the country, and it’s coming up quickly where I live. It’s already less than a month away!
I think our summer would have more fun with these summer activities. Of the list, I like playing hide and seek with kids, Kayla. Which one do you like most?