Summer Bucket List Activities for Kids
If you’re new around here, welcome! On the Birdie Bean blog it’s our main goal to help you create lasting family memories, entertain your birdies, and do it all in your favorite matching pieces and pjs (from Birdie Bean of course!).
In this post, we’re going to be helping you create a summer bucket list for kids.
We know that bucket lists can feel like another to-do list, and you probably already have enough on your plate. The last thing we want is to create another list of things hanging over your head to get done this summer.
That’s exactly why we are creating a stress-free summer bucket list for KIDS, not an endless to-do list for moms. We want to fill this bucket list with activities that take little setup and management on your end. No, “Visit 3 National Parks” or “Take the Kids Camping” here.
Instead we found the cutest summer themed coloring pages, the easiest outdoor garden to set up and sensory activities to keep the little ones entertained for hours.
Are you ready to help your birdies have the most magical summer of their lives?
Summer Bucket List Activities for Kids
Summer Themed Coloring Pages
We love the idea of being able to print out coloring pages for the kids. It’s turned into the easiest activity (and it costs nothing!) There are so many websites that offer free printable coloring pages with themes for every season and holiday.
You can print several pages out and let your kids choose what they want to color. Here are some of our favorites:
Make Handprint Suncatchers
Kim from the Best Ideas for Kids has shared some adorable handprint crafts, but our favorite are these handprint suncatchers! We love crafts that can double as a keepsake and decoration. And what better activity for summer than this?
Kim has shared detailed instructions as well as a helpful video – so make sure to check out her post and make these adorable handprint suncatchers today!
Backyard Scavenger Hunt
Creating a backyard scavenger hunt is one of the easiest ways to get the kids outside for a couple of hours. All you have to do is take stock of what’s in your backyard, and create a scavenger hunt based on what you know your kids will be able to find, and their skill level. It always helps if you have older kids to help the younger ones. Things that you can add to your backyard scavenger hunt include:
- Spot a bird
- Find a round rock
- Find a flat rock
- Count ten leaves on the trees
- Smell 5 flowers
And so on and so forth. Some of the items can be things they need to observe while others will be things they need to spot or listen for.
Create a Family Garden
Gardening might sound like a lot of work, but once you have the vegetables in the ground it can be one of the most rewarding things you do with your kids.
Starting a garden with your kids can help them connect to nature and the food that they eat, plus seeing the vegetables come to life can spark so much joy. Like we stated at the beginning of this post, we don’t want this summer bucket list to end up as a giant to-do list for mom, so we’ve researched the easiest veggies to grow!
Keep in mind, you don’t need a ton of space to do this. Everything we’re sharing with you today can be grown in a pot or in small vegetable boxes.
For your summer bucket list garden, try planting:
- Green beans – green beans can withstand a variety of temperatures and conditions, which just means that they are hardy and hard to kill. They can also be grown in pots, so you don’t need a ton of space for these! And maybe when your birdies grow them themselves, they won’t be so afraid to eat them!
- Carrots – these are another easy one because they also survive in all climates. Picking carrots is also more fun because you don’t get to see how big they are underground. Pulling them up will be a fun surprise for the whole family.
- Potatoes – contrary to popular belief, potatoes don’t need a ton of space either! You can actually grow them in these grow bags that take up almost no space at all. To start growing potatoes you need a ‘seed potato’ so having the kids watch for the potato to sprout can be a fun addition to the activity. It’s a bit like a science experiment!
- Cherry tomatoes – cherry tomatoes produce a lot of fruit, so get ready to be eating tomatoes all summer long. This fun, fresh fruit (yes, technically a fruit…) will always remind your kids of summer!
- Peas – peas can be fun because they provide the additional activity of shelling them. As a kid I have memories of sitting on the porch with my grandma and a basket of peas. We’d shell the peas together and she would tell me stories about her childhood or my parents. This is definitely something that you could pass on to your kids!
PJ Movie Day
When you wake up and you just feel like doing nothing, stay in your PJs and start a movie marathon. Maybe it’s your first rainy day of the summer and you just don’t feel like going out, or maybe the kids aren’t feeling the best and you just need an easy way to entertain them all day. Make sure to keep a family movie marathon in your back pocket – it’s sure to be the favorite summer bucket list item for your kids!
This can be a great excuse for you to stay in your PJs to mama, so make sure you’ve picked up the most comfortable pair in the world.
Summer Bucket List Treats for Kids
From watermelon to fresh lemonade, there are certain foods that just remind us of summer. So if you’re already making a summer bucket list for your kids, you’ve got to include some of the amazing and yummy foods that it wouldn’t be summer without!
- Make homemade ice cream
- Go out for snow cones
- Eat watermelon
- Make s’mores (we shared an easy way to make indoor s’mores in this post)
- Buy an ice cream from the ice cream truck
- Make Rootbeer floats
- Have a homemade pizza night
- Make homemade lemonade
Other Summer Bucket Lists for Kids Suggestions
If you’re looking for a few other ways to keep the kids entertained this summer, why not try some traditional summer activities that we call grew up doing:
- Lay on your back and watch the clouds
- Make a bird feeder
- Have a backyard picnic
- Jump in puddles
- Blow bubbles
- Make and bury a time capsule
- Jump on the trampoline
- Dance in the rain
- Fly a kite
- Find constellations
- Color with sidewalk chalk
- Run through the sprinklers
- Wash the family car
- Make friendship bracelets
- Have a playdate at the park
Alright, now it’s your turn! What do you love to do together as a family? What would you add to a summer bucket list for kids? Come hangout and chat with us over on Instagram (@birdiebeanbaby), we love to get social with you there.
And no matter how you spend this summer, make sure to spend it in style. Shop our latest styles and prints, from adorable swim to patriotic tees – out now! Don’t forget that family memories are always that much sweeter in matching jammies.
