The sun is out and school’s out too! If your kids are looking for things to do this summer then these no prep summer activities are perfect for keeping boredom at bay.
They all require either no prep at all or minimal effort – such as printing something off from your computer or grabbing supplies you probably already have.
I hope these 50 summer activity ideas will give you lots to do with your kids over the warm months!
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No prep summer activities
If you need extra help with keeping busy this summer then don’t forget to grab my summer bucket list for kids. Download for free and stick it on your fridge to give you ideas when boredom strikes!
You may also like these summer crafts and activities.
1. Hide and seek
It’s a classic for a reason! A game of hide and seek is the perfect way to enjoy a summer day.
Plus you can do it at home, in the yard or at the park.
2. Sidewalk chalk art
This activity keeps my children busy for absolutely ages.
Chunky sidewalk chalk is easy for little or big hands to grab and they can then do whatever they want to decorate your sidewalk or driveway.
When it rains the chalk will simply wash away and they can start all over again.
3. Potion making
I love this activity because it is just the right side of messy for me. It’s best done outside.
Challenge your kids to fill a drinking cup, jam jar or bucket with items they find around the garden to create a fairy potion.
My kids gather things like leaves, petals, grass, earth, pebbles and twigs to create their own potions.
I then top it up with a little water so they can stir their mixture.
4. Skipping
So much fun and great for multiple kids to play together.
Get them to challenge each other to see how many jumps of a rope they can do in a row.
5. Treasure hunt
The easiest way to do a low prep treasure hunt for your kids is to take some of their toys, or if you have something like play coins that works well, and hide them in various places around the house.
The more things you hide, the longer their treasure hunt will take!
6. Relay race
Set up a relay race in your yard – if you don’t have a baton to play with then use a small ball or a stick to pass between you.
7. Pop up tent den
We bought a pop up tent for days at the beach however this little tent also provides tons of play possibilities at home!
It takes seconds to put up and then kids can create a den, filling it with comfy cushions and their toys.
8. Playing with the sprinkler
In warm weather everyone loves to play with the sprinkler. It’s the perfect way to cool down.
Challenge your kids to jump and race through the water. You could play games such as who can pull the best pose as they leap through the water.
9. Have a toy car wash
Set up a bowl of slightly soapy water and a small sponge and set your kids to work washing their toy cars.
10. Pretend to be a delivery driver
My kids absolutely love this game! We have some pizza boxes at home which we use when we have homemade pizza nights and my kids like to use one of these to pretend to be delivering food on their bikes.
Set up a series of spots along a delivery route in your back yard and challenge your kids to complete their deliveries.
11. Create a nature collage
Head to the park, forest or your own back garden and collect nature items such as petals, leaves, grass and small twigs.
Then give your kids a piece of paper and challenge them to lay out the items to create a collage or picture.
12. Grab these free printable summer activities
My free summer printable activities will keep your kids happy!
The only bit of prep required is downloading them and then printing them off.
Once that’s done, your kids will love to play with these fun summer themed games and activities.
13. Play catch
A ball can easily keep kids happy for a long time on a nice day outside! Playing catch or soccer are great activities to keep them busy.
14. Play board games outdoors
Get a selection of board games and set up a blanket outside. Enjoy a family gaming session and see who has the most wins.
15. Frisbee
Throw a frisbee between you and see who has the best success rate at catching it.
16. Jump in puddles
Get your kids to pull on their wellies and jump in puddles if you get a rainy day.
If not you could always create some puddles in your garden using your sprinkler.
17. Play duck duck goose
This one needs to be played in a group who sit in a circle. The person who is “it” walks around the circle and taps people on the head saying “duck”. Then they call one “goose” and that person needs to chase the one who is “it” and try to tag them.
If they manage to tag the person who is “it” then the “goose” can sit back down. If they do not, then they are now “it”.
18. Play with the hose
If you don’t have a sprinkler then the hose makes for great fun too. My kids like to use it to create rainbows in the sky on very bright sunny days.
19. Water the plants
I often ask my kids to water the plants, which keeps them busy for a good 10 minutes at least.
20. Make paper boats
Fold paper boats – you can use online tutorials to figure out how.
Then try racing them either in a paddling pool outside, a bucket of water or the bathtub.
21. Bird watching
Challenge your kids to keep an eye on all the birds that land or pass through the garden. Tell them to write down what they see.
A book is great for older kids so they can identify what they do spot.
22. Nature drawing
Spend some time outside drawing different parts of nature you can see.
You can also get your kids to collect some items from outside, such as leaves and petals, and then draw around them.
23. Hot and cold game
Hide a small object – such as a toy – somewhere in your home or outside.
Then challenge your kids to find it. You need to say “warmer” or “colder” depending in whether they get closer or further away from the item.
24. Jump rope
A simple jump rope can provide hours of entertainment, whether played in a group or just one kid on their own.
25. Limbo
Use a bamboo stick from the garden or a jump role to set up a limbo and take it in turns to try to pass underneath it.
26. Rainbow challenge
Challenge your kids to find toys in every colour of the rainbow, gather them together and arrange them by colour.
27. Put on a talent show
Ask your kids to practice and rehearse a talent show and then sit down to watch what they have come up with.
28. Play capture the flag
A classic game that is great fun for the family to play together. You will need enough people for two teams. The objective is to capture the other team’s flag.
Each team defends their flag and can send competitors back to their own territory by tagging them.
29. Have a picnic
A simple picnic outdoors is a lovely way to spend an afternoon. It doesn’t require a huge amount of prep, just take what you were having for lunch outside!
31. Play dodgeball
A game of dodgeball is the perfect way to spend an afternoon outdoors! Get your kids to invite their friends over to join in.
32. Blow bubbles
Blowing bubbles is a popular outdoor activity for kids. They can do it for themselves, or alternatively a bubble machine is so much fun as it generates hundreds of bubbles a minute.
33. Make an obstacle course challenge
Use play tunnels, cardboard boxes, chairs and blankets to make an obstacle course for your kids to complete.
34. Build an outdoor fort
Grab some chairs and a large bed sheet and create a fun fort for kids to play in outdoors.
35. Host a teddy bear’s picnic
Put a blanket on the ground in the garden and let your kid bring their favourite toys outside for a picnic.
If you have a toy tea set then that works perfectly, or you can let your kids play with some of your own mugs outside.
36. Make mud pies
A classic kids’ activity! You may not want to repeat this more than once during the summer because of the mess, but your kids will love it.
37. Follow the leader
Kids will love to play this classic game outdoors or in the house. One person is the leader and has to decide on the route they will take.
You could make it more fun by introducing a sprinkler or an obstacle course too.
38. Remote control car race
If you have more than one remote control car then get your kids to have a race. You could do this in your hallway – try using masking tape to mark out a road for the route. Or you could try it outside for more space.
39. Bug hunt
Go on a bug hunt in your back yard or at a local park or on a forest walk.
You could give your kids buckets so they can gently collect some specimens and take a closer look.
40. Pretend shops
My kids absolutely love pretending to run their own shop. Get some toys, canned food and other items from your home so they can pretend to “sell” them.
41. Have a nature photo competition
This works best with a polaroid camera, or you can let your kids borrow your phone to take pictures.
Challenge your kids to take the most interesting picture of nature – coincide it with a walk somewhere beautiful.
42. Squirt gun painting
Encourage your kids to use a water pistol to “paint” the side of the house or fence with water. They can create patterns of pictures.
43. Masking tape road track races
Use masking tape to create a road in the house or on the sidewalk outside.
Then kids can run their toy cars along it to race or play games.
44. Tree climbing
My kids love to climb this one tree in our backyard, however you could go for a walk in search of some trees that are easy to climb.
45. Cloud watching
Lay out a blanket on the ground and look up at the clouds. Take it in turns to say what you see in the clouds. Perfect for encouraging kids to be creative!
46. Water balloon fight
You can make water balloons in just seconds with this cool water balloons quick fill machine. Much easier than making them one at a time!
47. Make a flower crown
Tell your kids to gather flowers to use in a flower crown. You could create daisy chains to make your flower crown, or try this fun tutorial.
48. Go for a nature walk
Head outside and enjoy a walk somewhere beautiful near where you live. Try somewhere you’ve never been before.
49. Hopscotch
The classic playground game can be recreated at home using chalk to draw out the squares or masking tape to mark it out.
50. Play I Spy
Me and my kids can spend a good 30 minutes playing I Spy together. They always win!
51. Make a chalk maze for their toys
Create a clever maze for your kids to try to find the centre of. You can always find templates to copy online to help you map it out.
52. Play with slime
If you have some slime in the house then it’s a great way to keep your kids busy for a while.
53. Paint pictures
Get out the paint supplies and some paper then ask the kids to create self portraits, or a picture of the family pet.
54. Parachute games
A large parachute is perfect for entertaining a group of kids to play with. You’ll need a decent amount of space but
