Get back to basics with these traditional summer activities that the whole family can enjoy!
Oh, those endless summers spent running through sprinklers, picnicking in parks and licking endless ice cream cones.
There’s a lot to be said for getting back to basics; especially when it’s cheap, easy and always a bucketful of fun.
So, we’ve taken a trip down memory lane to share 50 “old school” summer activities that are easy to recreate with your family, and guaranteed to get everyone smiling. Have fun!
- Decorate your bike: you can find all kinds of colourful accessories online, or use spray paint, paint pens, stickers and streamers that you already have.
- Make a grass whistle
- Look at creepy crawlies under a magnifying glass
- Lie on your back and spot shapes in the clouds
- Play cards
- Binge read a series
- Play Pooh Sticks
- Create a masterpiece on the wall, pavement or patio with sidewalk chalk
- Make ice cream (BBC Good Food has lots of ideas here)
- Rope the family in for a skipping game or even a tournament!
- Make jelly. Eat with a huge scoop of ice cream – don’t forget the sprinkles!
- Go on a bike ride and take a picnic
- Build a mini beast pond with a washing up bowl. Add some greenery and water, then sit back and observe what crawls along to investigate!
- Tie die something – a shirt, sheet, hoodie; whatever you please!
- Make tin can lanterns (there’s a tutorial here)
- Lie in the grass and look at the stars!
- Skim stones
- Catch fireflies
- Run through a sprinkler
- Make a slip n slide
- Camp out in the garden
- Make a boat and float it!
- Have a sack race!
- Play hopscotch
- Roll down a hill
- Kick off your shoes and feel the grass, sand or soil between your toes!
- Build a fort
- Feed the ducks
- Make a potion
- Fly a kite
- Climb a tree
- Make an ant farm
- Play “What Time is it Mr Wolf?”
- Make a water bomb out of paper! Learn how here.
- Pick wild flowers, tie them into a bouquet with a blade of grass and give them to someone special!
- Make stilts with cans and string. There’s a tutorial here.
- Roller skate!
- Make an old school telephone with empty yoghurt pots and string
- Play marbles
- Make a raft
- Spend the day at the beach, take a picnic and go crabbing or rock pooling. Extra points for sandy sandwiches.
- Make a mud pie! Throw it if you dare!
- Create – and wear – a daisy chain
- Go paddling
- Keep a journal
- Play tiddlywinks
- Start a scrapbook
- Lean how to knit or sew. Try finger knitting!
- Play Cat’s Cradle
- Watch old TV shows. There are plenty on YouTube and my kids (and us!) have had lots of fun discovering Gummi Bears and Duck Tales!
Have a lovely Summer and do let us know if you try any of these activities, over in our Facebook Chat Group. Looking for more local news? Like and follow our FB news page here.