200+ Summertime Boredom Busters for Kids

by Deborah Taylor-Hough
Excerpted and adapted with permission from
The Original Simple Mom’s Idea Book (Simple Pleasures Press, 2015).

We always tried not to use the phrase “I’m bored!” in our home while the kids were growing up. Consequently, we didn’t hear our kids complaining about being bored during those long days at home during the summer months. But I have to admit that we were still an incredibly normal family, so even without the “b-word” in their vocabulary, there were still those times when my three children were at a total loss for something constructive to do.

On one of those “I-can’t-think-of-anything-to-do” days, I had my children sit down and make a list of everything they could do completely on their own without parental help. After they brainstormed about it for over an hour (which was a good anti-boredom activity, itself), the kids had a list of about fifty activities. Surprisingly, they even included a few household chores like dusting and weeding!

I decided to ask for input from some other moms, and now my children have a list of over two hundred ideas to beat summertime boredom, and the list just seems to keep growing. Thanks to the suggestion of one mom, we’ve put each item on this list onto individual pieces of paper, placed the papers into a container, and when the children need inspiration for an activity, they draw two or three papers and then decide which idea they want to do, either as a group or individually. The mom who suggested pulling ideas out of a container told me she found this method more helpful than giving the kids a huge list of possibilities. By narrowing the choices down to just two or three, it was easier for the kids to pick out the one that sounded the best to them.

200+ Ideas for Summertime Activities

In no particular order, here’s our current (but continually growing!) list of activities:

ride bikes
roller blade
basketball
play board games
make a tent out of blankets
squirt with hoses
run through the sprinkler
jump rope
read books
blow bubbles
make homemade play dough
play with play dough
press flowers
do crafts with pressed flowers
write a letter to a relative, friend or pen pal
clean bedroom
vacuum living room
clean bathroom
make a craft
draw
color
paint
pull weeds
watch a movie
write stories
use binoculars
use magnifying glass
use microscope
bird watching
write a play
act out a play
invent circus acts
perform a circus
play card games
make art on the front walkway with sidewalk chalk
play catch
play baseball
collect rocks
collect leaves
collect feathers
play Frisbee
make Frisbee’s out of old plastic lids, decorate with markers
dust the house
brush the pet
write letters
read a magazine
play dress-up
play Cowboys
pick vegetables
play outside with the pet
build a fort in your rooms
build a fort in the backyard
do a jigsaw puzzle
Look for some of the best nerf machine guns and give your kids countless hours of water fight fun
play on the Geosafari
play on the computer
listen to a story or book on tape
do extra schoolwork to get ahead
do brain teasers (ie: crosswords, word searches, hidden pictures, mazes, etc.)
cook
prepare lunch
surprise a neighbor with a good deed
play store
prepare a “restaurant” lunch with menus
hold a tea party
have a Teddy bear picnic
play with toy cars
play dolls
play house
chase butterflies
collect caterpillars and bugs
plant a garden or a pot
collect seeds
hunt for four-leaf clovers
learn magic tricks
put on a magic show
plant a container garden
sprout seeds or beans
make sock puppets
put on a puppet show
make Christmas presents
make homemade wrapping paper
make homemade gift cards
make picture frames from twigs glued onto sturdy cardboard
crochet or knit
make doll clothes
sew buttons in designs on old shirts
run relay races
make bookmarks
take a quiet rest time
take a shower or bath
bathe a pet
feed the birds or squirrels
watch the clouds
organize a dresser drawer
clean under the bed
empty dishwasher
vacuum under the couch cushions and keep any change found
write these ideas on pieces of paper and pick out one or two to do
whittle
whittle bars of soap
practice musical instruments
perform a family concert
teach yourself to play musical instrument (recorder, harmonica, guitar)
fold laundry
sweep kitchen or bathroom floors
sweep front walkway
sweep or spray back patio
sweep or spray driveway
wash car
vacuum car
vacuum or dust window blinds
clean bathroom mirrors
clean sliding glass doors
clean inside of car windows
wash bicycles
clean garage
play in the sandbox
build a sandcastle
work with clay
copy your favorite book illustration
design your own game
build with blocks or Legos
create a design box (copper wire, string, odds-and-ends of things destined for the garbage, pom-poms, thread, yarn, etc.)
plan a neighborhood or family Olympics
have a marble tournament
paint a picture with lemon juice on white paper and hang it in a sunny window and see what happens in a few days
finger paint with pudding
make dessert
make dinner
give your pet a party
paint the sidewalk with water
start a journal of summer fun
start a nature diary
have a read-a-thon with a friend or sibling
have a neighborhood bike wash
play flashlight tag
play Kick the Can
check out a science book and try some experiments
make up a story
arrange photo albums
find bugs and start a collection
do some stargazing
decorate bikes or wagons and have a neighborhood parade
catch butterflies and then let them go
play hide-and-seek
create a symphony with bottles and pans and rubber bands
listen to the birds sing
try to imitate bird calls
read a story to a younger child
find shapes in the clouds
string dry noodles or O-shaped cereals into a necklace
glue noodles into a design on paper
play hopscotch
play jacks
make up a song
make a teepee out of blankets
write in your journal
find an ant colony and spill some food and watch what happens
play charades
make up a story by drawing pictures
draw a cartoon strip
make a map of your bedroom, house or neighborhood
call a friend
cut pictures from old magazines and write a story
make a collage using pictures cut from old magazines
do a secret service for a neighbor
plan a treasure hunt
make a treasure map
make up a “Bored List” of things to do
plan a special activity for your family
search your house for items made in other countries and then learn about those countries from the encyclopedia or online
plan an imaginary trip to the moon
plan an imaginary trip around the world, where would you want to go
write a science-fiction story
find a new pen pal
make up a play using old clothes as costumes
make up a game for practicing math facts
have a Spelling Bee
make up a game for practicing spelling
surprise an elderly neighbor or relative by weeding his/her garden
fingerpaint with shaving cream
collect sticks and mud and build a bird’s nest
write newspaper articles for a pretend newspaper
put together a family newsletter
write reviews of movies or plays or TV shows or concerts you see during the summer
bake a cake
bake a batch of cookies
decorate a shoe box to hold your summer treasures
make a hideout or clubhouse
make paper airplanes
have paper airplane races
learn origami
make an obstacle course in your backyard
make friendship bracelets for your friends
make a wind chime out of things headed for the garbage
paint your face
braid hair
play tag
make a sundial
make food sculptures (from pretzels, gumdrops, string licorice, raisins, cream cheese, peanuts, peanut butter, etc.) and then eat it
make a terrarium
start a club
take a nap outside on your lawn
produce a talent show
memorize a poem
recite a memorized poem for your family