10 Best Fun Games and Activities to Do with Your Child This Summer

What do you envision when you hear the word “summer”?

Ask almost any parent or adult and many of us will immediately picture long days spent by the swimming pool, afternoons playing baseball, and hazy nights catching fireflies. Unfortunately, our children may be anticipating hours of gaming or binge watching their favorite series- all of which don’t involve a lot of family interaction, outdoor time, or physical activity during the upcoming days of their summer breaks. Thankfully, with a little creative thinking we can keep our children engaged by finding fun games and activities to do together this summer.

To keep your summer from becoming a bummer, we have compiled the following guide showcasing the 10 best fun games and activities to do with your child this summer:

Have a campout.

Summer is the perfect time to take a child camping or at least set up the tent in the backyard to spend a night under the stars. Camping provides the perfect excuse to power down all of our electronics and devices to enjoy each other’s company. Just remember to come prepared with flashlights, fixings for s’mores, and some entertaining stories to tell around the fire.

Oh, and don't forget to pack the childrens camp chairs, because even if they tend to play a lot when going outdoors, it's a great way to inspire them the passion of camping.

Grow a garden.

Planting a traditional garden or trying your hand at container gardening is a fun activity to do with your child this summer. Gardening is a great form of exercise, introduces children to science and biology concepts like photosynthesis, builds their immune systems, gets children outside, yields healthy veggies and fruit harvests to eat, and so much more!

Go on a treasure hunt.

Create an account at Geocaching.com to locate geocaches near you. Bring a pen to sign the log when you find the secret stash and a small token to leave for the next person to find. If geocaching isn’t for you, create epic treasure hunts for the whole family by going old school and writing clues which take your child around the house, backyard, or town for a fun day out. The possibilities are endless and it gets everyone exploring outside together.

Raise a hideout.

This summer, with your help of course, allow your kids to build their own fort or hideout to allow children to find a nook of their own to spend hours reading, telling stories, or playing. Try growing a bean teepee to create a natural hidden room of their own in the yard.

Build your own outdoor movie theater.

Older children can use some science know-how to bring an outdoor movie theater to life by creating a projector using a smartphone and some common household items like a shoebox. After the projector is created, attach a white sheet to a large outdoor wall, pop some popcorn, and spread out some blankets to enjoy movies outside during the summer evenings.

Build and maintain your own little library.

Most children love to use tools to build items. Help plan and build a small house which can hold previously read books to be used as a free library in your community. After it is built, place the little library in an easy accessible place in your yard or get permission to put it in a local park.

Create your own water attractions.

Water and summer go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, it’s not always convenient to take the kids to the local splash pad or waterpark. Instead, challenge a child to build a water wall using items like funnels, recycled bottles, hoses, and nozzles to make their own water play area for hours of wet fun.

Design and build a miniature golf course in your backyard.

Assign each family member to design one or two holes to create a miniature golf course in the backyard. This will provide a creative outlet and allow the family to play a few games of putt-putt golf together in the evenings.

Feed the birds.

Build or purchase bird feeders to place in your yard. Everyday make sure they are filled and then document the different types of birds you notice visiting your yard. Children will enjoy taking care of the animals and watching their feathered friends.

Make your own bubbles.

Try a variety of different recipes and experiment with ways to make bubbles. This can range anywhere for making gigantic bubbles with hula hoops, using colanders, bending wire hangers into shapes, and even placing a wash rag on the end of a cut pop bottle to create a “snake” of foam bubbles. Depending on the ages of the children, you can even get creative using dry ice to do fun science experiments with bubbles. Just use caution and keep the activities geared towards your child’s age and development.