My kids are adults now, but we still strive to go “adventuring” as often as we can. One weekend a few years ago, my husband took one of my boys to ride ATVs, while my other son and I saw a play at the local high school and visited a small town that has hundreds of wrought iron sculptures through the town. Those are memories that will last forever. They are so much more valuable than time spent playing video games or watching television.
Check out this list of over 100 summer activities for kids. There are plenty of links to posts that will tell you more about each activity. You’ll want to pin or share this post so you can refer to it every time you need a new idea!
This is my husband and our two youngest boys checking out a solar eclipse (with the proper protective eyewear).
You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter.
Psalm 74:17, ESV
This summer, take a crash course in helping your kids learn and love the Bible!
Summer Activities for Kids
1) Go on a virtual educational field trip.
2) Try one of these fun in real life field trips.
3) Keep track of summer outings with the My Field Trip and Travel Journal.
4) Grab some fun summer reads for your kids that will help them learn more about history and God’s Word.
5) Do a 12-week artist’s study on Michelangelo.
6) Make these cheap and easy tin can stilts for your kids to play with outside.
7) Create a books of the Bible poster.
8) A great summer activity for kids? Work on these awesome books of the Bible activities.
9) Grab this fun Books of the Bible family study bundle and learn more about how the Bible is structured!
10) Set up the sprinkler and get wet!
11) Plan a with your family.
12) Pull out some great so your kids can do some independent learning.
13) Check out some amazing art projects on Pinterest art boards for , , , and .
14) Work on some fun rainbow arts and crafts and read some books about Noah’s Ark.
15) Record summer reading in the My Book Log — and learn about fiction, nonfiction, author worldview, and more!
16) Build a fort in the yard out of boxes and duct tape.
17) Do some fun water-based summer sensory play.
18) Work on memorizing Bible verses with the Write, Color, and Memorize sets.
19) Head to a museum and learn something new.
20) Work on some of these Creation crafts and activities.
21) Make some bubble art prints outside on a warm summer day.
22) Put on a craft stick Bible skit. Grab a big set of free Bible stick puppet templates (a part of the FREE 130-page Bible Study Tool Kit).
24) Looking for a little theology for your kids this summer? Check this book out!
25) Work on some rock painting with your preschoolers.
26) Check out independent summer learning kids and tweens want to do!
27) Go camping with your family. Here are a few tricks.
28) Grow a garden.
29) Learn more about the Bible with the FREE Bible Study Tool Kit–over 130 pages of Bible resources for your family!
30) Make homemade ice cream in a bag.
31) Serve your neighbors by mowing the lawn, weeding, or working on a project with them.
32) Read aloud some Christian history as a family on warm summer nights or lazy mornings.
33-34) Learn how we become a new creation in Christ with a fun butterfly craft and butterfly treat!
35) Go for a bike ride. Don’t forget the helmets.
36) Create some fun pretend play popsicles with your kids.
37) Teach your kids about the fruit of the Spirit with the family study bundle.
38) Teach a little science while making these sun print T-shirts with your teens.
39) Take a trip to the river. Don’t forget these supplies.
40) Make these fun nature portraits with your children. These are really fun!
41) Hit the beach for the day!
42) Learn about beach science with these five ideas.
43) Sign up for your library’s summer reading challenge. Sometimes there are some fun prizes. Don’t forget to use your book log.
44) Learn about the gospel and memorize the verses to go with it.
45) Go to a real pond. Feed the ducks, take pond samples and take a look under the microscope.
46) Go for a rainbow walk–it’s like a color scavenger hunt!
47) Take a hike! Be sure to bring a map, compass, water, snacks, and a light jacket even if it’s a short hike.
48) Print this summer word search for your kids to take in the car on trips.
49) Create a model of Johann Gutenberg and the printing press. Learn more about this amazing invention with facts for your kids.
50) Invite friends over for a barbeque.
51) Create a sunken treasure summer sensory bin for your toddlers.
52) Set your kids up for archery.
53) Build a puzzle together.
54) Do you have kids who love yarn projects? Teach them to yarn bomb with finger knitting.
55) Work on some fun Bible study lapbooks.
56) Put together these fun egg carton mermaid necklaces.
57) Arrange a playdate at a park.
58) Make a DIY water table.
59) Ice paints are a fun way to explore artistically on warm summer days.
60) Enjoy a fun summer activity with this watermelon seed matching game and book.
61) Create a Leonardo da Vinci womb sketch poster and learn about Jeremiah 1:5.
62) Stock the house with some of these fun learning tools and let the kids explore.
63) Check out the animals at the county fair.
64) Make tin can lanterns to light the yard on summer nights.
65) Start a bug collection board. You can find dead bugs and pin them to a foam board.
66) Spend an afternoon making ice caves for small world play.
67) Learn more about life in the womb with free posters, memory cards, and a lapbook.
68) Pick up some tennis rackets and learn to to play tennis at a local park.
69) Create a fruit-themed summer activity with this fun pineapple shapes memory game.
70) Make paper airplanes and race them.
71) Let your toddlers play with this homemade pineapple toddler shapes activity.
72) Making s’mores is a favorite summer memory for many children.
73) Create this fun outdoor summer color sorting sensory activity for your littles.
74) Make this fun ocean sensory bin.
75) Learn more about Jesus with the Jesus Is devotional banner.
76) Did you know you can make your own sidewalk chalk in fun shapes?
77) Play catch with your dog or the neighbor’s dog.
78) Make your own super soaker sponge balls, and spend a summer afternoon getting wet.
79) Go outside and finger paint.
80) Super hot day? Make some frozen dinosaur eggs!
81) Put together this DIY summer water wall for hours of safe, fun water play.
82) Throw some water balloons.
83) Start a new life-long spiritual habit with this fun spiritual disciplines calendar for kids.
84) Make some handmade sand slime with your kids.
85) Spend an afternoon making a simple kaleidoscope.
86) Build boats out of milk cartons and sail them in the bathtub or a baby pool.
87) Play with these fun homemade alphabet ice boats.
88) Make some homemade ice cream. Here are 20 recipes for you.
89) Learn about photo composition and practice taking interesting photographs.
90) These are really fun: grow some grass heads.
91) Create these fearfully and wonderfully made bookmarks.
92) Make your own shape bubble wands.
93) Learn to jump rope with friends. See if you have a local league.
94) Teach your kids to make friendship bracelets with a cardboard loom.
95) Set your preschoolers up with a scavenger hunt.
96) Play I Spy as a family.
97) Use this watermelon craft to teach your littles to count.
98) Craft the parable of the sower paper plate.
99) Collect flowers and press them. Be careful your collection is legal.
100) Work on this backyard railroad engineering challenge with your little kids.
101) Clean out old toys and clothes by holding a garage sale.
102) On a really hot day, engage in some heatwave summer science and make crayons.
103) Work on a STEM activity by making this solar oven.
104) Make a family prayer box.
105) Create some grass seed head art.
106) Put together a pond sensory bin.
107) Take on a summer engineering challenge with these pie tin boats.
108) Go rock pooling with your kids.
109) Create some fun summer sea shell puppets.
110) Learn more about God’s creation with books for kids and teens and crafts and activities.
111) Put on a kids’ summer Olympics. Here are five events to get you started.
112) Have a fun afternoon with your littles with these five kiddie pool sensory activities.
113) Check out your local newspaper and find some family activities in your town.
114) Use nature items to make these little dollhouses.
115) Make a paper lantern craft to remind you to rejoice in the Lord!
116)Play park bingo on a lazy summer day.
117) Learn about birds with this printable memory card game.
118) Examine the stars on a warm summer night. Take the time to learn the constellations.
119) Learn to play a new instrument. You can learn to play guitar, ukulele, bass, or piano for free with Yousician.
120) Work on some fun engineering projects with your preschoolers.
121) Play with giant bubbles made using this special recipe.
122) Learn about butterflies with this backyard science experiment.
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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Puzzle-Based Independent Bible Study for Kids!
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2, ESV
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- Observe: They pay attention to what they’re reading.
- Interpret: They figure out what the Bible means in that section.
- Apply: They decide how the truth of God’s Word impacts their life today.
There are a great many truths in life to be found—some interesting, some boring, and some that really matter. You can be the kind of investigator who spends time puzzling out important truth so that you can know all the knowable knowledge that God has given us. That’s right. God, the Creator of the Universe, gave you a great big letter from him to explore and study so that you can discover the truths that really matter to your life!”
Bible Investigators: Creation, (The Good Book Company, 2024), page 7
The Bible Investigators: Creation Bible study for kids, written by Danika Cooley and published by The Good Book Company, is 272-pages of learning, puzzles, and fun activities designed to help your kids become amazing independent Bible investigators–observing, interpreting, and applying God’s Word as they learn what the Bible teaches on a particular subject.
Bible Puzzles for Kids
Middle grade kids, aged 8-12, love puzzles. After all, their brains are just built for figuring things out and memorizing facts. Puzzles are a wonderful way to help kids develop logic skills and retain important information. And, the book is written in a fun, conversational tone your children are sure to love!
What types of puzzles and activities will you find in Bible Investigators?
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- Word Searches
- Crosswords
- Rebus Puzzles
- Dot-to-Dots
- Logic Puzzles
- Missing Letter Puzzles
- Cryptograms
- Word Sudoku
- Mazes
- How-to-Draw Pages
- Matching Pairs
- Word Scrambles
- Journal Pages
Every child is sure to find activities they’ll love!
Elementary-aged kids need hands-on middle grade resources that engage them and equip them to process important truths.
Bible Investigators is the perfect resource to teach your kids about an important biblical doctrine, while helping them apply God’s Word to their lives today.
Books Make Great Gifts!
Teach the kids about the Bible and Christian history…
…with fun books they’ll love reading!
Introduce your children to engaging stories written in an engaging narrative they’ll want to read. As they learn more about God’s Word and gain real-life heroes, they will learn to apply Scripture to their own lives. And, give yourself the gift of a book that will help your kids learn and love the Bible.
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