Summer fun doesn’t have to cost a fortune or require a packed calendar. Sometimes the best memories are made during the simplest moments at home, in the backyard, or around the neighborhood. Here are 30 free and easy ways to enjoy summer without the pressure to entertain your kids 24/7.
Every summer, it seems like the pressure gets a little heavier.
Parents, grandparents, and babysitters often feel like they need to fill every day with camps, sports, lessons, road trips, playdates, and extra-fun (often expensive) outings.
Of course, social media doesn’t help, either. Everywhere we look, someone is posting picture-perfect summertime activities, vacations, and adventures… all of which, I’m sure, are very fun… but certainly not necessary.
I’m far from a parenting expert, but speaking from 14 years of my own experience, I’m confident that kids don’t actually need to be entertained every waking moment.
In fact, some of our kids’ most fun times are often long afternoons spent outside with neighbors, games invented out of boredom, and bike rides around town.
Granted, we live in a small town with sidewalks, nice neighbors, and a pool… but I firmly believe that Summer doesn’t have to be expensive, over-scheduled, or exhausting for parents.
Sometimes the greatest gift we can give our kids is time, space, and permission to simply be kids (even if they are bored some days).
If you’re looking for a handful of simple, low-stress, budget-friendly ways to enjoy summer together, I’m sharing more than 20 free ideas below!
Feel free to add yours in the comments.
1. Have a Backyard Picnic
Spread out a blanket and eat lunch outside. That’s it.
I think it’s a fact that ordinary food tastes better when it’s served outside with little to no mess to clean up afterward. ☺️
If it’s rainy, bring the picnic indoors with a blanket on the living room floor.
2. Ride Bikes
Whether it’s around the neighborhood or on a local trail, bike rides are a classic summer activity that never goes out of style.
As our kids and neighbors get older and more independent, they’ve ventured a bit further and often end up at our local high school to play tennis or run on the track. They’ve even biked to get ice cream on their own!
3. Visit the Library
I’ve sung the praises of local libraries for years and years, and I will continue to promote these often under-utilized resources.
Most libraries offer free summer reading programs, activities, and special events throughout the summer months. We always participate in these, and often get great free prizes like free kids’ meals at local restaurants, free books, and free tickets to local sporting events.
4. Catch Fireflies
Sort of nostalgic… but few things feel more like summer than chasing lightning bugs at dusk.
5. Create a Nature Scavenger Hunt
This can be as simple or as involved as you’d like — depending on how much time you have.
Start by making a simple list of things for your find: a feather, a pine cone, a butterfly, a yellow flower, etc.
You could likely find many free printables online… or you could enlist an older child to make the scavenger hunt for the younger siblings (Nora was all about creating games and activities for her younger siblings).
Once you have a variety of items collected, you could let them create some type of craft/art project with their findings.
6. Build a Fort
As someone who grew up with a giant woods in her backyard, fort building is one of my favorite childhood memories. We built forts year-round, but especially in warmer weather. For the record, “The Claw” was, and always will be, the best fort.
However, even if you don’t have access to a wooded area, you could use blankets, a hammock, and a few branches to create a fun fort outside… and of course, you can bring this activity inside with a few couch cushions or boxes!
The bigger the imagination, the better.
7. Read Books Together
A good stack of books can provide hours of entertainment… but reading doesn’t necessarily come naturally for most kids.
I did not enjoy reading as a child, so my parents paid me ($0.10 per page) to read in the summer… and it worked!
We now have a “rule” that our kids need to read at least 30 minutes every day — and this does not include the time they read before bed. 75% of our children have no problem reading for more than 30 minutes… 25% of our children still struggle with this. 😂
We also regularly read aloud after meal times.
8. Go for an Evening Walk
I mean, walks any time of day are fun… but evening walks when it’s starting to get dark, and the kids should probably be getting ready for bed, are pretty fun… especially if they end at the ice cream shop!
Summer evenings are often cooler and less hectic. Plus, if either parent works during the day, this is a nice time to be together as a whole family and enjoy a slower pace.
9. Draw with Sidewalk Chalk
Surprisingly, our kids still really get into sidewalk chalk… and thanks to our giant asphalt driveway, it’s something they do regularly throughout the year.
They like making tracks for bikes and scooters, they’ve made obstacle courses and hopscotch paths, and they’ve even used chalk to draw lines for pickleball, basketball, hockey, and more.
Related Reading: How to Make DIY Driveway Paint
10. Play in the Sprinkler
No water park, pool, or lake required.
Bonus: If you have underground irrigation in place, you can turn an entire zone on, and they can enjoy sprinklers from every angle while you water your lawn!
11. Watch the Clouds
Lie on a blanket and see what shapes you can find in the clouds overhead.
This sounds very simple (because it is), but it’s a great way to cool off or relax in the middle of the day.
It’s also something you could do after an outdoor picnic (see #1 above).
12. Grow Something Edible
Kids love to grow things!
Even if you don’t have space for a vegetable garden, you can help your kids create a planter with something edible. Even a few containers with herbs in your kitchen window, or a single tomato plant on the back porch.
Watching the growth can provide daily excitement, and watering will help develop a good work ethic.
If you can’t make the edible thing work out, at least let them grow grass seeds in a cup!
13. Have a Water Balloon Fight
I used to despise water balloons because of how difficult they were to fill up… but then, we stumbled upon Bunch o Balloons a few years ago, and we’ve been enjoying water balloons ever since.
It’s so easy, our kids can fill them up on their own in just a few minutes.
14. Explore a Local Park
One summer, we made a list of every local park within 10 miles of our home and tried to visit them all.
We found many out-of-the-way parks that were rarely ever busy — probably because so many families were too busy doing other, more flashy, more expensive activities.
But don’t knock a good park experience. Meet up with friends (yours or the kids), bring fun food along, and enjoy not feeling that pressure to fold one more load of laundry!
Bonus points if the park has a splash pad.
15. Learn a Card Game
Teach your kids classics like Go Fish, Crazy Eights, Rummy, or War.
Or teach them a card trick (you can look up so many online).
The nice thing is that once you teach your kids, they can then play together or with friends and neighbors.
If you only have one child, teach them how to play Solitaire using an actual deck of cards (our boys love doing this).
16. Look Through Photo Books
This isn’t necessarily a summer-only activity, but it’s great for rainy days or super hot/humid afternoons when everyone wants to be inside.
Our kids absolutely love looking through the photo books I’ve created for them over the years.
We also have several old photo books from Dave and my childhood, and even our parents and grandparents.
17. Create an Obstacle Course
Use whatever you have available — hula hoops, sticks, chairs, jump ropes, or pool noodles — and create some type of obstacle course in your home, yard, driveway, or even in your neighborhood (if you can get neighbor families on board).
Keep it simple so it’s easy to set up and take down again — that way, you can reuse the supplies and create the course day after day if it’s a hit!
18. Make a “Fun To-Do List”
In previous summers, we’ve often created “Fun To-Do Lists” for our kids at least once per week.
The kids LOVE these lists, which, surprisingly, are rarely ever all that “fun”.
On these lists, we write out exactly what we will eat for each meal, and for our snacks, we list any activity we might have that day, as well as several “fun” options for the kids to do throughout the day (many of them are listed above).
These lists take 5 minutes to make the night before, and give the kids a specific plan of what they can then choose to do the following day (which means they shouldn’t need to come to you for ideas of “what to do” every 4 minutes!
19. Fly a Kite
A breezy afternoon and an open field are all you need… well, and a kite!
You can find a bunch of frugal kites on Amazon, and I know your kids will love this experience!
20. Host a Backyard Campout
My sister and her husband host a massive summer campout on their property every summer. They invite friends, family, neighbors, and probably anyone who wants to come, to hang out, eat good food, swim, play basketball, and literally camp in their yard for the weekend.
However, you could do something much smaller in your own backyard with just your own family (or maybe invite one family friend).
Pretend you’re actually camping and make all your food outside… it’s free, and our kids still talk about doing this years later.
If camping outside is totally not in the cards this year, you could also set up a tent in your living room or basement for a little indoor camping (we did this many times when our kids were little).
21. Make a Summer Journal
This is a great way to use up all those extra notebooks from the end of the school year…
Encourage your kids to draw pictures, write stories, or record favorite memories each day or each week.
It’s a great way to help them keep up with their writing, and it’s fun to look back on.
22. Have a “Boredom Day”
This might be the most important idea on the list.
Don’t plan anything.
Let the kids figure out what to do.
Boredom often gets a bad reputation, but it can be the birthplace of creativity, problem-solving, imagination, and independence. When kids aren’t constantly entertained, they learn how to entertain themselves.
23. Visit With Friends
Invite a few friends over with absolutely no plans. They can play in the yard, swim, or do sprinklers, build a fort, or anything on the list above, while the adults visit and enjoy (mostly) uninterrupted conversation.
24. Watch the Sunset
Bring lawn chairs out front or sit on the porch and enjoy the end of the day together.
Our sun sets SUPER late in West Michigan (like 10:00 ish) so we don’t do this a lot, but we have had several fun summer nights outside watching the local hot air balloon festival — which just so happens to fly right over our house as the sun is starting to set.
25. Swim
As the weather warms up, water is often a great option for frugal fun that will keep kids busy and entertained for hours.
If you don’t have your own pool, I’m sure you know someone with a pool who would likely love to have you and your kids over sometime.
Or, go to a lake (we have lots here in Michigan!)
If all that fails, find a splash pad.
26. Look Up Free Days for Zoos and Museums
Our local zoo and museums often have “free days” for kids and families throughout the summer.
Granted, those days are VERY busy, but it could be a nice air-conditioned activity for hot summer days.
27. Get Free Candy at a Local Parade
We have several local parades throughout the summer months, and the kids love getting free coupons and candy.
28. Play Outdoor Games
We have purchased many outdoor games from our local thrift store — things like Bocce Ball, Croquet, or Cornhole.
This may sound strange, but it deserves a spot on the list.
29. Go Hiking
We have a local nature preserve within walking distance from our house… and at times, it really feels like you’re on a hike in the middle of a giant forest.
Take a few minutes to search for a local nature preserve, hiking trail, or forest close to your home, pack some water and snacks, and make an afternoon of it.
Let the kids take binoculars, a walking stick, and maybe even a bug net… and speaking of bugs, make sure to wear mosquito repellent!
30. Make Ice Cream
Don’t worry, you don’t need an ice cream maker or any expensive equipment.
This simple recipe allows kids to make their own tiny jar of ice cream in just a few minutes!
Of course, stopping for ice cream at a local shop is always a fun summertime treat too!
More Frugal Family Fun Ideas!
Frugal Summer Fun for Younger Children
Our Favorite Family-Friendly Summer Fun Ideas
Get my free Family Summer Fun Activities List by entering your email below.
It’s wonderful if your family can enjoy a few camps, vacations, or special outings this summer… but please don’t feel pressured to fill every day on the calendar.
A slower summer isn’t a “lesser” summer.
In many ways, it might be exactly what our kids need after a busy school year.
What are YOUR favorite frugal Summer activities?
Moira K. Pratarelli says
Wow, the memories that this list evoked for me! I was born in 1961, and grew up in neighborhoods with lots of other kids my age, and we were all told to get out of the house and be home when the street lights came on. No cell phones, no social media, no planned schedules = lots of active play, skinned knees, growing independence and confidence, and development of imagination and creativity, to say nothing of strength and health. And aside from trading books with friends, the library is the best deal out there. Well done with the list, Andrea. It proves that the classics are still great!
Amber says
Hi Andrea,
You always mention Friday night movie night in your menu. Could you share a list of family friendly movies that your family loves? My daughters are almost 7&9. I struggle to find appropriate and enjoyable (non animated movies). I’ve never liked animation even as a kid and it seems neither do my girls.
I use common sense media, but would love your thoughts!
Thanks
Andrea says
Hey Amber — yes, we do movie night almost every weekend (for close to 8 years now) and have watched a lot of movies in that time.
I will say, that we watch a ton of animated movies (lots of old Disney movies and movies Dave and I liked when we were kids).
I honestly don’t have a list and it would be pretty difficult for me to think back and remember everything… but over the years, we’ve used Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, You Tube, and our local library.
Julie says
Amother idea I have seen is geocaching. We have never tried it, but it sounds cool! (and free)
Namari says
Please keep thrwniog these posts up they help tons.
Mara @ Super Savings says
Great list Andrea! Thanks! I’ll be linking to this in my Summer fun blog post if that’s alright. I l.o.v.e. that your list is technology-free!! The automatic draw the kids have to the screen drives me batty! How did we ever survive without any of that?? 😉
~ Mara
Cindy Bultema says
I loved your list! I’m all about free frugal activities for the kids! Thanks for the idea about tracking the moon and stars ~ I’m going to mark my calendear for the next full moon now!
Have a GREAT rest of your week!
CIndy 🙂
Andrea says
Thanks Cindy,
Moon/star tracking always seems to be a big hit with kids b/c they get to stay up late!!
Betsy (Eco-novice) says
Hikes and trips to the beach. But your ideas are simpler and easier with little prep, which is nice. I LOVED running through the sprinklers and playing with the hose as a kid.
Andrea says
haha thanks Betsy, I’m pretty good at coming up with “simple” ideas!
Kristen @ JoyfullyThriving says
My favorite part of summer vacation was all the free summer reading programs. Barnes & Noble, Borders, Half Price Books, the library…I did them all and gained more free books in the process! I give all my students a list of these programs before every summer begins. It’s a great free summer activity! Oh, and I loved school, too, Andrea! Good thing I still do, since I’m a teacher! 🙂
Cassie says
Those sound like great ideas! We are taking the kids bowling for free this saturday. 🙂