25 Educational and Outdoor Summer Boredom Busters


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It never takes long for summer boredom to set in.  Most years it seems we barely close the books for the school year, and I’m already hearing things like, “I’m so bored,” and, “There’s nothing to do!”  If I turn off the videos and say no to the gaming, it’s even worse!

Sometimes I want to respond to my children with something like, “Oh, you don’t have anything to do?  Here!  Fold this laundry!  Scrub this toilet!  Sweep this garage!” To be honest, there’s nothing wrong with having our kids help out around the house or in the yard. I like to try to make those positive experiences, though, and I avoid assigning house and yard work as punishment if I can.

Other times I start talking like my mother:  “When I was your age, we didn’t have video games and tablets and all these other digital gizmos!  We actually spent our summers playing outside!”

And about then I usually stop and roll my eyes at myself because I realize I just used the word gizmo to my children.  Sigh.  😉

But we do want our kids to spend time outside, right?  They need the sunshine and the exercise, and sometimes a little good ol’ boredom is just the inspiration a child needs for some fun and creative play to start happening!

But it also doesn’t hurt to give kids a little direction – to slip them an idea or two for an outdoor activity — and then allow them to take off with it!  Granted, my suggestions won’t necessarily work for every child in every family in every neighborhood, but consider these 25 ideas your basic starting points for some fun learning and summer boredom busting! (Bonus: I recently added even more ideas to this article, so you can find more than the 25 original ideas I started with!)

25 Educational and Outdoor Summer Boredom Busters

Please note that the main suggestions (the numbered suggestions in the list below) are outdoor activities. Underneath those are other related ideas that may be indoor or outdoor activities and are related to each suggested topic.

1. Complete a scavenger hunt or nature walk.

There are all kinds of scavenger hunts you can do with your children! Many of them will work perfectly outside. Some may better for indoors (when the weather is bad or when it’s too hot to go out, etc.) We have several scavenger hunt-related ideas to share with you!

2. Learn about trees and plants.  

  • Grab a sketchbook and some great field guides and have fun finding, sketching, and identifying all kinds of plants and animals in your yard, neighborhood, park, etc. (You’ll find more specific ideas in the following suggestions.)
  • Use these Tree Notebooking Pages and Unit Study Ideas to help you focus more on trees. In the article (which you’ll find when you click the bold print title in the previous sentence) and on the notebooking pages, you’ll find vocabulary words, notebooking pages for recording new information, suggestions for using the extra pages that are included in the notebooking pages, and even suggestions for related unit studies you might want to do.
  • Or you might enjoy this Apple Tree Art Project. (I know apple-picking is a fall activity, but you can do the art project any time!)
  • Do a book of leaf rubbings.
  • For older students, try Learning About Plan Cells.

3. Grow a garden.

4. Learn about birds. 

  • Identify 7 species of birds in your yard or neighborhood.
  • Do this Seabird Unit Study! Take your reading outside (or do it inside on a rainy day).
  • Do your own Backyard Bird Study. The article (which you’ll find when you click the bold print title in the previous sentence) gives information about the Great Backyard Bird Count and how to participate but, depending on when you’re reading this article, that may have already happened. No worries if it’s already past for this year! You can still use many of the ideas in the article to do your own backyard bird study!
  • If you’d like even more ideas for doing your own Bird Nature Study, you’ll find them here! You’ll find packing list ideas, activity ideas, suggested resources, and more.
  • Try to construct a real-looking bird nest from straw, sticks, mud, and other natural materials.

5. Learn about bugs and insects. 

6. Learn about animals. 

7. Build/construct something.

8. Learn more about the weather.

9. Do arts & crafts and painting.

  • Make a painting using only natural “brushes,” like leaves, sticks, grass, and pine sprigs.
  • Have younger children use a bucket of water and a paintbrush to “paint” the house or the sidewalk and watch it evaporate away so they can do it again!
  • Paint pet rocks.
  • Make these beautiful Etched Glass Lanterns!

Try some crafts using toilet paper rolls! They’re fun to make and can be used as toys, puppets for a puppet show, gifts for a grandparent or elderly neighbor, or just to display for a while.

 

10. Learn about rocks.

  • Start a rock collection, classifying them as either igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic.
  • Celebrate Collect Rocks Day! (Okay, this “holiday” actually occurs in September, but we homeschoolers tend to do things in whatever ways work best for our families, right? So you have permission to celebrate Collect Rocks Day as part of your summer fun instead of waiting for fall!)

11. Play with bubbles.

12. Play with sidewalk chalk.

  • With sidewalk chalk, design a city and road system for Hot Wheels.
  • Draw a self-portrait.
  • Write vocabulary or spelling words on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk.
  • Use sidewalk chalk to decorate your sidewalk and make passers-by smile.
  • Draw a tic-tac-toe board and play a game or two.
  • Draw a fun background (like a spaceship, castle, scene at the beach, etc.) and use it for a background for fun photos!

13. Cook/bake/make yummy stuff.

Try some of these recipes for delicious things to make and eat or drink! Your children might want to make some of these things for the family or make some to share with friends and neighbors.

There are also lots of recipes for things to make that you won’t want to eat! Try a few of these:

14. Go camping.

15. Go to the beach.

  • Go to the beach and play Beach Bingo.
  • Play beach volleyball.
  • Build a sandcastle.
  • Collect seashells or use them to decorate your sandcastle.
  • Create sand sculptures.

16. Complete a challenge.

  • Choose and complete one (or more!) of these 30-Day Challenges! (Some are outdoor activities and others are indoors, but they all encourage you and your kids to get busy doing new things.)
  • Want to create a new healthy habit? Decide what healthy habit you want to practice, print one of our habit trackers (from the 30-Day Challenges article listed above), and get started! You might want to:
    • Exercise every day (even if you simply take a walk or ride your bike).
    • Do more active play and less sitting/screen time.
    • Eat a healthy breakfast each day.
    • Say something nice about somebody or to somebody.
    • Read a book to a younger sibling.
    • Help Mom or Dad with cooking, cleaning, yard work, etc.
    • Drink water every day.

17. Read!

  • Summer reading can be done indoors or outdoors! This article, A Huge Collection of Summer Reading Ideas and Information, is updated yearly. This article includes summer reading information through various companies, and it also includes book lists for all ages! (If it hasn’t yet been updated for the coming summer, please be patient. Depending on when you’re reading the article, the updated summer reading info may not yet be available.)
  • Try some of these Creative Ways to Read Aloud This Summer.

18. Play in the yard or at the park.

  • Turn on the sprinklers and let your kids run through them!
  • Climb a tree.
  • At night, try to spot the International Space Station. Click here to see when it will be visible from your area. 
  • Play hopscotch.
  • Play kickball.
  • Have a water balloon fight.
  • Go stargazing one night.
  • Have a picnic.
  • Play Capture the Flag.
  • Play jacks.
  • Play Red Light, Green Light.
  • Play Simon Says.
  • Play Mother, May I.
  • Play tag or freeze tag.

19. Do something nice for somebody.

20. Learn a new skill.

You might want to learn to:

  • knit or crochet
  • juggle
  • make soap
  • make candles
  • do CPR
  • hula hoop
  • do origami
  • play the guitar
  • play the piano
  • play the harmonica
  • draw or paint
  • sew
  • yoyo
  • do card tricks
  • build a house of cards

21. Get a head start making DIY Christmas gifts and decorations.

There are all kinds of things you can make ahead of time and save to give as Christmas gifts. You can also make gift tags and decorations to have ready ahead of time.

22. Play something/do something outside that your grandparents played as kids.

  • Play Red Rover.
  • Play dodge ball.
  • Jump rope.
  • Play string games.
  • Go fishing.
  • Play marbles.

23. Do something in your neighborhood.

  • Go geocaching.
  • Attend a concert.
  • Attend an art show.
  • Go to a museum you’ve never visited.
  • Go to a restaurant you’ve never been to.
  • Take a walk downtown and peek into all the stores to say hello.

24. Study the stars, planets, moon, and outer space.

25. If you’re going on vacation, think up or print some games/activities for your kids to do on the way.

  • Printable Road Trip Activities for Kids 
  • Print out some unit studies, ebooks, or other information about the place(s) you’ll go on vacation. Read and learn together as you drive or fly to your destination.
  • Play the ABC game. As you drive, look for signs or objects (Decide on the rules ahead of time.) that begin with the letter a. Then move on to the letter b, c, etc.

Summer will be gone before we know it!  Arm yourself now with a few summer boredom busters, and the days of, “I’m so bored!” and, “There’s nothing to do!” should be fewer and further between!

Do your kids suffer from summer boredom?  What do you do to encourage your kids to get outside?

Wendy is one of the owners of Hip Homeschool Moms, Only Passionate Curiosity, Homeschool Road Trips, Love These Recipes, and Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She married her high school sweetheart, Scott, 30 years ago, and they live in the South. Hannah, age 26, has autism and was the first homeschool graduate in the family. Noah, age 24, was the second homeschool graduate and the first to leave the nest. Mary Grace, age 18, is the most recent homeschool graduate. Wendy loves working out and teaching Training for Warriors classes at her local gym. She also enjoys learning along with her family, educational travel, reading, and writing, and she attempts to grow an herb garden every summer with limited success.

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