Make this the best summer ever with these fun summer bucket list ideas. Or use these bucket list ideas like having a watermelon seed spitting contest, doing a cartwheel, and having an outdoor movie night to create your very own summer bucket list!
What Is A Bucket List?
If you’ve never made a bucket list before, they’re the best.
A lot of people have bucket lists full of items they want to do sometime in their life. Maybe a travel bucket list of places they want to travel or a seasonal bucket list of things they want to do this summer. It’s basically a list of things you want to accomplish within a set amount of time.
While some people like to put together say a lifetime bucket list, I prefer to make bucket lists for short periods of time such as the summer.
With summer being such a short time, it’s a great way to really dive in and try to enjoy as many of these summer bucket list ideas as possible!
100 Summer Bucket List Ideas
Everyone’s bucket list can be a little different, but these summer bucket list ideas should hopefully be enough to get you started with creating your own!
While most of the ideas on the original bucket list below are totally okay for 2020, some of them may not be possible for your family with everything going on right now so I created a second bucket list.
The second list includes all ideas that are okay for 2020 no matter what state you live in!
I tried to make them generic enough that they were things everyone can do, not just people who live in Kansas City like we do. If you want to use this one, you can get a free printable summer bucket list at the bottom of this post!
- Go on a bike ride
- Build a fort
- Do a cartwheel
- Roll down a hill
- Bury your toes in the sand (preferably somewhere like Daytona Beach)
- Fly a kite
- Jump over the waves
- Build a sandcastle
- Go to a drive-in movie theater
- Eat a hot dog straight from the grill
- Have a water fight
- Play one of these outdoor water games
- Have a watermelon seed spitting contest
- Have a family board game tournament
- Go to a carnival
- Listen to an outdoor concert
- Go to a waterpark
- Do a cannonball
- Play in the sprinklers
- Watch fireworks
- Sit in a hammock
- Buy something at a garage sale
- Create your own lemonade stand (guests will love this strawberry lemonade)
- Eat a snow cone
- Go to some sort of festival
- Bake cookies and give them to someone else with these treat tags
- Make root beer floats
- Watch a movie on the big screen
- Go to a farmer’s market
- Get a temporary tattoo
- Make popsicles like these ocean blue ones with gummy sharks inside
- Watch early morning cartoons
- Snuggle in bed during a summer thunderstorm
- Have an indoor campout or if the weather cooperates, go camping and play these camping games
- Get books to read at the library
- Play kickball
- Swim in a lake
- Make homemade pizza
- Catch fireflies
- Watch a sunset
- Go on a picnic and a picnic scavenger hunt
- Go on a roadtrip (and take these roadtrip games with you!)
- Build a sand castle
- Learn something new
- Make something explode
- Go to an amusement park
- Dance it out
- Eat a funnel cake
- Volunteer somewhere
- Paint something
- Make one of these easy summer crafts
- Jump in puddles
- Make and play a backyard game
- Eat breakfast for dinner. These egg muffins with a hash brown crust are a family favorite!
- Go on a staycation
- Collect seashells
- Go ice blocking
- Stay up past midnight
- Pick berries (then use them for this strawberry poke cake!)
- Eat ice cream before it melts
- Make s’mores
- Have a water balloon fight
- Play beach ball volleyball
- Plant flowers
- Get a mosquito bite
- Eat corn on the cob
- Travel somewhere you’ve never been
- Go to a museum
- Find a dinosaur (maybe on this dinosaur hunt)
- Spend a day barefoot
- Lay on grass and look at the stars
- Drink ice cold lemonade
- Have a family slumber party
- Swing on the swings
- Go to a baseball game
- Send a postcard
- Go to a fair
- Go to camp or camping (and play these camping games)
- Hike a mountain
- Run a race
- Take a picture by a colored wall
- Make homemade ice cream
- Relax in a lazy river
- Ride a roller coaster
- Order pizza at the pool
- Buy a new pair of sandals (these Sanuks are my favorite)
- Go fishing
- Play frisbee
- Drink a tropical drink
- Go to a splash pad
- Sleep in
- Find a sunflower
- Float in a pool
- Wave a flag
- Try 12 flavors of ice cream (this sweet and salty ice cream is one of our favorites)
- Have a backyard BBQ
- Go see a show (any of these Disney movies coming out this summer would be perfect)
- Find a double rainbow
- Play until the daylight is gone
- Play hopscotch outside.
Summer Bucket List Ideas for 2020
Since I know things are a bit crazy right now and you may not be doing things like riding roller coasters and going to festivals, I put together a 2020 version of this summer bucket list as well! It replaces many of the actual activities in the list above with things you can do outdoors or from home.
For instance, making something tie-dye instead of riding a roller coaster. You can see the full 2020 summer bucket list below!
How to Make Your Own Summer Bucket List
The best part about a bucket list is that it should be all your own. I’ve given you 100+ ideas of things to do this summer. Feel free to pick and choose from this list of summer bucket list ideas and create one that’s perfect for your own family!
And unlike my list, feel free to get specific. If there’s a place you want to eat, add that specific restaurant to your list.
There’s a blank printable included in the PDF below that you can use to create your own summer bucket list!
Get the Free Printable
Enter your first name and email address below to get the free printable. You’ll receive a copy to your email shortly after that includes a 4-page PDF – the regular summer bucket list, the 2020 approved summer bucket list, and two blank summer bucket lists.
If you can’t see the form below, click here to get to the form to enter your info.
More Summer Fun
- Summer Lego challenge
- 4th of July scavenger hunt
- Summer first birthday party ideas
- DIY s’mores bar
- Camping games
- Outdoor games
Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says
I love these ideas! Summer so often just passes us by, but it’s the perfect time for some family friendly awesomness.
Jennifer Van Huss says
This is a great list! There are so many things on here that my kids and I want to do! I wonder if we can get it all done by the end of summer!
candy says
How awesome for you to have family living and helping out. Love your bucket list and the many things there are to do for summer.
Jeni says
What a fun list. I’m not even a kid and I want this to be my summer, seriously it’s so cute and sounds like a lot of fun.
Kelly Hutchinson says
So many great ideas! We have a hammock in the yard and my daughter loves to swing in it. She was in it most of the afternoon yesterday.
Dawn McAlexander says
I have been wanting to go to a drive-in movie theater for a long time now. We used to have one in our town but it shut down a few years ago. I miss it.
Lisa Marie Heath says
Wow that’s such a fun idea! And they all look fairly doable and not too intimidating!
Dogvills says
So many fun things to do! Swimming is our favorite activity during summer.
Rebecca Swenor says
This is a great summer bucket list for things to do with the kids. I love how Radio Flyer created a Travel Agency just for kids which I will have to share with my sister and nieces. Mount Puppy I know the kids would get a kick out of for sure. Thanks for sharing this summer bucket list.
Adaleta says
There are lots of things I would love on your bucket list! I love reading people’s bucket lists
ricci says
This is a great summer bucket list!! Some of the things I want to do this summer are on this list!
Echo says
These are all such cute ideas! I love the Mt Puppy visit! How cute is that?!
Annemarie LeBlanc says
These are all great ideas for summer activities with the kids. Mine are all grown ups now and they have their own activities planned, but I can still squeeze in a movie marathon night with them. Thank you for sharing your awesome list.