150 Summer Bucket List Ideas

Make this the best summer ever with these fun summer bucket list ideas. There are tons of fun ideas to add to your summer bucket list and free printable summer bucket list you can print and create with your own summer ideas!

I’ve come up with a ton of summer bucket list ideas you can choose from whether you’re trying to have a 90s summer, a screen-free summer, or just want typical summertime ideas to make the most of the season!

What is a summer bucket list?

If you’re here you probably already know what a bucket list is but a summer bucket list is a list of all the things you want to do during the summer. Those things can be whatever you want them to be, but I like to make them quintissential summer things that you can’t do the rest of the year!

We typically do a family summer bucket list night where we get dinner and everyone comes up with things we want to do – then we agree on the ones that make in on the bucket list!

We’ve been doing this for years and every year we add some new bucket list ideas and bring back a bunch of the old ones! Ours includes things specific to Kansas City and our local area and a bunch of generic ones – that’s the best part of it, you can make it your own!

You can see our summer bucket list from last year, we’re making this year’s next week once the kids get out of school!

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 summer checklist! There are tons of fun things to choose from whether you’re making a list with kids, teens, or even just on your own!

Summer Bucket List Ideas You Can Do At Home

You don’t need to go anywhere to do these. We typically include a bunch of these because sometimes I just don’t want to leave the house!

1. Build a fort.
2. Spend a day reading. You could use these fun reading activities to make a whole day out of it!
3. Cook hot dogs over a fire, or a grill if you can’t do the fire
4. Have a water fight
5. Play water games (I recommend the ultimate water balloon game)
6. Have a watermelon seed spitting contest
7. Have a game night playing one of these game night board games.
8. Play in the sprinklers.
9. Sit in a hammock
10. Create your own lemonade stand (people love this strawberry lemonade).
11. Watch an outdoor movie either at home or somewhere else.
12. Make homemade rice krispy treats and wash off your gooey fingers with the hose
13. Make root beer floats or Shirley temple floats
14. Get a temporary tattoo
15. Make homemade popsicles like these ocean blue ones 
16. Dance in the rain
17. Snuggle up and watch the lightning from a summer storm
18. Play kickball, even better if it’s slip n slide kickball!
19. Make homemade pizza
20. Catch fireflies
21. Watch a sunset
22. Learn something new
23. Play outdoor games like bocce ball and corn hole
24. Make something explode
25. Dance it out
26. Paint something. You could even have an entire painting party.
27. Make one of these easy summer crafts – there are tons of summer craft projects to choose from like painting ladybugs.
28. Jump in puddles
29. Make an outdoor game like this DIY ring toss or just make up games to play
30. Eat breakfast for dinner. These egg muffins or mini pancakes are always great!
31. Make homemade ice cream (this birthday cake ice cream is great) and setup an entire ice cream sundae bar
32. Make s’mores or s’mores bars if you don’t have access to a fire. Don’t forget the graham crackers!
33. Have a water balloon fight
34. Play beach ball volleyball
35. Plant flowers or a garden
36. Eat corn straight off the cob
37. Make Oreo dirt cake with gummy worms
38. Have a backyard bonfire
39. Setup a backyard obstacle course
40. Spend a day barefoot
41. Have a no-phone day
42. Lay on grass and look at the stars
43. Drink ice cold homemade lemonade
44. Have a family slumber party (this is one of my favorite things)
45. Take silly summer pictures
46. Play frisbee
47. Drink a tropical drink like this virgin pina colada
48. Sleep in
49. Wave a flag
50. Have a summerween party
51. Have a backyard BBQ
52. Find a double rainbow
53. Play outside until the daylight is gone
54. Play hopscotch
55. Spend the day watching classic summer movies
56. Celebrate Christmas in July (I recommend these Christmas games!)
57. Make something tie-dye
58. Eat fresh pineapple (or turn it into pineapple bread)
59. Write actual letters to friends
60. Blow bubbles
61. Make paper airplanes and have a flying competition
62. Create pictures out of sidewalk chalk or write positive messages in your neighborhood
63. Make a fairy garden
64. Try new foods to see which one’s the best
65. Paint a rock collection. This glow in the dark rock kit would be so fun!
66. Stay up late playing night games like Ghosts in the Graveyard or Flashlight Tag
67. Make up silly skits and perform them for friends
68. Build a birdhouse for your backyard
69. Do paper boat races in the gutters
70. Play neighborhood capture the flag
71. Make homemade pizza
72. Have a summer talent show, the sillier the better
73. Host a neighborhood block party
74. Spend the day doing puzzles together
75. Complete a reading challenge. You could even use on of my book bingo cards!

Summer Bucket List Ideas Close to Home

You will likely have to leave the house for these ones, but they’re not too far away! We add a lot of these too since we typically get out of the house at least once a day during the summer!

1. Go on a bike ride.
2. Roll down a hill. Even better if you do it with new friends!
3. Fly a kite
4. Go to a drive-in movie theater
5. Listen to an outdoor concert
6. Go to a water park
7. Do a nature scavenger hunt
8. Visit a free little library and exchange books!
9. Do a cannonball into the pool – yes, adults too!
10. Watch a fireworks show
11. Buy something at a garage sale (aka a yard sale)
12. Eat a snow cone
13. Play in a creek or stream
14. Go to some sort of festival
15. Do an escape room. Or play an escape room board game if you can’t get to one!
16. Go to a local farmer’s market (it’s a great time to try out some fresh fruit)
17. Get books to read at the local library. You could even do a book club! Or a book retreat! Or a summer book gift basket exchange!
18. Eat a funnel cake or some other sort of fair food
19. Volunteer somewhere like a local charity or do random acts of kindness
20. Go ice blocking or if that doesn’t work, trash bag sliding
21. Pick berries (then use them for this strawberry poke cake!)
22. Go to a local museum
23. Swing on the swings
24. Skip rocks
25. Go to a parade
26. Check out a new park or outdoors area
27. Go to an outdoor mini golf course
28. Go to a baseball game
29. Do a flip a coin day where the coin determines where you go
30. Try at least five flavors of ice cream cream
31. Go hiking, even better if it’s a new trail
32. Run a race
33. Get fresh fruit from a roadside stand (fresh peaches are the best!)
34. Do a yes day
35. Try a brand new restaurant, ideally a local one
36. Go to summer camp or use these summer camp themes to have camp at home!
37. Order pizza at the pool (or make a summer charcuterie board, still at the pool)
38. Go fishing
39. Get out on the water in a canoe, kayak, or paddleboard
40. Go to a splash pad
41. Take sunflower selfies
42. Float in a pool (then play one of these fun pool games)
43. Go see an outdoor musical or theater performance
44. Read a book by the pool, even if it’s just an inflatable pool in your backyard
45. Go geocaching
46. Go to a science center or just do a science experiment at home
47. Eat something from a food truck (I love food trucks!)
48. Go to a zoo or wildlife sanctuary to see animals you’ve never seen before
49. Visit a botanical garden
50. Go to a flea market

Summer Bucket List Ideas Away From Home

Unless you live near these things, these are bucket list items that you’ll need to plan into your summer! We typically put a couple of these on our list but don’t get too crazy!

1. Bury your toes in the sand (preferably somewhere like Daytona Beach).
2. Build a sandcastle or an entire kingdom of sandcastles
3. Go camping and play these camping games
4. Swim in a lake
5. Learn about a historical landmark then visit it
6. Go on a road trip (and take these roadtrip games with you!)
7. Go to an amusement park
8. Go on a staycation
9. Collect seashells
10. Travel somewhere you’ve never been
11. Send a postcard from a trip
12. Visit a National or State Park
13. Go on a boat ride
14. Go tubing down a river
15. Swim in a natural spring, swimming hole, or other body of water
16. Jump off something into the water
17. Spend the night in unique lodgings – a treehouse, yurt, train car, etc.
18. Visit a famous movie filming location
19. Do a food tour in a nearby city
20. Watch street performers – make sure to tip them!
21. Go on a roadtrip where you stop at every attraction you pass – my dream
22. Visit a state you’ve never been to
23. Drive a famous highway or route (like Route 66)
24. Take a guided tour in another city – like bike, food, walking, Segway
25. Take a trolley, ferry, or train ride from your city somewhere else

You can make your summer bucket list however you want – just write it out on a piece of paper, make one with post-it notes, or even do something like my boredom buster jar where you put things in a jar and pick them out as you go!

Or I’ve made three free printable summer bucket lists you can use to get started – one that’s filled with all sorts of summer activities, one that’s free to print and just fill in, and one that’s ready to fill in and decorate!

Printable Summer Bucket List

I’ve created a summer bucket list you can use to get started with that has all sorts of fun summer ideas like playing water games to catching fireflies. There’s a filled out version of this bucket list AND a blank one you can use to create your own.

Summer Bucket List You Can Color

Or if you want a blank slate, I’ve also created a blank black and white summer bucket list that’s designed to be used as a summer activity – print it out as a large engineering print (at any local office store), color it in, and decorate! Make it yours, whatever that looks like to you. This is the one my kids created for us this year – you can see the size of it in the pictures at the bottom of this post!

I gave them crayons and a couple of sets of summer stickers to let them decorate, and it was maybe the most fun we’ve ever had making our family bucket list!

Summer Bucket List FAQs

Enter your first name and email address in the form below to get the printable free download PDF. You will receive a link to download the PDF to your email within minutes. Print on card stock and you’re on your way.

If you can’t see the form below, click here to get to the form to enter your info. If you’d prefer to not provide your email address, you can get a copy in my shop here.

You’ll receive a copy to your email shortly after that includes a 4-page PDF:

• The regular summer bucket list
• The blank summer bucket list (small one)
• The black and white color it in bucket list
• The full list of all of the activities I mentioned in this post

If you need some more fun things to do this summer, try out these fun activities!

• Summer bingo – free printable summer themed bingo game, great for any summer party!
• Giant outdoor games – some of our favorite board games but in giant size!
• Summer party ideas – tons of great ideas to beat the heat while entertaining this summer!
• Summer chore chart – printable chore charts for the summer that includes chores and reward ideas!
• Summer party themes – all the themes you could ever need for summer parties!