Free Summertime Activities for Kids: An Ultimate List

Summertime is a great opportunity for kids to get out and explore their community. There are so many free summertime activities for kids, and this list provides a few examples of what your kids might enjoy.

Whether you’re a nature lover,  an art enthusiast, or a sports fan, there’s something on this list of free summertime activities for kids for every family.

18 Free Summertime Activities for Kids

1. Visit Your Local Library

Most libraries offer free summer programs for kids of all ages. Check out what your local library offers and sign your kids up for some fun summer activities.

Public libraries often host free summer activities for kids like:

• Outdoor story time
• Arts and crafts projects
• Movie showings
• Trivia events

Not only do they have a ton of free events, but their reading programs in and of themselves are worth joining. Many reading programs give out weekly prizes for completing reading goals. In my area, these prizes are often for free treats (like ice cream!) or even pool passes in our community.

Honestly, if it gets my kids reading and gives me even more free summertime activities for kids, I am here for it!

2. Attend a Community Event

Many communities offer free events during the summer months. Check your local newspapers and websites to find out what’s happening in your area.

Community events offer fantastic opportunities to meet new people and have fun. Catch some live music at a free concert, or eat delicious local food at a community festival. You may find that some of your kid’s favorite summer activities are taking place right there around home!

A lot of times, you will find these events advertised in your local town’s Facebook groups. If you do not find anything there, try calling your city hall to ask what community activities for kids they are aware of. You may be shocked to discover how many free summertime activities for kids are happening in your hometown!

3. Go On a Nature Hike

Take advantage of the warmer weather and explore nature with your kids. Many local parks and nature trails offer free admission.

Hiking is an excellent form of exercise and spending time in nature is proven to improve mental health. There are other benefits to going on a nature hike, like learning about plants and animals. So head out on a nature hike and get some fresh air!

Not sure where to find the perfect trail to get your kids on? Try heading over to your state’s DNR website. Many nature preserves and city parks have neat hiking trails that you can utilize at no cost. Bonus points if you end up in one of the nation’s National Parks checking out the outdoor activities they have to offer!

If you are willing to float a couple of bucks for gate admission, many state recreational areas have a ton of free summer programs for kids that are educational and engaging. That $7 gate fee can go a long way when you see what they have to discover.  I know some around Indiana that even host free movies on select evenings and others that have splash pads!

Local to Indiana? Check out https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/parks-lakes/ to find a new place to explore near you!

4. Have A Picnic

Make some sandwiches, pack some fruit, and enjoy a meal outdoors. Picnics are a great way to spend time together as a family and appreciate the simple things in life.

You can bring a blanket to spread out in the grass or head to a local park that has picnic tables. Some parks even have grills you can use to cook a meal for your picnic on the spot.

Plus, getting your kids involved in the kitchen is a great way to get them engaged in food prep, and teach them skills they can use throughout their lives.

Hoping to extend the activity a bit? Take a couple of books with you and enjoy the afternoon reading in the sunshine!

5. Go For A Bike Ride

Want to explore your neighborhood and get some exercise? Plan to go for a bike ride. Whether you ride solo or with the whole family, bike riding is a great summer activity.

Remember safety rules when riding your bike, like wearing a helmet and using proper hand signals. Also, be mindful of other cyclists and pedestrians when you’re out on your bike.

Not sure where in your town to ride? A beautiful ride through the country is a great place for little ones to get their bearings. Many parks also have great paved bike trails that would be perfect for small day trips as well. Just be sure to check out the recommended ride time on the trail before getting started so you know if it is a good fit for your family before you get started.

If you don’t have bikes of your own, many cities offer bike-sharing programs that allow you to rent bikes for a day or an hour at a time.

Looking for a great place in Indiana to bike? While it isn’t exactly free, Fort Wayne has an amazing biking experience for the whole family that we were able to participate in a few years ago that you can read about here.

6. Go to the Beach

Swimming is a great way to stay cool in the summer heat. You don’t have to pay a thing to go swimming if you head to a nearby lake or river with a swimming area.

While at the beach, you can also build sandcastles and look for shells or other small treasures. Even along freshwater water banks, you would be amazed by the marine life and beautiful rocks you can find!

Please be sure to pay attention to your surroundings as well as posted signs when swimming in unfamiliar waters while you are looking for a new location to splash around. If an area is posted for no swimming, there is often an excellent reason for it. While swimming is a great one to add to our free summertime activities for kids list, it is so very important to ensure you are doing it in a safe location!

Again, if you are unsure where to find great public waters for swimming, be sure to check out your state’s DNR website for some great suggestions!

7. Play Frisbee or Catch

Head to your local park and play some frisbee or catch. These two classic games are perfect for outdoor activities on a summer day.

They’re simple enough that kids of all ages can participate and they’ll build more vital gross motor skills as they run and jump to catch the frisbee or ball.

Playing outdoor games like frisbee or catch is also an excellent way for your kids to meet new friends their age. When at a park, watch how many kids will start to get curious watching you guys play. How many of these kids can you include in your game? Before you know if your kids will be making a whole new set of friends that they can enjoy playing within the park for the rest of the summer!

8. Blow Bubbles

Bubbles are a classic summer activity for a reason—they’re just plain fun! And they’re also relatively cheap and easy to make.

If you don’t have your bubbles, you can make your own by combining dish soap and water. (I recommend Dawn dish soap personally, but you can really try any of them.)

See who can blow the biggest bubbles, what interesting shapes you can make, and how many bubbles you can make at one time.

Need some extra fun ideas? Try making your bubbles in a small kiddie pool if you have one laying around, then use a hula hoop to make bubble tunnels around your kids. Go dig through the craft closet and use pipe cleaners to create fun shapes to blow bubbles out of. Put a little bit of food coloring into your bubble mix and try coloring your bubbles. Get creative with what you have and watch your kids chime in with their own imaginative ideas!

9. Try Geocaching

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure-hunting game. Participants use GPS devices to navigate to specific locations, searching for hidden containers called “geocaches.”

Many of these little containers will include small treasures, where you can take a treasure and leave one of your own.

Geocaching is a great activity for kids because it gets them outside and exploring. It’s also a great way to teach them about using maps and compasses. It is kind of like going on a treasure hunt without having to find a ship, parrot, or peg leg to participate.

Not sure where to start? Check out your phone’s app store for geocaching apps, or type geocaching into your Facebook search bar and see what kind of geocaching communities are popping up around where you live.

10. Play Tag

Tag is a classic for a reason. It’s one of the simplest games there is and it’s just plain fun.

There are a lot of different versions of tag, so try out different ones to see which ones you like the best. Not only that, but this is an activity that kids of all ages will enjoy once they start playing and remember they do know how to let go and have fun without a screen.

This is another one of those fun activities as well, where your kids will have the ability to make new friends as they start playing. Once you start a game of tag, mama, everyone wants to play. Yay for free play outside with new friends!

11. Go Stargazing

With clear summer night skies, it’s the perfect time to teach your kids about the stars. Lie out on a blanket in your backyard or find a nearby spot where you can see the Milky Way.

You can also look for certain constellations or try to catch a meteor shower.

Not sure how to find any constellations, or all together confused about them? There are some amazing free apps out there that will literally map the stars for you on your phone and help you find them. You can also find planets on there, which is super cool, especially if you can incorporate some planetary learning during the daytime, only to be able to find the planets in the sky at night!

Be sure to check out community resources when it comes to stargazing as well. Some state parks have star labs, while some libraries have telescopes you can borrow to enhance your own star-gazing experience!

Also, be sure to check out the American Meteor Society here to find out when meteor showers will be happening so that you can check those out with the kids as well!

12. Go Camping

Camping is a great way to bond with your family and friends while enjoying the great outdoors, and teaching your kids fun new skills, sometimes while you learn them yourself.

Not going to lie, the fastest, closest, and most convenient free camping spot you are likely going to find is going to be your own backyard. Do not let that stop you though! A lot of fun can be had by pitching a tent in your own backyard and roasting marshmallows around a small fire.

Looking for something a little more outdoorsy? My first suggestion would be to consider relatives or friends living in wooded areas. Asking them if they would mind for you and your family to have a small camping trip on their property would give you a change of scenery, and provide a whole new experience. Plus, you may even gain them as new camping buddies during your adventure.

Don’t have any friends or family members with the space to host your camping adventure? Never fear! Check out Campendium. This site will allow you to view all of the camping sites near you, and to filter them by price. You may be surprised to find some pretty cool free places to camp near you!

13. Go Fishing

Fishing is a great summertime activity for kids and one that has started to lose its formal novelty. This makes it a fantastic addition to our list of free summertime activities for kids!

Did you know that most states do not require youth to hold a fishing license to fish in public waters? Better yet, did you know that most states also host multiple FREE fishing days throughout the year? This means you AND your kids can fish for free on those days!

Don’t have any fishing gear of your own? Before you buy, take to Facebook land. Ask around if anyone has any fishing gear they would be willing to let you borrow for the day. You may be shocked to find out that many people are eager to come forward with gear sitting in the corner of their garage or shed that you can borrow or even have.

Plus, if you are not squeamish, your fishing trip can become another lesson on catching and preparing your own dinner!  Add a fishing trip at a state park near you to your summer bucket list, and you are sure to add fishing to your family’s list of favorite outdoor activities!

14. Play in the Sprinklers

Sprinklers have forever been a fun summertime activity for kids. Why not set one up in your yard and let your kids cool off?

Dust off that old garden sprinkler hiding in the corner of your garage, or order a fun new one off Amazon like this one, and let your kids run free. Seriously, it is so fun to watch them giggle through the water. I swear my kids can spend hours jumping through water streams and chasing one another. It is like a water park in the front yard that even the older kids want to play in!

Fun bonus? As long as you get them out of the sprinkler before they turn your yard into a temporary mud pit, shower time is taken care of before they ever come into the house.

Total mom hack.

15. Go On a Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts can be a fantastic way to engage your kids with their surroundings, and they make for a great addition to our list of free summertime activities for kids. From indoor hunts for items of specific colors, shapes, and sizes to outdoor hunts for all things nature-related, they can be busy activities while being educational.

Make a list of things to find—like leaves, flowers, rocks, or bugs—and see who can find the most items on the list. You can have a scavenger hunt in your backyard or head to a park to find the items; just be sure to give your kids a container to collect their treasures and set them free in their surroundings.

Stuck inside on a rainy day? No problem! Create your indoor scavenger hunt then watch your kids find their fun activities to continue with once the hunt is over.

It is incredible how many things can be found to play with when kids are looking for items of a specific color, focusing on all the things they do not have to do.

16. Plant a Garden

Get your kids involved in planting and caring for a garden for the summer. They’ll enjoy watching their plants grow during the summer months, plus you’ll have nutritious vegetables to enjoy when harvest time comes.

While there may be some initial cost involved for plants/seeds, a garden will provide your children with free educational entertainment as they learn to tend and harvest their food. Plus, you can cut costs on your garden by saving seeds from produce you purchase or even asking for leftover seeds from your neighbors. Even just a small herb garden can be a great time for kids learning about plants. 

If you don’t have room for your garden, see if you can visit a local community garden. Many of these gardens exchange free produce for help with maintaining and harvesting the garden’s bounty. Spending a couple of hours a week weeding the community garden can produce many pounds of free vegetables throughout the summer that your kids still get to watch grow.

17. Have a Water Fight

Looking for a great way to cool off on a hot summer day? Start a water fight with your kids outside for cool fun and great memories with the entire family!

Squirt guns, water balloons, splat balls, water hoses, they are all game here! Don’t have any of these handy? Grab some solo cups from the picnic supplies, fill a bucket with water and go to town! The kids will have a blast throwing water at one another, and honestly, the way said water is delivered will really not matter in the end. Any way here can be considered the perfect way on those hot summer days. Let the kids get creative with their water weapons of choice!

One of my fondest childhood memories was of a water fight at a family reunion where everyone threw water from water bottles at one another. When those ran out, someone had the cooler dumped over them. No one had fancy water guns, and no water balloons were in sight. It was all strictly grab whatever was near you to throw water and go, and guys, it was a blast!

18. Build a Fort

Get creative and build a fort out in the yard. You can use natural materials like sticks and leaves, or you can use recycled materials.

On a trip the kids and I took one year to Wessselman Woods in Evansville, IN (You can see that post here) we played in the Naturescape, building forts out of sticks and rocks and playing for hours on logs. Since then, I have been obsessed with sending the kids out to play with whatever they can find in nature. It is seriously cool to watch your children’s imaginations soar when they are forced out of their ordinary, and this activity is a great one for it!

Have a rainy day? Pull out the blankets and sheets and go to town with a whole fort city! I always forget how much fun a blanket fort can be until my kids have been playing in one for hours and want to sleep in it and the end of the night. Snack time can be in the fort. Movie time can be in the fort. With some paper plates, lunch and/or dinner time can be in the fort. Puzzles and coloring can be in the fort. Your kids could likely spend the entire day in the fort doing fun things and still want more tomorrow.

You don’t have to break the bank to have a ton of fun this summer. With these 18 free summertime activities for kids, you could keep your kids occupied all summer for pennies on the dollar!

These are just a few ideas for free activities that your kids can enjoy during the summer months. While reading this list, I am guessing you have thought of at least a few additional free summertime activities for kids. Want to share? Feel free to drop your own ideas in the comments section down below, and have a great frugal summer with those kiddos!

Photo by Giu Vicente on Unsplash