Free Summer activities your family can create memories enjoying

Free Summer activities

Summer vacation used to mean a break from school. Long lazy days that stretched out in front of kids with nothing but time to stretch their imaginative muscles. Maybe a camping trip with the family, or late nights on a backyard swing.

Along the way, summer goals have shifted a bit. Talk is often centered around grand vacations that cost thousands of dollars. Extravagant parties that make even Pinterest jealous.

For many families (like mine), those ideas sound fun but just aren’t feasible.

Let’s remember Summer is a beautiful season of celebrating living, not a comparison model. 

Intentional summer fun is worth so much

This year let’s turn our eyes to the art of a simple summer, where we play and grow communities. Where our families have a relaxed opportunity to build stronger bonds and catch up for lost time.

Does a  intentional summer of free moments and lazy daydreams sound good to you? 

Pick a few new ideas to implement this year in the pursuit of a summer well-lived on a budget! Click here if you’d like to have free summer activities printable for the fridge.

Most ideas are totally free, and some just cost a few dollars.

20 Ideas To have a fantastic free summer

• Bring back letter writing
• Seek out neighbors to say hello, chat awhile and learn their names
• Walk in the late evenings and find the people out. Be bold & offer tea on the porch
• Have a water balloon fight
• Host a whiffle ball game with mixed ages
• Spend intentional time with grandparents
• Serve others in the community

• Read more; that is the prize… the gift of travel in the imagination. See if the local library has a reading program with prizes
• Rock on a swing or in a hammock
• No pool? Get a plastic one and set by the porch. String lights; fill with water, sit and talk with your toes wiggling
• Play horseshoes or tetherball or croquet
• Begin family game night tournaments (check out our tried and true favorites here)
• Make oversized games for the yard, such as Jenga made from scrap wood

• Enjoy a day of Christmas in July
• Create a fire pit to have a camp experience at home (s’mores anyone?)
• Slip n’ slide in the grass
• Find and support the local Special Olympics with some cheering!
• Create an outdoor movie theater with a hanging sheet and host a “drive-in”
• Pick up some brochures from the Chamber of Commerce and see the local sights, such as free days at the museum or state fair
• Enjoy random kindness missions and surprise someone who is hurting (Ecclesiastes 3)

If you long for peaceful days and a mental break, it can be a wonderful gift to practice a summer of simplicity.

There is fun and freedom to be found in the art of relearning lazy days.

If you asked my kids, they would tell you they were some of the best memories of their lives. And, so would I. ♥

P.S. If you are struggling to make ends meet, read this post about hope when you are broke

Resources to encourage you:

These are cheap games or ingredients for fun, and you can purchase or be inspired to freestyle, or thrift!

• 500 marbles (marble runs, games, etc)
• Kids stationary set
• Water balloons
•  Jarts (our fave)
• Croquet
• Hammock
• Mini projector for your phone
• Disclosure: I only recommend products I do/would use myself. This post may contain affiliate links that at NO additional cost to you, may earn me a small commission to help support this blog. Read full privacy policy here.