Fight back against the summer slide with these brain-boosting (and screen-free!) summer activities for kids.

10 Easy Screen-Free Activities for Summer Fun

If you are struggling to unglue the kids from their phones, iPads or even the television, you don’t have to spend a ton of money with entertaining day trips or vacations during the summer. Instead, you can eliminate the screens and keep them occupied on a daily basis with screen-free activities using household items, art supplies and summer sun.

Tap into your own creativity and reminisce about the days before Snapchat or Mine Craft when encouraging the kids to find ways to entertain themselves and collaborating. 

In addition to blasting away boredom, playing creatively with your kids will create the memories you want your kids to have of spending time with you.

Help your kids express their creativity, get in a little exercise and bond with one another with these 10 screen-free activities designed for children of all ages and families of all sizes. 

Get Crafty and Musical

Summertime is the best time to enjoy an old-fashioned bottle of lemonade or sweet tea, but you can also make some music after a refreshing beverage with the kids. Turn those empty glass bottles into instruments for a fun learning activity with your kids.

Set up a table in your garage or front yard when the sun is shining or set up camp in the kitchen to transform your home into a music studio. Line up the bottles and have each child blow into or over the top of each bottle to determine the sounds they can make.

Next, add in some common household tools to get the band moving and shaking. For example, use a butter knife or spatula to lightly tap on the glass bottles. Experiment with filling the bottles with different amounts of water to change the tones. Ask the kids questions about how the sound changes depending on the amount of liquid in the bottle.

Put a Wet Twist on Tag

Tag is a common game for children to play outdoors, but when you add in a refreshing wet element to help them cool off during the summer, the game gets a little more exciting.

To ramp up the regular game of chase, have them put on their swimsuits and turn it into a game of sponge tag. Mark off the tag area in your yard or the local park and then using a bucket of water, soak a large sponge until it is completely wet.

The leader of the game starts off with the sponge and has to toss it at the other kids trying to “tag” them. Once a person is tagged, he or she must dunk the sponge back into the bucket of water and then assume the role of the tagger.

Make Your Own Window Clings

Let the kids help you decorate while expressing themselves artistically. All you need is a few markers, paints and paintbrushes as well as some contact paper.

Begin by cutting the contact paper into shapes and sizes. For example, combine a large circle with small circles to create a face with ears or cut out a giant heart. Then, have the kids decorate the contact paper by coloring with markers or crayons. You can even make abstract art with paints and paint brushes.

Once the artwork is complete, peel off the contact paper’s backing and have your children stick their masterpieces to windows throughout your home.

Create Rock Art

Turn ordinary rocks into masterpieces with this screen-free activity. First go on a little nature hunt to find some small rocks lying in your neighborhood or nearby woods. Then gather up the art supplies to express your child’s creativity.

Using paintbrushes, have the kids add some color and personality to their rocks. You can make silly faces on the by adding eyes, noses, hair, and mouths to each rock. Another idea is to use glitter glue to make a fancy looking sparkly rock. Or, choose a theme for each rock decorating session like “foods” or “animals”, and paint each rock like a different type.

When you’re done, surprise a friend or neighbor by placing a decorated rock on doorsteps or just leave them out in nature for anyone to discover.

Have Your Own Field Day

What is every kid’s favorite day of the school year? Field day! Why not have your own field day in the back yard?

Round up your kids and a couple friends or neighbors and everyone can suggest their favorite game or race. Think of the classics like the sack race, water balloon toss, egg on a spoon race, three-legged race and freeze tag. Really anything outdoorsy and sporty goes.

If you have a good size rope laying around, organize a game of tug-of-war! Try different combinations of kids on each side to give kids more chances to win. Girls vs. boys is always a fun one for tapping into their competitive nature. End with a popsicle or cold lemonade to polish off the good old-fashioned fun.

Create Makeshift Trains

If your children are impressed by trains, you don’t have to travel to the nearest railroad to show them the excitement of a choo-choo. Instead, collect a few shoe boxes that you have on hand and create a locomotive they can call their own.

All you need is a shoe box for each child, construction paper and art supplies. Begin by measuring out and cutting construction paper to fit each side of the train (aka shoe box). Attach the construction paper with glue, making sure you have circles for the wheels of the train. Then, have each child decorate their locomotive. Incorporate letter writing for preschoolers by having them choose a name and write it on each car of the train.

Once the shoe boxes are decorated, poke holes at the end of the box and use string to tie them all together and have the kids take their collaborative train on a trip through the house or yard.  

Test Your Juggling Skills

Juggling is difficult to master, but you can make this activity fun versus frustrating by teaching your children how to juggle with different objects, like soft balls, plastic eggs, or even fruit. Gather up a few apples and oranges and have the children practice juggling outside with just two items. You can even use soft plush stuffed animals or (the easiest object for learning to juggle) scarves.

If it’s a hot day, fill up some balloons with water to get wet and wild.

Once the children have mastered juggling two items, challenge them to add in a third item. Use a stopwatch to time the and see if they can break their personal best juggling record.

Make Edible Necklaces

If your house is like mine you have a pantry filled with different varieties of kids cereals. Why not make tasty crafts with the by turning a handful of Cheerios or Fruit Loops into edible jewelry?

Ideal for younger children, this activity helps your children master measuring and finger dexterity. Start by cutting a piece of yarn that will loosely fit around your child’s neck. Then, let the kids start stringing cereal onto the yarn. They can color code the necklace or alternate different types of cereal to practice making patterns. Once they are done putting on the cereal, tie together the ends of the string and place it around your child’s head.

Snacking on the cereal necklace might mean one less time Mom has to prepare a snack for them that day!

Host a Jump Roping Competition

Help the kids get in some fun in the sun and some exercise during the summer. With a few jump ropes on hand, you can help your crew master basic jumping and stepping skills while also keeping them away from screens.

Start by showing younger kids how to jump rope. You can ease them into the activity by teaching them how to step over the rope one foot at a time and then advance into jumping with both feet while swinging the rope overhead.

Once all of the children have mastered basic jump roping, switch it up. For example, you see can jump rope continuously for 30 seconds without stopping or trying turning the rope backwards. Play some music and enjoy dance-jumping to the beat. 

Become One with the Earth

Sometimes, kids just need to get messy to have fun and this outdoor activity gives them the opportunity to do just that.

Have each child put on play clothes or swimming suits and head straight for the dirt armed with shovels, buckets and beach toys. Bring out a plastic pitcher of water and give each child a paper plate or plastic container to make mud pies for the day.

You’ll be shocked at how much your kids will enjoy getting messy and digging into the Earth. A good clean-up activity afterwards is a car wash! That way you can soap and hose down the kids before they walk back into the house.

What are some of YOUR favorite summer activities for kids? Leave a comment!

For more summer fun, don’t miss this roundup of our favorite outdoor toys.