60 Screen-Free Summer Activities ⛱️
they may be obvious, but they're easily forgotten
With my upcoming summer screen sabbatical, I’m also encouraging my household full of teenagers (as well as my students) to spend less time on screens. I’m grateful to have kids that already prioritize minimal screen time, yet it’s still challenging — especially when all your peers spend hours a day on screens, and especially when it’s 100+ degrees and it’s all you can do to just lie on the couch with a remote in your hand.
A reminder list often helps. We've got an ongoing “Bored Board” list of screen-free ideas scratched out on our large kitchen chalkboard, and anyone can pop a new idea there. If anyone’s feeling the pull of boredom, they can skim the list and see what idea may generate. (And of course, this is outside time spent at a summer job and doing a bit of continuing education a la summer school.)
Along with our Bored Board, I also asked some folks on X for their ideas. Here’s our list so far:
Intentionally watch the sunset
Intentionally watch the sunrise
Learn a musical instrument
Learn a new language
Work on a house project (note to parents: visibly hang a list of ongoing needed house projects)
Make a bird feeder
Go to an event at your local library
Learn a new word every week and aim to use it daily
Have a pillow fight with your siblings
Read in all sorts of ways — research a (or create your own) reading challenge, then hang it on your wall and compete with a sibling or friend
Skip rocks on a body of water
Catch fireflies
Learn a few magic tricks
Send someone a postcard from your town
Follow a simple at-home workout routine
Travel somewhere local using public transportation and a paper map
Put on a show with friends (ideas here)
Make homemade ice cream
Host a board game tournament/marathon
Invent a new board game
Build a LEGO set
Learn to play an instrument
Learn some niche, new-to-you skill: solving a Rubik’s cube, saying the alphabet backward, origami, breakdancing, etc.
Learn a few skills that every adolescent knew how to do just a few generations ago
Build a bonfire with friends or siblings (check for burn bans in your area)
Go to a local concert
Learn how to grill
Learn how to bake a pie
Tend a backyard garden
Volunteer with a local group
Create a dinner club with friends (rotate houses and take turns cooking for each other)
Learn to cook one three-course meal from scratch
Take a class at a local community college or center: woodworking, photography, pottery, etc.
Ride your bike around the neighborhood
Hike trails throughout your city (keep track with a local map)
Swim at a new-to-you pool, lake, or natural swimming hole
Copy a famous work of art
Visit local museums
Sleep outside
Go fishing
Sew something
Play a pickup sportsball game: basketball, baseball, kickball, etc.
Watch a local sportsball game
Set up and enjoy an old-school Slip n’ Slide
Visit a local seniors' center and listen to the residents tell their stories
Go on a picnic
Lay on the grass and watch the clouds
Memorize a poem or a chapter from the Bible
Learn a handicraft: needlework, whittling, etc.
Teach a skill to a younger kid
Play at a local playground (but watch out for younger kids, who have priority there)
Go geocaching
Watch (or host) a community outdoor movie
Go to a hobby shop and buy + build a complex model
Learn a new-to-you sport: pickleball, tennis, surfing, fencing, etc.
Buy a broken appliance or engine and learn how to fix or rebuild it
Build a simple boat and learn the basics of sailing
Learn some classic dances with friends, then host a backyard dance hall
Float or tube down a river
Climb a tree (and read a book up near the leaves)
I’d love to add a few more summer activities to this list: what other screen-free ideas do you have?
Bake cookies and bring to friends.
Paint or draw things around the house or from the neighborhood.
Go on a walk.
Organize area in the home- whether it’s your room or closet or a desk.
Donate the extra things if they’re worth it.
If you like, paint your nails your self.
Work on a puzzle or crossword- you can have a book of them you work through when you get bored.
Call a friend.
PIck a different country and build your menu around their cuisine for the week. You can also learn about that country and their customs. BONUS: visit a restaurant in your city that matches the country! We always start with Greece bc the Greek festival is the first week of June! Great way to "take a trip" without leaving your home.