19+ of the Best Summer Family Activities
Try these outdoor summer activities with your family this summer!
Summer Family Activities
Summertime in Tennessee is a hot, humid, and sticky mess, but we don’t let that stop us from having summer fun as a family! We try to take advantage of each and every chance to spend time together outdoors during the summer…from gardening with our kiddos to playing camp-style lawn games to splashing in a homemade pool. Take a look at some of our favorite outdoor summer activities that I’m sure your family will enjoy as well!
19 Outdoor Summer Activities for the Family
1. TRAMPOLINE
I have heard a lot of negative talk about Trampolines, but this has been one of the best purchases that we have made for the kids! We have a net up around the sides and it is right beside our porch so we can keep a close eye on them even from the house. They LOVE jumping!
Put the trampoline in the ground for added safety.
2. BACKYARD CAMPING
Our oldest kiddo had a camping themed birthday party this year. We had some friends over to camp in the backyard overnight. It was a blast! All you have to do is set up your tent and throw in some flashlights & pillows! Light a bon fire after dark for the kids to roast marshmallows and hot dogs for a little extra fun!
3. MUD KITCHEN
This simple mud kitchen was inspired by a friend of mine (I’ll share her blog a little further down). I paid $0 to make this and it took about 15 minutes to set up. A mud kitchen can be made with any scrap wood that you have lying around. Give the kids some pots, pans, and water and let them get to work…erhm…I mean play. 🙂
We have recently changed out our mud kitchen because we were gifted with one that has a sink and an “oven” space. Here is what it looks like this year…
4. SPLASH POOL
Inflatable pools always get busted at our house between the kids and animals. We don’t have the budget for a full size pool so we opted to take the DIY route last year. We placed several straw bales in a large rectangle, secured a tarp over it, and filled it up with the garden hose… The kids love, love, LOVED this pool all summer long!
5. GOLF
My sweet husband is a bit of a golf ball hoarder. He has tons of extra golf balls lying around so he takes the kids out to hit them over the pond. Our oldest child gets a kick out of seeing how far he can hit them (he does a pretty good job making it all the way across) and the littles just like to try to make a splash. This makes for one of the simplest outdoor summer activities!
6. SAND TENT
Sandboxes seem to be a backyard staple for families with young children. Playing in the sand encourages open ended & sensory play in the great outdoors. Our family opted for a sand tent over a regular sandbox because a tent can protect the kids & the sand from animals, sun, rain, and wind. A sand tent is simply a child-sized tent with play sand covering the bottom. Our kids could play in here for hours on end!
7. WATER TABLE/SAND TABLE
We made water tables for our youngest child’s 1st birthday party. We added sensory balls and water guns to each table. These things were a hit with all of the kids! In the cold months, you can replace the water with sand for a digging/sensory table that won’t freeze their little fingers.
8. FISHING
Fishing is one of our favorite outdoor summer activities as well! If you don’t have a pond, you can find a neighbor who does or go to a local lake. Just make sure that your kids are supervised when fishing.
9. BOCCE BALL
Bocce Ball is a simple yard game that even your littles can play. All you have to do is toss a colored ball to score points.
10. HORSESHOES
Some of my fondest childhood memories with my parents took place while playing horseshoes. My kids started making the same kind of memories last year when we set up a simple horseshoe pit in our backyard for them.
11. PLAY GARDEN
I turned a raised bed frame into a play garden for the kids this year. They have a bench, some flower pots, child-sized garden tools, and a wheel barrow in this garden right next to my tomato garden. They LOVE this. Every time they eat apples they go outside to “plant an apple tree” 🙂
You can even create a garden hideout for the kiddos with a climbing plant den.
2020 update: This year, the girls took the initiative to plant their own garden outside of the play garden area. They already have cucumber sprouts popping up!
12. SWING
A swing (of some sort) is one of the essential outdoor summer activities for our family. We have had a tire swing, a bucking bull swing, and now we have a regular swing set with a circle swing and a wooden toddler swing. The kids loved them all!
13. PICNIC
Go for a family picnic! Grab a blanket, a basket, and some snacks and enjoy a little quality time together. You can even set out a picnic table if you want to create a more permanent picnic spot for your family.
14. LAWN GAMES
I LOVE the idea of oversized wooden lawn games like Jenga & Yahtzee. We plan to purchase game pieces like this or make our own for next summer. This photo is from our local children’s museum.
You can even create DIY lawn games like Tic Tac Toe or Spray Paint Twister.
15. GEOMETRIC DOME CLIMBER
I have wanted one of these bad boys for a couple of years and I am really not sure why we don’t have one yet. Maybe having their own Geometric Dome Climber will encourage my kiddos to climb on mama a little bit less than they do right now.
16. OUTDOOR CHALK BOARD
My kids currently use their sidewalk chalk on my porch and driveway. I would love to refocus that artwork to a cute little outdoor chalk board!
17. DIY SPRINKLER
Looking for outdoor summer activities to help you cool down in the heat? Try this simple & affordable DIY sprinkler!
18. NATURE WALK
Our family takes nature walks all.the.time! This outdoor activity costs nothing, but your family can gain so much from it. Teach your kiddos about nature, caring for the environment, and about taking the time to appreciate the things that we take for granted (like weeds and worms).
19. FORAGING
Going on a foraging walk with your kids can teach them some pretty neat nature facts as well as survival skills. Our favorite wild foods to forage are white clover, purple dead nettle, and morel mushrooms.
Backyard Summer Family Activities of My Dreams
My friends at JM Funny Farm have the backyard of my dreams! They have just about all of the outdoor summer activities that you could think of! From a Back to Eden garden, to lots of animals, to a pond with a zip line, to a homemade playground set, to a Gaga Ball Pit, to carpet ball, to an awesome mud kitchen (the inspiration for mine), and they are always creating fun new games with items from around the house (like this one). “Thou shalt not covet”… gotta chant that one over & over after visiting these friends 😉
What are your favorite outdoor summer activities??
>>More Summer Ideas for You<<
- How to Throw a Camping Birthday Party
- Simple 4th of July Craft Ideas
- Patriotic Popsicles for the 4th of July
- How to Make Homemade Summer Chicken Treats
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These are great ideas and I especially love the mud kitchen idea!
Loved your caring for kids, Jess. I’m no farm wife but I feel really inspired inside. The post has shown me your lifestyle. It seems so peaceful & joyous. I live in the New York city but I dreamt of living a life like yours. My husband loves fishing, so does my son. You guys do a lot of things there. We don’t have such things in our city life. Sad for us. Wish me luck. 🙂
I’m so glad you mentioned the 10th commandment at the end there, because I was starting to get super jealous! Good to have reminders like that! The way you’re raising your kids is like my dream! I’d love to have them as excited about all these outdoor activities as yours look. Granted, you’ve put in much more work turning your property into an activity center than I have. I just need to start small, and maybe someday I’ll be where you are!
I envy your friends so much, and I totally understand why you call it the backyard of your dreams! I love animals and kids, but for now, I have none of them as I am only a student. But I hope that one day in the future I will have a large family, and we will spend Sundays in such a backyard with lots of animals, a pond with a zip line, a homemade playground set, a Gaga Ball Pit, carpet ball, an awesome mud kitchen just as it was described here!
It’s lovely to see your kids had a lot of fun there. I would love to visit there with my family! Thanks!
Great tips. You nailed it.
You know how to have fun!!
Nice games and activities, the best way to keep kids, and parents happy.
Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for sharing this great plans with kids, Nature + kids = good time.
Nice pictures.
Hi, Jess! Thanks for the tips listed above. My nieces and nephews love the splash pool as always. We bought them some pool toys and they love it. I always make sure there are adults around to look after them in case of emergency. Oh, kids nowadays! They are really energetic and they don’t feel tired at all. hahaha. Cheers!
I must say this is a very pleasant experience for me to visit your awesome blog.
Thanks for sharing us your experience.
We just installed the newest toy in our house, and it’s the trampoline! My kids love it and they never stopped playing. Us adults love to see them enjoy with their cousins and friends. It also promotes good health since it exercises their bodies. I am happy with this article, thanks for this Jess!
Love all the ideas, Jess! 🙂 I especially love the idea of your DIY pool! With 5 dogs and two boys, I think I’ll go on the same route as yours! Thank you for sharing these great ideas! 🙂
Cheers,
Jessica
My dad wanted us to enjoy playing outdoors with our cousins. It was explained here that some of the favorite activities are trampoline and bocce ball. Furthermore, it’s advisable to talk to experts when considering having a bocce ball.
These are some awesome ideas…I love the homemade sprinkler, very cool! As a father of 4, I’m always looking for new ideas to get my kids outside and moving more. Thanks for these ideas.
Wonderful!!! Nice place for fishing. My kids will love to go there for fishing. I’m waiting for the vacation. Just lovely. Keep creating idea like this.
my children really like jumping too, I will have one for my kids next christmas, hihi
We have the trampoline and it’s so fun. The kids are enjoying it any time of the year. Hahaha
I hope that one day in the future I will have a large family, and we will spend Sundays in such a backyard with lots of animals, a pond with a zip line, and a homemade playground set
Summer is finally here after a long cold winter! Get outside and enjoy these fantastic Backyard Games the Whole Family Can Enjoy. . It looks amazing and stunning…!!
Oh my!! That is such a great idea! Of course I have an on looker who said; “Mom, I want to play that game.” I said well; “I don’t have the stuff right now.” His response, “Well, than get the stuff.”
Camping is very fun. You can do it with the family and bond together, Really fun to do.
Thanks for sharing so great activities, love to spend time outdoors with the kids.
Good weather is starting….enjoy!
These are brilliant ideas, especially the outdoor storage for my gardening items. I would love to start on this project soon. My brother came over to my house, and he just told me that my gardening shed needs a gardening storage makeover.
Oh I like Geometric Dome Climber. My kids will love that. Our favorite thing is to go on a walk. We have lots of places nearby that suit all the ages of my 5 kids.
Love this post!! So many great tips. Thanks so much.
Giant chess is such a fun way to teach kids, my daughter loves playing it – thanks for that post!
I love the memories of camping in the backyard with the littles. Thank you so much for sharing these great ideas 🙂