Summer Bucket List for Tweens & Teens

Summer bucket list – Over 100 ideas for tweens & teens, and adults too! Includes crafts, recipes, and lots of fun activities indoors and outdoors. Free printable.

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A few years ago, I published a one-page summer bucket list that continues to be extremely popular for families, but it occurred to me this year, as I was planning the summer out for my own two kids, that the bucket list may not fit my now 12-year-old as well as it once did.

I resolved to create a new, updated summer bucket list just for tweens and teens. I printed out my new Intentional Summer Planner and given the lists of activities to my big girl to peruse and revise. She crossed out the items she had already done this summer, and by the time she was finished, I expected to have an all new list to put together for you.

Except.

She was pretty excited about almost all the things on the list. Not every single one, of course, but enough of them that I reconsidered my idea of redoing the list for older kids. I think the old list is just fine even for these cool kids.

Not wanting to give these kids a babyish list, I went ahead and updated the graphics. But otherwise, the new list is exactly the same as the old list.

If you’re looking for a way to get your kids to take charge of their own entertainment, click over to this post where I have created a unique, card-based list of 150 of the best screen-free activities for elementary kids up through teens.

So that’s it. I created a new summer bucket list without the babyish stuff so that our tweens and teens would have a list of their own to get ideas for the summer from.

If you’re looking for more ideas of fun things you can do with your teen, pop over to this post. You can find some parenting tips for building a strong bond with your teens in this post, and this one has some tips for helping your teens stay out of trouble.

Create your own summer bucket list
Excavate frozen fruit
Do some learning outside
Make suncatchers
Make sidewalk chalk paint
Explode sandwich bags
Catch fireflies
Make a balance beam
Go see fireworks
Throw whirlybirds off the deck
Make a leaf scrapbook
Go on a hike
Water blob
Play miniature golf
Make root beer floats
Wash the car by hand
Participate in the library’s summer reading program
Participate in the library’s summer letterbox program
Outdoor scavenger hunt
Photo scavenger hunt
Make a map of the backyard
Have a carnival at home
Go for a boat ride
Go bowling
Pick raspberries
Pick blueberries
Pick strawberries
Make homemade jam
Swim in the lake
Play bocce ball
Glow stick hide & seek
See a drive-in movie
Make root beer sherbet
Paint the lawn with flour
Make flag t-shirts
Paint with ice cubes
Make banana splits
Go to a petting zoo
Make a nature collage
Tie-dye shirts
Water balloon catch
Visit the amusement park
Visit a water park
Have a picnic
Make dirt pudding
Grow a garden
Bake something with fresh cherries
Play in the creek
Go to a park
Build a campfire
Cook dinner over the campfire
Make s’mores
Go to a baseball game
Make fireworks art
Make patriotic fruit kabobs
Make astronaut pudding
Float in a pool
Make a butterfly craft
Make homemade popsicles
Make a Father’s Day gift
Go out for ice cream
Go for a bike ride
Make a jellyfish suncatcher
Make a mini ocean aquarium
Make beachy pudding cups
Make under the sea graham cracker snacks
Play with water beads
Have a water gun battle
Visit a splash pad
Finger paint
Feed the ducks
Go fishing
Have Christmas in July, complete with Christmas cookies and Christmas music and a special meal – and maybe even a couple of gifts!
Marshmallow shooters
Nerf gun battle
Go stargazing
Watch the sunrise
Watch the sunset
Build a sandcastle
Make a homemade pizza
Grill a pizza
Go to a free concert
Go on a road trip
Listen to an audiobook
Float down a river in an inner tube
Ride a ferris wheel
Have a water balloon fight
Start a lemonade stand
Play in the sprinkler
Play in a public fountain (only with permission)
Fly a kite
Blow bubbles
Hunt for cloud animals
Fly paper airplanes
Play in the mud
Go to a museum
Go to a yard sale
Play frisbee
Play hide and seek outside
Visit the library
Take photos of flowers
Slip n slide
Workshops at Lowes & Home Depot
Visit a pet store
Jump rope
Play hopscotch
Visit a fair or carnival
Build an obstacle course
Create a music video
Start a YouTube channel
Play with shaving cream
Make a fairy garden
Take a nap in a hammock (this is the one we have and LOVE – plenty big enough for 3 kids at one time)
Eat dinner al fresco (you would know that means outside if you read Fancy Nancy)
Paint your faces
Try a new food
Start a rock collection
Do a random act of kindness
Visit a farmer’s market
Visit a flea market
Make no bake cookies
Make frozen yogurt
Visit the zoo
See a waterfall
Rent a paddleboat
Have walking tacos
Learn something new
HAVE FUN!

While you’re here, check out these other resources:

The Ultimate List of Fun Things for Tweens & Teens to Do When They’re Bored – 200+ Printable Ideas
The Ultimate List of Fun Things for Kids to Do When They’re Bored – 200+ Printable Ideas
The Ultimate List of 150 Screen-Free Summer Activities for Kids & Teens
30 Best Quotes From Our Favorite Children’s Books
27 Awesome, Inspiring Harry Potter Quotes