Here’s a list of summer adventures to go on together — many for free and without leaving home.

New this year: Spend summer like a Brit!

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Get Outside

• Go on a massive treasure hunt with Geocaching
• Discover new walking paths or hiking trails nearby
• Stargaze with SkyView
• Find the best place and time to watch the sunrise or sunset
• Do a listening walk
• Do a rainbow walk
• Take a nighttime walk or bike ride with flashlights or headlamps
• Discover new playgrounds nearby
• Pick your own fruit/veg/flowers at a local farm. (Search “PYO farms near me”)
• Camp in your backyard. A popup tent is great for first-timers
• Go on a microadventure

Create

• Paint rocks and leave them around town for people to find
• Create a time capsule
• Make a chalk mosaic
• Make a Tippy Tap (when you don’t have running water)
• Make your own Blob Opera
• Turn yourself into a famous painting
• Make your own bubbles
• Build an epic indoor fort or use one of these kits
• Construct an obstacle course
• Make your own finger paint or play doh
• Create paper bag puppets or sock puppets and have puppet shows
• Start a garden
• See how many different things you can make with a giant craft jar
• Make a Home Museum with artifacts from around your house

Play

• Fly a kite (make your own or get this best seller)
• Put on a play — with costumes, set, tickets — based on your favourite picture book (May I suggest Hats Off to Mr. Pockles?)
• Play classic summer games
• Have family game night (some faves: Bananagrams, Pictionary, 5 Second Rule, Scrabble)

Read

• Explore my Top Summer Book Picks (with activities for each book)
• Go wild with activity books. (MadLibs, Highlights, Summer Brain Quest, Creativity Journal, Airplane Activities, and Nature Journals)
• Make reading fun and exciting with a location or theme. Try Breakfast with Books, Books with your Bestie, or Reading Around Town
• Check your local library for fun reading incentive programs and sign up
• Join SLJ for storytime with my Story Time Videos
• Read with celebrities at Storyline Online
• Amazon Kids+ has an excellent library of ebooks (plus movies, apps, games)
• SLJ’s Amazon Store has great book list recommendations

Write

• Write a book! Look! I Wrote a Book! guides you through all the stages
• See my top books about writing
• Check out my Tips for Aspiring Children’s Book Writers
• Write a your own comic book
• Keep a gratitude journal and write three things each day you’re thankful for
• Be a penpal via snail mail and write to them on fun stationery

Spend Summer Like a Brit

• Make a proper cup of tea (I’ll teach you how)
• Make cucumber sandwiches
• Walk through St Ives. Then make a watercolor painting inspired by the views and eat a Cornish pasty.  (Inside scoop: the illustrations in my and Jago’s book Loved were inspired by Cornwall)
• Visit York Minster and then make your own stained glass
• Watch Wimbledon and eat strawberries and cream
• Play Croquet
• Watch British shows and movies
• Visit London then and now
• Take virtual tours:  UK Landmarks, the Underground, Blair Castle

Cook

• Make popsicles
• Make ice cream—here’s a no machine-3-ingredient recipe
• Pack a picnic
• Make lemonade (and read When Grandma Gives you a Lemon Tree)
• Make creative s’mores (and read Bats at the Beach)
• Try these Red White and Blue Fruit Skewers

Travel Without Leaving Home

• Visit a National Park
• Go to Mars
• Tour the moon
• Drive around a city listening to its radio stations
• Visit Petra
• Travel to the Riviera Maya, Mexico
• Explore the world with Compassion Explorer
• Travel the world with WindowSwap
• Play City Guesser

Watch

• Have a family movie night together when you’re apart via Amazon Watch Party, GroupWatch, Teleparty
• Watch summer movies. Here are some recommended by my Instagram friends:
  • The Parent Trap (and don’t miss the 1961 version); Because of Winn-Dixie; Finding Nemo (and if you love Nemo, you’ll adore Poor Doreen); The Sandlot, The Black Stallion, Paddington; and The Adventures of Milo and Otis.
• Watch free concerts and story times from Lincoln Center
• Observe animals with the San Diego Zoo’s Live Cams

Learn

• Be a raindrop with River Runner
• Learn a language with DuoLingo for free
• Learn a craft. Michaels offers classes in person and online
• Take a class with Outschool
• Learn at home with Scholastic
• See how many of these science experiments you can complete this summer
• Identify new birds in your area with BirdNET
• Keep your brain busy with Brain Quest Books
• Visit my Resources for At-Home Learning for even more ideas

Be Bored

• A note for parents and caretakers: be kind to yourself and take the pressure off. It’s ok to let kids get bored sometimes. It’s actually good for them. Dr. Erin Westgate explains: “Boredom is ‘normal, natural and healthy…’ In moderate doses, boredom can offer a valuable learning opportunity, spurring creativity and problem solving and motivating children to seek out activities that feel meaningful to them.”

Happy Summer Adventuring!

-Team SLJ