60+ Screen Free Activities For Kids This Summer

Summer is here, and with it comes the endless quest to keep our kids entertained, engaged, and off their screens. While technology offers plenty of benefits, there’s nothing quite like good old-fashioned play to spark creativity, foster learning, and create lasting summer memories. That’s why we’ve put together a list of 60+ screen-free activities that will make this summer one to remember.

From outdoor adventures to creative indoor projects, these ideas are perfect for keeping kids active, curious, and connected with the world around them. Whether you’re looking for ways to spend quality family time or just need to keep the little ones busy, these activities will help you make the most of every sunny (and rainy!) day. So, grab your sunscreen, pull out the craft supplies, and let the summer fun begin!

60+ Screen-Free Activities For Kids This Summer:

We’ve put together this huge list of over 60 activities for children to do during the summer holidays that don’t involve screens. Many are free, or low cost, which makes them easy and accessible to many families.

The list has been split up into 3 sections to make it easier to scan. These are:

• Indoor Screen-Free Activities For Kids
• Screen-Free Activities For Kids To Do In The Garden
• Screen-Free Activities To Do When You’re Out and About

Indoor Screen-Free Activities For Kids This Summer:

1. Spend Some Time Colouring. Colouring is a great screen-free activity for kids this summer as it can help kids to be mindful, regulate their emotions, and give them the opportunity for a little quiet time.

2. Complete Your Local Library’s Summer Reading Challenge. We do this every summer – the kids get a certificate for completing the challenge, and schools often encourage them to do it, too.

3. Draw A Comic. Let your child’s creative side shine through this summer. Canva features loads of free comic templates that you can print out at home.

4. Choose 5 Toys/Books To Donate To Charity.

5. Write A Story. Encourage budding authors to write an exciting story over the summer holidays – they could even write a series!

6. Start A Summer Journal Or Scrapbook. I love doing this with my kids, and it’s such a fun way to record all the exciting memories we’ve made over the summer. Use stickers, print photos, or consider investing in a Thermal Sticker Printer.

7. Copy The Picture Drawing Practice. If you need something creative to help distract your kids from screens, check out our Free Printable Activities For Kids: Copy The Picture. These summer-themed printables are a useful tool to have in your arsenal, especially when the effects of overstimulation from screen use start to show.

8. Make Homemade Pizza. Homemade pizza is fun and easy to make, so why not give it a try?

9. Get Creative With Airdry Clay. I’ve seen so many adorable little airdry clay creations online, from cute little animals like birds or frogs to flowers and plants like mushrooms and sunflowers. Airdry clay is a favourite in our house, and we’ve made a few creations ourselves!

10. Have A Sleepover. Whether you have a house full of kids sleeping over or you have a sleepover with your best friend or a family member, this is an exciting way to keep kids entertained in the evenings.

11. Make Friendship Bracelets. Friendship bracelets aren’t just for Swifties!

12. Make Shadow Puppets. All you need is a torch and your kid’s hands!

13. Play board Games. There’s nothing quite like a good old-fashioned board games evening. Whether you’re a fan of the classics or prefer something a bit sillier, like Pull My Finger, this is a great way to bond as a family and keep the screens at bay.

14. Invent Your OWN Boardgame. Bored (ha!) of your game collection? Make your own! Write down the rules, draw your board, and create figures for people to choose.

15. Have A Paper Airplane Competition. Who can make a plane the fastest? Who’s plane flies the furthest?

16. Take Some New Family Photos.

17. Bake Your Favourite Cookies. We love a good baking session here, and cookies are easy and quick to make.

18. Learn a New Skill. There are lots of new skills just waiting to be picked up. Have a go at painting, drawing, crocheting, skateboarding, clay modelling or sewing.

19. Try Out Some New Science Experiments. Science experiments are a frequent occurrence in our home. We recommend purchasing the Dad Lab Science Activity Book* as it features over 40 fun, easy science experiments designed for kids.

20. Make Homemade Icelollies.

21. Learn To Play An Instrument. Some schools or local organisations offer lending programs that allow children to borrow musical instruments. This is a great opportunity for children to channel their energy into something creative and productive, plus learning to play an instrument can be extremely beneficial to a child’s self-esteem. If there are no lending programs in your area, there are cheap instruments available on the market, such as the ukulele, recorder, harmonica, or a small keyboard.

22. Invent A New Mocktail. We have plenty of tasty mocktail recipes to get you started.

23. Bake Something Sweet. I have to say, our favourite sweet summer treat is a classic Apple and Blackberry Crumble.

24. Make Playdough. It’s quick and easy to make playdough – here’s our guide for making it at home: Play Dough: How To Make Home Made Play Dough

25. Make Slime. My kids cannot get enough of slime!

26. Play With Nerf Guns. Try making your own Quick and Easy DIY Nerf Gun Target Game.

27. Learn A New Word Every Day. Head over to dictionary.com every day to see their “word of the day”.

28. Write A Letter And Post It. You could write a letter to your friend, a relative, or even a pen pal.

Screen-free Summer Activities For Kids To Do In The Garden:

Sometimes you just need to get your kids outside, but you don’t have the time to go adventuring. That’s where this next list of screen-free activities for kids comes in; your kids can do them all from the safety of your garden! From playing games to cooking, these screen-free kids activities are cheap and easy.

29. Camping. Whether it’s at a campsite, in the wilderness, or in your garden, camping is a great family screen-free activity.

30. Grow Fresh Herbs. Grow them outdoors or indoors, herbs are quick and easy to grow and are very rewarding to observe.

31. Do Some Gardening. Kids love gardening, and it’s a great way to teach them about nature and the environment. Here are 5 of the best plants to grow with the kids in the summer.

32. Cook Outside. Whether you build your own fire pit or host a BBQ, cooking outdoors is always a surefire way to get the kids off their screens. Plus, it means you can…

33. Toast Marshmallows or Make S’mores. You just can’t beat a tasty treat during the summer!

34. Build An Insect Hotel. It’s easy to build a bug hotel for your garden, you can even build a bug hotel from your recycling, so why not give it a go?

35. Make Bird Feeders. We love making birdfeeders. Here are our favourites: DIY cookie cutter birdfeeders and DIY toilet roll birdfeeders.

36. Create A Garden Obstacle Course. Turn your garden into an obstacle course and challenge household members to secure the fastest time. You could include things like skipping, jumping over objects or kicking a football into a bucket.

37. Have A Watergun Fight.

38. Draw Outside With Chalk. Draw pictures, create obstacle courses, or even draw out a good old-fashioned hopscotch course.

Out and About: Screen-Free Summer Activities For Kids

Do your kids need to burn off some energy? It’s time to get out and about with these screen-free summer activities for kids. From bike rides to geocaching, there are loads of things to do for kids in your local area that don’t involve screens. So grab your hats and suncream and head outdoors for a summer adventure.

39. Bike Rides. Dust off the bikes, scooters, or even skateboards and head out on a new adventure.

40. Build A Fort. Head to the local woods and collect logs and sticks to build a den. Alternatively, pull the sofa cushions off, grab some blankets, and make a fort indoors.

41. Do A Park Crawl. Like a pub crawl, but more kid-friendly! Visit all the local parks in your area, you could even take a picnic with you!

42. Rock Painting. Use some acrylic paints or pens and get creative painting rocks. Decorate your garden or home, or leave them hidden in your local neighbourhood for others to find.

43. Go To The Beach. Swim in the sea, go rock pooling, build a sand castle – whatever you like! You can’t beat a day at the beach.

44. Swimming. Swimming is a great way to cool off when the weather is hot! It’s also a great screen-free activity for kids to do that will burn off lots of excess energy.

45. Go To The Climbing Wall. Visit your local climbing or leisure centre for a spot of bouldering or climbing.

46. Visit A Museum. There are plenty of museums dotted about, and many of them are free. Visiting a museum is a great screen-free activity for kids to do this summer, as it’s educational as well as fun.

47. Head To A Trampoline Park. Burn off that excess energy by bouncing around on trampolines and diving into ball pits.

48. Do A Scavenger Hunt. We love a good scavenger hunt, and they are brilliant screen-free activities for kids to do in the summer. Check out our FREE Summer Scavenger Hunt Printable.

49. Dog Walking. Taking the dog for a walk is a useful and fun job for the kids to do over the summer holidays. It gets your kids outside in nature and away from those screens! If you haven’t got a dog, you could try asking around your local neighbourhood to see if anyone would agree to let you walk their pooch whilst they’re at work.

50. Geocaching. If you’re looking for a family adventure, geocaching is a superb way to get everyone outdoors and explore nature. Check out geocaching.com and start finding caches in your local area.

51. Go On A Bug Hunt. Hunting for minibeasts is a great way to get the kids off the screens and into the big wide world.

52. Learn To Identify Local Birds. Once you’ve made your DIY birdfeeders, you’re going to see a lot more birds in your garden. Learn more about them using books, Kiddle (for children) or Google (with adult supervision).

53. Go Wildlife Tracking & Learn To ID Local Wildlife. Ever seen tiny footprints when you’ve been out and about? Learn how to identify animal tracks with our Free Nature Printables For Kids | British Wildlife Tracks Worksheets!

54. Dance In The Rain. Let’s face it, this is the UK, and even in summer, we are guaranteed a good rainstorm! Don’t stay inside, get out there and dance in the rain and jump in the puddles!

55. Do A Random Act Of Kindness. Head over to the Mental Health Foundation website for some inspiration!

56. Practice Doing Handstands & Cartwheels.

57. Go stargazing. Take a blanket into your garden or travel to somewhere with less light pollution to get the best view of the night sky.

58. Go Foraging (With An Adult). There is plenty of food to forage for in the summer months, but make sure to always ensure you have correctly identified everything you find. I recommend purchasing the invaluable Food For Free* book before venturing out to find some goodies.

59. Go Fruit Picking. In summer there’s lots of fruit available for picking. Look out for apples and blackberries in hedgerows, or take a family trip to a pick-your-own for some strawberries.

60. Pond Dipping. Pond dipping is another favourite screen-free activity of mine, and it’s fascinating to learn more about our local wildlife. Local organisations often set up pond dipping events for kids in our area, but if you don’t have any pond dipping events on in your local area, all you need is a net to dip, a bucket or container to temporarily keep your finds, and a book or phone to use to identify your finds!

61. Play Frisbee, Football etc.

62. Press Flowers. Take advantage of the huge variety of flowers that spring up all over the place in summer by pressing some. Collect flowers on a dry, sunny day and press them between two sheets of parchment/baking paper and then place something heavy, like a book on top. Wait for a week or so and you will have beautiful dried pressed flowers to use for homemade cards, bookmarks, and other creatons.

63. Go On A Rainbow Walk. I love a good rainbow walk! Turn your family walk into a game by encouraging kids to find something for every colour of the rainbow. For example, for red, you could spot a ladybird or a post box, and for yellow, it could be a flower or car, etc.

Final Thoughts On Our 60+ Screen-Free Activities For Kids To Do This Summer

Are you ready to have the best summer yet? Ditch the screens and encourage your kids to pursue their interests during summer with these screen-free activities. Whether your child has a keen creative streak or they prefer adventuring in the big wide world, there’s something for everyone. Feel free to take inspiration from this blog post and the links provided, but remember that there’s also nothing wrong with sitting down in front of the TV or playing video games from time to time.

Do you have a favourite screen-free activity you enjoy doing with your kids during the summer? I’d love for you to share your activities in the comment section with me – you never know, they may even make it to the list!