Summer Theme Days for Kids {Free Printable}
Summers can be challenging for parents who want to keep their kids from getting bored and away from the TV. Here are some cool, fun summer ideas for the whole family. In fact, we typically divide our summer days into summer theme days for kids. This helps me (Mom) and the kids with what to expect each day. It also helps us use our days with purpose instead of just wasting them away (which is still totally okay to do here and there)!
When the summer temperatures climb, so does the need to stay cool. Every member of the family is tempted to stay indoors under the air conditioning and become couch potatoes. To keep kids from getting bored, they need a combination of projects, activities, and games to keep them busy. Here are some fun ideas that will incorporate exercise into cool family fun!
Movie Monday (to Start Weekly Summer Theme Days for Kids)
Movie Matinee
Afternoon matinees are reasonable and, during the summer, most theaters have a line-up of movies for children that are sure to thrill your kids. Some theaters even offer movie passes for the entire summer. Check out the possibilities at a theater near you. Our local Cinemark Movie Theater has a kids movie program in the summer that we often take advantage of! The movies are often held during matinee hours, and the movies are often oldies but goodies.
Home Movie Theater
Hang a sheet in the garage and project your favorite kid’s movie on the sheet. The entire family can set around on yard furniture or setting on sleeping bags and munch on popcorn while the huge pictures flash on the screen. Invite a few friends and turn it into a party.
Movie Production
Buy a used or inexpensive digital movie camera. Or let kids use your device or their own to create movies on iMovie. Let your kids make their movies. If you are technologically gifted or have a simple program you can edit their work. If not, just watch the raw footage. Watch their creations during the family fun night.
New Movies from Library or Streaming Services
Borrow free movies from your local library. They have a special section in the children’s department as well as more offerings in the adult section to choose from at no cost. Just be sure you take them back on time.
Of course, you can always search Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney Plus for any new movies that none of you have yet to watch. This is also a great opportunity to introduce your kids to some old classics they have never seen!
Try It Out Tuesday
Visit a New Local Attraction
This is the perfect time to visit a new local attraction. And by “new,” we mean new to you. It can be a park that has been in place for 100 years, but you’ve never visited. It can be a local landmark that you hear about all the time but have never been.
Go to a different park in town. Check out the playground equipment, play catch, or through a Frisbee. Take a picnic lunch and enjoy a day outdoors.
Take a hike. If you live near a national park, that would be a great place to hike. If not, just take the kids and head out for a hike through the country or around the neighborhood.
Try a New Restaurant
Is there a Thai food restaurant around the corner that your family drives by every day, and yet you’ve never tried it out? Now is the time! Or maybe check out the new breakfast place that popped up last year that you’ve been meaning to check out.
Try Out a New Workout as a Family
Try it out ideas don’t have to cost money. Watch some free workout videos on YouTube or on a free fitness app and try something new!
Water Wednesday (in the Middle of Summer Theme Days for Kids)
Water balloons will never go out of style. Plan a water balloon event, playing games involving water balloons, such as a water balloon toss, a water balloon target throw, and finally a battle. Filling up the balloons by hand can be a pain, but there are water balloon fillers that can be attached to the garden hose. The Water Blaster has a water balloon tip just for that purpose.
Summer Squirt Gun War
Organize a squirt gun war for just the immediate family or challenge extended family members or even other families. Each “kid” needs at least one squirt gun and each team will need a water refill station such as a large bucket or barrel. The “water battle” can be in a park, school field, or large backyard. Nothing is more fun for kids than drenching parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents!
There is a wide variety of squirt guns available in the stores and online, from the little plastic pistol type to Water Blasters and super soakers. Some come with shoulder straps and can carry as much as 6 lbs of water! After the first war is held, everyone will up their arsenals for the next war.
Water Balloon Toss
Break into teams of 2, and make two lines, each partner facing the other. In each team, one partner tosses the water balloon to the other. They each step back one step and the balloon is tossed back, this continues until the balloon is broken, and that team is eliminated. The last team with an unbroken balloon wins.
Water Balloon Target Throw
Create a target range with people as targets. Position all but one person as targets on pre-marked numbered spots, each spot at different distances from the shooter with different point values. The shooter keeps throwing balloons until they miss, at which time, everyone moves up one position, the front “target” becoming the shooter, and the shooter becoming the furthest target. Whoever makes the most hits and points, wins.
Water Balloon Fight
There’s probably no need to explain this. Fill up the balloons, and battle until all the balloons are gone. There are water balloon launchers that can be incorporated into a more organized balloon fight, that can launch the balloon as far as 250 feet!
After any water balloon fun fest, a watermelon eating contest or seed-spitting contest is a good follow-up since everyone is already a mess!
Pool Day
Plan a pool day with neighbor friends or just take yourselves to a local community pool for a day of water fun!
Try It Again Thursday
Whereas Tuesday is a day to try something new, Thursday is a day to revisit some of your favorite places, favorite foods, and favorite things!
Low-Key Fun Friday (to Finish Summer Theme Days for Kids)
Library Time
Sign your kids up with your local library. Story hour is not all local libraries have to offer. Summer reading programs offer your kids a chance to win prizes while they enjoy the books they chose. Some libraries offer free movie afternoons, craft classes, and other special activities. We have an amazing library system in our area. Every single day in the summer is full of tons of positive fun for kids.
Kitchen Play
Get out all the baking supplies and call the kids into the kitchen. Spend the afternoon baking cookies or other delectable goodies. Summer is also a great time to teach the children how to cook wholesome meals.
Craft Creativity
Create a craft box and save odds and ends all year long. On rainy afternoons, bring out the craft box and let your children go crazy designing and building whatever their imaginations can conjure up.
Supply a dress-up box. Encourage the kids to use their imaginations. The clothing in the dress-up box is perfect to use when they are making their movies too.
Outdoor Fun
Camping activities are not only fun, but they are also very reasonable. The upfront costs will be amortized as you camp over the next few years. There is just something about sitting around a campfire with a stick holding hot dogs or marshmallows over the flame while someone tells a story that kids love. If you can’t get away to a campground, pitch the tent in the backyard and hold your sticks over the barbecue fire.
Optional Summer Theme Days for Kids on the Weekends
Some people like to include weekend days in their summer themes, and others don’t. Some ideas are Sunny Saturday, Sunday Funday, Social Saturday, Ice Cream Social Sunday, etc.
Download our Free Printables for More Ideas for Summer Theme Days for Kids
Check out our free theme day printables for even more fun summer theme days for kids! Our free download has four custom monthly calendars which you can fill it with your personal plans for each daily theme. There is even a completely open calendar for those who want to start from scratch!
Download your Summer Theme Days Printable here!
Make summer so fun, your kids will talk about how “cool” it was all school year!
