50 “Back to Basics” Summer Activities for Kids

Get back to basics with these traditional summer activities that the whole family can enjoy!

Oh, those endless summers spent running through sprinklers, picnicking in parks and licking endless ice cream cones.

There’s a lot to be said for getting back to basics; especially when it’s cheap, easy and always a bucketful of fun.

This summer, COVID-19 restrictions mean we’ll be spending a lot more time at home, and the recent lockdown in Calderdale means we can’t have friends over either.

So, we’ve taken a trip down memory lane to share 50 “old school” summer activities that are easy to recreate with your family, and guaranteed to get everyone smiling. Have fun!

1. Decorate your bike: you can find all kinds of colourful accessories online, or use spray paint, paint pens, stickers and streamers that you already have.
2. Make a grass whistle
3. Look at creepy crawlies under a magnifying glass
4. Lie on your back and spot shapes in the clouds
5. Play cards
6. Binge read a series
7. Play Pooh Sticks
8. Binge read a series
9. Create a masterpiece on the pavement!
10. Play pooh sticks
11. Create a masterpiece on the wall, pavement or patio with sidewalk chalk
12. Make ice cream (BBC Good Food has lots of ideas here)
13. Rope the family in for a skipping game or even a tournament!
14. Make jelly. Eat with a huge scoop of ice cream – don’t forget the sprinkles!
15. Go on a bike ride and take a picnic
16. Build a mini beast pond with a washing up bowl. Add some greenery and water, then sit back and observe what crawls along to investigate!
17. Tie die something – a shirt, sheet, hoodie; whatever you please!
18. Make tin can lanterns (there’s a tutorial here)
19. Skim stones
20. Catch fireflies
21. Have a sack race
22. Lie in the grass and look at the stars!
23. Skim stones
24. Catch fireflies
25. Run through a sprinkler
26. Make a  slip n slide
27. Camp out in the garden
28. Make a boat and float it!
29. Have a sack race!
30. Play hopscotch
31. Roll down a hill
32. Kick off your shoes and feel the grass, sand or soil between your toes!
33. Run through a sprinkler
34. Make a potion
35. Camp in the garden
36. Build a fort
37. Feed the ducks
38. Make a potion
39. Fly a kite
40. Climb a tree
41. Make an ant farm
42. Play “What Time is it Mr Wolf?”
43. Make a water bomb out of paper! Learn how here.
44. Pick wild flowers, tie them into a bouquet with a blade of grass and give them to someone special!
45. Make stilts with cans and string. There’s a tutorial here.
46. Roller skate!
47. Make an old school telephone with empty yoghurt pots and string
48. Play marbles
49. Make a raft
50. Climb a tree
51. Make and float a boat
52. Roller skate
53. Spend the day at the beach, take a picnic and go crabbing or rock pooling. Extra points for sandy sandwiches.
54. Make a mud pie! Throw it if you dare!
55. Create – and wear – a daisy chain
56. Go paddling
57. Keep a journal
58. Play tiddlywinks
59. Start a scrapbook
60. Lean how to knit or sew. Try finger knitting!
61. Play Cat’s Cradle
62. Watch old TV shows. There are plenty on YouTube and my kids (and us!) have had lots of fun discovering Gummi Bears and Duck Tales!