The Ultimate Summer Bucket List (Free Printable) (2024)

By: Britni Vigil

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Make this the best summer ever with these fun summer bucket list ideas. There are tons of fun ideas to add to your summer bucket list whether you just want to have a better time this summer or you want to keep kids entertained during the hot summer days!

The Ultimate Summer Bucket List (Free Printable) (1)

What Is A Bucket List?

If you’ve never made a bucket list before, they’re so much fun!

A lot of people have bucket lists full of items they want to do sometime in their life. Maybe a travel bucket list of places they want to travel or a seasonal bucket list (like this Christmas bucket list) of things they want to do during a specific season. It’s basically a list of things you want to accomplish within a setamount of time.

While some people like to put together say a lifetime bucket list, I prefer to make bucket lists for short periods of time such as the summer.

With summer being such a short time, it’s a great way to really dive in and try to enjoy as many of these summer bucket list ideas as possible! It’s really the perfect time to make a bucket list!

And if you get through all of these, you can always move onto my fall bucket list!

120 Summer Bucket List Ideas

Everyone’s bucket list can be a little different, but these summer bucket list ideas should hopefully be enough to get you started with creating your own! There are tons of fun things to choose from!

I tried to make them generic enough that they were things everyone can do, not just people who live in Kansas City like we do. If you want to use the one I made, you can get a free printable summer bucket list at the bottom of this post!

This bucket list is full of fun summer activities you can do during the free time that summer brings! There are tons of creative ways to enjoy the extra time we have off including outdoor activities, rainy day activities, and more!

It’s also full of ideas that work for the entire family so that the whole family can have the best time together during summer break!

  1. Go on a bike ride
  2. Build a fort
  3. Do a cartwheel
  4. Roll down a hill. Even better if you do it with new friends!
  5. Bury your toes in the sand (preferably somewhere like Daytona Beach). If you can’t get to the actual sand, you could always make this beach cake too!
  6. Fly a kite
  7. Jump over the waves
  8. Build a sandcastle
  9. Go to a drive-in movie theater
  10. Eat a hot dogstraight from the grill
  11. Have a water fight
  12. Play one of theseoutdoor water games (best on a warm weather day) and all you need is water and water balloons!
  13. Have a watermelon seed spitting contest
  14. Have afamily board gametournament
  15. Go to a carnival
  16. Listen to an outdoor concert (there are normally tons of musical festivals during the summer)
  17. Go to a water park and try out a new water slide on a hot day
  18. Do a cannonball
  19. Play in the sprinklers
  20. Watch a fireworks show
  21. Sit in a hammock
  22. Buy something at a garage sale (aka a yard sale)
  23. Create your own lemonade stand (guests will love this strawberry lemonade).
  24. Eat a snow cone
  25. Go to some sort of festival
  26. Bake cookies and give them to someone else withthese treat tags
  27. Makeroot beer floats
  28. Watch amovie on the big screen or if your bank account allows, rent an inflatable movie screen!
  29. Go to a local farmer’s market (it’s a great time to try out some fresh fruit)
  30. Get a temporary tattoo
  31. Make homemade popsicles like theseocean blue oneswith gummy sharks inside
  32. Watch early morning cartoons
  33. Snuggle in bed during a summer thunderstorm
  34. Have anindoor campout or if the weather cooperates, go camping and play these camping games
  35. Get books to read at the local library. You could even do a book club!
  36. Play kickball
  37. Swim in a lake
  38. Makehomemade pizza
  39. Catch fireflies
  40. Watch a sunset
  41. Go on a picnic and apicnic scavenger hunt
  42. Go on a road trip (and take these roadtrip games with you!)
  43. Build a sand castle or an entire city of sand castles
  44. Learn something new
  45. Make something explode
  46. Go toan amusement park
  47. Dance it out
  48. Eat a funnel cake
  49. Volunteer somewhere like a local charity or do random acts of kindness at home
  50. Paint something
  51. Make one of theseeasy summer crafts – there are tons of summer craft projects to choose from!
  52. Jump in puddles
  53. Make andplay a backyard game
  54. Eat breakfast for dinner. These egg muffins with a hash brown crust are a family favorite!
  55. Go on a staycation
  56. Collect seashells
  57. Go ice blocking
  58. Stay up past midnight
  59. Pick berries (then use them for this strawberry poke cake!)
  60. Eat ice cream before it melts
  61. Makes’mores or s’mores bars if you don’t have access to a fire. Don’t forget the graham crackers!
  62. Have awater balloon fight
  63. Play beach ball volleyball
  64. Plantflowers
  65. Get a mosquito bite
  66. Eat corn on the cob
  67. Travel somewhere you’ve never been
  68. Go to a local museum
  69. Find a dinosaur (maybe on this dinosaur hunt)
  70. Spend a day barefoot
  71. Lay on grass and look at the stars
  72. Drinkice cold lemonade
  73. Have a family slumber party (this is one of my favorite things)
  74. Swing on the swings
  75. Go to a baseball game
  76. Send a postcard
  77. Go to a fair
  78. Go to summer camp or go camping (and play these camping games)
  79. Hike a mountain, even better if it’s a new trail
  80. Run a race
  81. Take a picture by a colored wall
  82. Makehomemade ice cream
  83. Relax in a lazy river
  84. Ride a roller coaster
  85. Order pizza at the pool (or make a summer charcuterie board, still at the pool)
  86. Buy a new pair of sandals (these Sanuks are my favorite)
  87. Go fishing
  88. Play frisbee
  89. Drink atropical drink
  90. Go to a splash pad
  91. Sleep in
  92. Find a sunflower
  93. Float in a pool (then play one of these fun pool games)
  94. Wave a flag
  95. Try 12 flavors of ice cream (this sweet and salty ice cream is one of our favorites)
  96. Have a backyard BBQ
  97. Go see a show (any of these Disney movies coming out this summer would be perfect). Or you could even do a movie marathon at home or an outdoor movie night!
  98. Find a double rainbow
  99. Play until the daylight is gone
  100. Play hopscotch outside
  101. Celebrate Christmas in July (I recommend these Christmas games!)
  102. Make something tie-dye
  103. Eat fresh pineapple (or turn it into pineapple bread)
  104. Read a book by the pool, even if it’s just an inflatable pool in your backyard
  105. Do a service project or random acts of kindness
  106. Send letters to friends
  107. Go geocaching
  108. Blow bubbles
  109. Explore the great outdoors
  110. Make paper airplanes and have a flying competition
  111. Create a time capsule
  112. Create pictures out of sidewalk chalk
  113. Try new foods to see which one’s the best
  114. Paint a rock collection
  115. Go to a science center or just do a science experiment at home
  116. Eat something from a food truck (I love food trucks!)
  117. Go to a zoo or wildlife sanctuary to see animals you’ve never seen before
  118. Pick out new places to try each week (so skip the nearby park and try out a new one instead)
  119. Visit a National or State Park
  120. Stay up late playing night games like Ghosts in the Graveyard or Flashlight Tag

The Ultimate Summer Bucket List (Free Printable) (2)

How to Make Your Own Summer Bucket List

The best part about a bucket list is that it should be all your own. I’ve given you 100+ ideas of things to do this summer. This is the perfect opportunity pick and choose fromthis list of summer bucket list ideasand create one that’s perfect for your own family!

And unlike my list, feel free to get specific. If there’s a place you want to eat, add that specific restaurant to your list. If there’s a mini golf course (or three) nearby you want to try, add it! Want to make paper airplanes and setup a paper airplane course in your backyard, add it!

There’s a blank printable included in the PDF below that you can use to create your own summer bucket list!

The Ultimate Summer Bucket List (Free Printable) (3)

Summer Bucket List FAQs

What should I put on my summer bucket list?

Fill your summer bucket list with fun activities and ideas that you and your family personally want to do. Add things you can only do during the summer like going to a waterpark and things that are better in the summer because of the water like sleeping under the stars in a sleeping bag.

Or just add things to the list that you want to do while you have some free time like a treasure hunt, making an obstacle course, and going for a boat ride!

How many things should I put on my bucket list?

The number of items that goes on your bucket list is up to you, who is doing the bucket list with you, how long you have to do the things on your bucket list, and how long each of the items on your bucket list takes. Reading a new book or going on a day trip for instance take more time than riding a ferris wheel or visiting local parks.

For a summer bucket list where you only have a couple of months to complete it, I recommend a list of around 25 items. This is about two a week assuming you’re working on your bucket list for all of June, July, and August.

More Fun Summer Ideas

If you need some more fun things to do this summer, try out these fun activities!

  • Summer bingo – free printable summer themed bingo game, great for any summer party!
  • Outdoor games – the best collection of backyard games, yard games, and outdoor games!
  • Summer party ideas – tons of great ideas to beat the heat while entertaining this summer!
  • Summer chore chart – printable chore charts for the summer that includes chores and reward ideas!
  • Games with balls – fun games to play with balls, perfect for outdoor fun this summer!

Get the Free Summer Bucket List Printable

Enter your first name and email address below to get the free printable.

You’ll receive a copy to your email shortly after that includes a 4-page PDF:

  • The regular summer bucket list
  • A summer bucket list of things to do at home
  • Two blank summer bucket lists

If you can’t see the form below, click here to get to the form to enter your info.

The Ultimate Summer Bucket List (Free Printable) (2024)
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