Summer vacation may be slipping away, but you can make every last minute count before sending the crew back to school. We’ve got you covered with simple ways to spend some family time together and send the season out in style: we’re talking both indoor and outdoor activities that are sure to check off a few items on your summer bucket list. Keep reading for everything you need to make this summer’s last hurrah one for the books.
Go to a water park, or turn your backyard into one.
Bob for donuts at breakfast.
Make s’mores. You can go gourmet with one of these unconventional twists.
Go backyard camping. We've got 10 great ideas to help you get started.
Go stargazing. Check out our top tips here.
Have an outdoor movie night.
Have a yes day.
Stay up late and play flashlight tag.
Go to a drive-in movie, pack a picnic summer, and take a deck of playing cards.
Turn your porch into a comedy club and entertain each other with these hilarious jokes for kids.
Pick a day and pretend it's 1982. Here's your guidebook.
Form a band and make your own instruments. Be sure and record each person's solo!
Find a firework show (check your local baseball team's schedule) and bring your 3D glasses.
TP your kids' rooms.
Break a Guinness Book of World Records. Peruse the titles up for grab on the official site here.
Take a family bike ride.
Locate a national park near you and make a day or overnight trip to it.
Decorate bikes and parade through the neighborhood.
Spend a morning with a kiddie pool in a brand new way.
Catch some one-on-one time with each kiddo, and make it special with these simple and sweet games for two.
Park it at the pool, and stay there until they close. Fill the hours with these awesome prop-less pool games.
Stay up late and have glow-in-the-dark fun at night.
Play twilight games after the lightning bugs come out.
Prank the kids. It'll keep them on their toes!
Let them have that lemonade stand, or better yet, think out of the box with these alternatives to the classic.
Get cooking! Check out these 12 clever cooking games for kids, and the bonus is that they'll get you psyched up for making those back-to-school lunches.
Mix some pretend potions for chasing away first-day jitters. Think of every superpower they might need, and whip up a potion for each one.
Spend a day playing these old-school outdoor games.
Stay in the backyard but revolutionize it with these awesome backyard hacks.
Spend a day at a kids' museum. Here's a list of one in every state.
—Shelley Massey
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