I rolled out a long piece of white paper and taped it to the kitchen floor. Then I stripped my toddler to her diaper and let my son hang out in his Elmo underwear. “Ready guys? Sit down and stick out your feet.” With a paintbrush, I painted my son’s feet blue and my daughter’s yellow. “Now go,” I said. “Walk down the paper.” They walked, giggling and marveling at their colored footprints. “Again!” my daughter said, rushing back to my lap. “Red!” she said. I painted her little feet and off she went, surprised after a few steps to find her footprints looking more orange than red. “Look what color you made!” I exclaimed.
My son scooted over next to me and stuck out his feet. “Do you want green?” I asked. “We already made green!” He pointed at the paper and indeed, he and his sister had made green with their blue and yellow feet. He handed me the purple tube and I painted his toes and his arches, making him squirm. Off he went. Getting creative is good for brain development, but it’s also just fun! It gives kids the freedom to explore and improvise without worrying about doing things “right” or “wrong.” Here are 30 more fun summer activities for kids to get the creative juices flowing!
Getting creative is good for brain development, but it’s also just fun! Click To Tweet
1. Fabric Drawings
Use fabric markers and draw pictures on fabric taped to the floor. Sew up the edges and stuff for easy pillows or cuddly friends.
2. Photo Bookmarks or Collages
Photocopy family photos and Mod Podge them to bookmark-shaped cardstock.
3. Kids’ Drawing or Painting Classes
Try ArtHub for Kids for short drawing classes and Mary’s Paint Party on Facebook or Eventbrite for hour-long live painting classes.
4. Chalk Wall
Designate a wall in the kitchen to create impromptu drawings year-round.
5. Clay Handprints, Footprints, and Wall Décor
Crayola Model Magic air dries and is safe for little ones.
6. Bird Feeder, Butterfly Feeder, Squirrel Feeder
Birds will eat vegetable shortening on a toilet paper roll. For butterflies, put a little sugar in water and boil it. Let it cool and then pour it into a tin plate, and they will sip from it. Squirrels will munch Cheerios hanging on a piece of yarn. Decorate a milk carton to make the feeder even cuter and hang it from a tree.
7. Frog or Toad Habitat
Use a terracotta pot, half-buried in a shady, moist spot.
8. Sketchbooks Before Dinner
Blank books and colored pens make the perfect appetizer while kids wait for dinner!
9. Found Journal
What kids find hunting and gathering outdoors will look great glued into a book.
10. Toilet-Paper Roll Binoculars
Glue together and paint two empty TP roles and then attach yarn (to loop around the neck). Go on a bird walk.
11. Growing Beans
Place bean seeds in a moist paper towel, tuck the towel inside a baggie, and tape it to a sunny window. Roots will form soon!
12. Chalk Racetrack
Create a course in the driveway for remote-controlled cars or even ride-on cars.
13. Action Figures in the Dirt
Get outside with your indoor toys and create a new planet for them to explore.
14. Tinfoil Boats
In a puddle or the tub, see how many pennies your boat will hold.
15. Pressed Flowers
Sandwich flowers in a napkin inside a book and let them dry. Make cards or pictures with them a couple days later.
16. Painted Rocks
Planting motivational phrases in the garden or down the street is a fun way to spread kindness.
17. Uplifting Messages in Windows
Make your mail carrier’s day by coloring a cheery message on paper and taping it to the window.
18. Life-Size Art
Trace the kids’ bodies on a large roll of paper. Have them draw on clothes and details. Then hang the pictures on their bedroom doors.
19. Flip Books
Use a pack of Post-It notes and draw stick figures walking toward the edge. A slight change on each page creates movement and a story.
20. Comic Strips
Blank comic pages can be found online.
21. Family or Neighborhood Newspaper
Update everyone on Fido’s latest trick and the arrival of the new family on your street.
22. Shoebox Critter Home
Crickets or ladybugs would enjoy a stay at the Shoebox Hotel. Just provide grass at check-in.
23. Sock or Brown-Bag Puppets
Make the puppets and then plan a skit.
24. Windchime
All you need is yarn, old buttons, paperclips, and a plastic cup. Improvise with washers, nails, or other items in the junk drawer.
25. Terrarium
Find an old fishbowl or glass vase and fill partway with dirt. Add a succulent and some pretty stones, along with some LEGO figures, plastic dinosaurs, or small animal-shaped erasers and you’re set. It could also be designed like an indoor fairy garden with gnomes or unicorns.
26. Sidewalk Mosaic
Use painter’s tape on the driveway to first create a rectangle. Then tape off shapes inside. Color each space with chalk and then peel off the tape to see the beautiful results!
27. Paint Chip Cards
From bookmarks to coasters to memory matching games, there are plenty of ideas online for how to use these hardware store freebies.
28. Melted Crayon Art
Using a heat gun, melt crayons that have been glued to a canvas and watch as the drippings create something beautiful.
29. Thumbprint Animals
Using your thumbs and paint, make thumbprint animals. With a fine-tipped black Sharpie, draw eyes, beaks, and legs on your thumbprints to make little hens, bunnies, penguins, puppies, kitties, or mice!
30. Apple Slice Printmaking
Make tea towels, t-shirts, or pillowcases that are uniquely your own. Take slices of apples, potatoes, carrots, lemons, or mushrooms, dip them into fabric paint, and use them as stamps to decorate.
For more summer activities, check out these ideas on iMOM and All Pro Dad.
What other fun summer activities for kids have you tried and loved?
