2016 Summer Bucket List {50 Ideas & Activities for Kids} • The Pinning Mama

Summer is here! Time to keep the kids busy and the 2016 Summer Bucket List is packed with ideas and activities to keep kids and families having fun and making memories this summer. Free printable download Summer Bucket List to print and check off with your kids!

I am excited to partner with one of my favorite brands from when I was growing up, The Original Brand Popsicle® to sponsor this post and bring you this year’s Summer Bucket List.

Each year Christmas comes and then it seems like in the blink of an eye school is letting out and the air is getting uncomfortably warm. Each year I think I am going to be ready and each year summer sneaks up on me again! When I realized it was already Memorial Day I knew it was time to get my annual summer bucket list put together and up to share with you.

Summer has always been my favorite season. Everything from the long days full of sunshine, to the wrinkled toes from too many hours in the water, to the cool summer treats after long hours in the heat.

Summer is the time to laugh, play and make memories! One of our favorite traditions is making a summer bucket list of all of the activities we want to do together over the summer and then spend each of those long hot days checking off all of our adventures.

When my kids were little I used to come up with the things that I thought that they would like to do, but now that they are older they love to be involved in choosing the activities. Of course, I love this too because it makes them even more excited about the list since they helped put it together. Most of all though, the amount of smiles, laughter, and memories we make together make my heart swell with joy.

This year we kept some of our favorites on the list and added a few new ones! Each of them get to pick a few and of course there are some that are a huge hit with all of them like our number one on the list this year… Eat a Popsicle!

From little to big my kids are huge fans of The Original Brand Popsicle®. As a matter of fact, I just wrote down this sweet memory from my 6 year old. Each afternoon we normally play outside, and each day since I stocked the fridge full of Popsicles, he comes to me after they have been playing a bit and says the same ridiculously adorable thing. “Mommy, can I have a cold Popsicle for this hot, hot day?”

I know. The cutest, right?! I really need to insert a sound byte for you to get the full cuteness effect there, but I am sure his future grown up self will be glad I didn’t.

We have already had a lot of fun with Popsicle this summer with the new flavors. My little guys were super excited for the new Popsicle® Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™, complete with Michelangelo™, Donatello™, Raphael™ and Leonardo™, includes four action-packed flavors: Orange Fury, Cherry Crush, Blue Raspberry Blast and Smashing Grape. My Daughter picked out the Jolly Rancher Popsicles because they were rainbow and she loves bright, bold colors. I even treated myself to Popsicle® Sugar Free Red Classics. That’s right… ALL RED and even sugar free! Totally my style!

What an easy and fun first check on our summer bucket list! Now let’s see the rest of it! I have included a free printable version at the bottom where you can print the list with our ideas, or a blank one if you want to create your own! Scroll to the bottom for the freebie!

See my other Summer Bucket Lists for more ideas here:

2015 Summer Bucket List

2014 Summer Bucket List

2013 Summer Bucket List

2016 Summer Bucket List

Below are the 50 ideas and activities we will be trying to conquer this summer with our kids! Borrow ours, or get your kids involved in making your own bucket list! The important time is to spend time having fun together as a family!

Eat a Popsicle® – Try one of the newest flavors: Popsicle® Tropical Paradise, Popsicle® Sugar Free Red Classics, or Popsicle® Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™. Check Popsicle® out on Facebook and Twitter for more summer ideas!
Slip n slide – This is always fun! My advice, get or make one early so you can enjoy it all summer long!
Go on an overnight road trip – Look for a national park, or destination you can drive to and learn about it then go!
Have a popcorn + movie night – One of my kid’s favorites and great for a stormy summer night, or after you have been outside in the sun all day.
Go camping – Find somewhere near by or even go in your backyard. There is nothing like a camping trip to make memories!
Swim in a lake – see what’s close by and make a day of it! Some lakes even boast sandy beaches!
Make a craft with seashells – If you go to the beach bring home shells, if not there are plenty of places to get these summery baubles.
Donuts for breakfast– We already checked this one off in our first week of summer and even found a donut bigger than our heads! Check it out on my Instagram!
Make grilled pizza– Pizza night is always a fun one here! We let everyone make their own masterpiece with a variety of toppings.
Build a sand castle – If you go to the beach this is an easy one, but if not try to find a park with a sand area near you!
Watch for shooting stars – lay outside on a warm, clear night and see if you get to make a wish!
Find pictures in the clouds– On a day with big billowy clouds lay out a blanket and see what shapes you can find up there!
Play at the park– We are on a mission to try to find and go play at all of our local parks. The kids think it is a great adventure and I love that it is a fun free way to spend the day.
Go on a water slide – My kids are obsessed! We even do it at our house with the water hose!
Ride in a convertible– This might be more of a challenge since we don’t have one, but we are on the hunt!
Run through the sprinklers– I think we will check this box several times this summer!
Go to the zoo– One of our favorite activities for a day out. Look into a pass if you plan to go often. A family pass is often not much more than paying to go once or twice!
Learn about an exotic animal– Great to do before you go to the zoo. Pick an animal and see what all you can learn about it.
Read the 1st book of a series– Pick a great book series for their age and let them get lost in a book! If they are too young to read, pick one you can read to them nightly before bed.
Go to a drive in movie – We love looking for ones that offer double features!
Pick local grown fruit– Find somewhere you can go and pick fruit and talk to your kids about where the food you eat every day.
Draw a chalk mural– Make your driveway into a work of art! If your kids are really artsy, find a famous painting and let them recreate it with sidewalk chalk!
Make a backyard game– Make a giant version of Yahtzee, Jenga, hopscotch, dominos, checkers, or whatever your kids love to play in your very own backyard!
Have a water balloon fight– Look for quick waterballoons at the store, You hook it up to the hose and it fills 100 at a time!
Have a backyard BBQ– Get your kids involved in hosting a BBQ for their friends. Have them make invitations, plan a menu and help cook, clean, and decorate!
Host a field day– Set up a potato sack race, a relay, and other fun games then invite some friends over to do the games with you!
Go on a hike– Find somewhere near by you can see a little nature and get a hike in and make it extra fun with a picnic lunch.
Make up your own cookie– Give your go-to cookie recipe a new twist by letting your kids add whatever mix-ins they want to make their own signature cookie!
Do something for a neighbor– Do you have a neighbor that could use a hand with their landscaping or a project around the house? Get the kids involved in doing something for someone else by doing this!
Call your grandma – Nothing makes Grandma smile like an unexpected phone call just to say hi!
Write a story– Either let them make it up on their own, or give them a starting sentence and let them finish the story. If they are little, let them tell you their story while you write it down for them.
Birdwatch– Go in your back yard or a nearby park or nature area and sit quitely and see what birds you can find. Look up the birds and see what you can find out about them!
Plan a dream vacation– Ask your kids what they would do if they could go anywhere and do anything! Look up places online and plan a dream vacation together! We recently did this with a cruise and had a blast looking at pictures and picking the vacation features my kids thought were the absolute coolest!
Find a new playground – Go somewhere new and enjoy a day of play!
Eat breakfast for dinner – My kids ask for breakfast all day long, so why not make it a special night!
Make a t-shirt – Tie dye, iron on, or puffy paint. Get creative and let the kids make something fun!
Watch fireworks – check local events to see when and where fireworks shows are this summer.
Go to a fair– Find a fair or carnival near by and enjoy some good old fashioned fun.
Skip a stone on water – I am so excited for my 6 year old to learn to do this, this summer!
Ride in a boat– Perfect for if you go to the lake, but if not there are always ferries, and even museums on air craft carriers. There are tons of ways to ride a boat!
Send a letter to a friend– Find a fun postcard or some cute stationary and write a letter, stamp it and send it off for a fun surprise.
Volunteer– Find a way that you and your kids can help in the community this summer.
Have a campfire – While you are camping or even in a fire pit, you need to smell the campfire burning at least once a summer.
Roast a marshmallow – Grab a stick and roast to perfection.
Make sock puppets– This is such a fun indoor activity! Get creative with things to use for the faces and then have the kdis perform a puppet show for you.
Have a water gun fight – The more the merrier! This is a great one to do with your kids or invite friends to!
Stay up late – There is no school tomorrow, so why not?!
Ride a bike – Go on a family bike ride around the neighborhood or to somewhere special!
Do a race – Register for a 5K or kids Triathalon then work together this summer to train for it! There is such an achievement in working together to conquer a goal!
Learn a constellation – Find it on the internet or use the Google Sky app to help you learn a new constellation in the sky!

That’s it for our list! Leave me a note in the comments and let me know what is on yours! You can also see what we are up to by searching #TPMBucketList on Instagram! Join in the fun and use the hashtag so I can see your adventures too!