Here are lots of fun summer crafts and activities to keep the kids engaged all summer long! This list includes arts and craft ideas, fun science, and more!
Updated May 2021
Summertime, and the livin’s easy… I love summer because of the tank top weather, the profusion of natural life all around us, the unscheduled days, and the bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables (fresh, sun-ripened tomatoes from the garden!).
To me, summer means hiking, beach trips, nature art, water play, and all kinds of fun summer crafts.
Today, I’m sharing lots of summer crafts and activities to help you sail through the summer months with a little more ease and a lot more fun and creativity.
Let’s hope there’s plenty of unscheduled free time for pure play and creative expression, but we all know that’s best balanced with a few good activities up our sleeves.
So here’s a list of awesome summer crafts, art projects that are perfect for summer, and other summer activities for you and your family to pick and choose from all summer long.
Summer Crafts and Activities for Kids
There are a lot of good ones here! Choose a couple to try now and bookmark this page for when you’re ready for another summer craft idea or activity for the kids. Happy summer and happy artful parenting!
Summer Crafts for Kids
1. Try some melted bead suncatchers
2. Make your own beaded bubble wands
3. Make this butterfly craft using watercolors and rubbing alcohol
4. Fashion fruit necklaces (edible jewelry!)
5. Explore melting crayons on rocks (if you haven’t tried this yet, you must! So fun, plus they make great gifts and decorations)
6. Make beaded garden ornaments
7. Use flowers and leaves to make butterflies, birds, and faces with this flower suncatcher craft
Summer Crafts for Kids Continued…
8-18. If you’re headed to the beach, make sure to try some of these 10 ocean crafts for kids!
19. Bring extra shells home to make melted crayon sea shells (the bead “pearls” inside are extra fun)
20. Explore the world of tie dye with simple silk scarves (or go all out with T-shirts)
21. Make painted rock houses for your garden or for pretend play
22. Make and decorate colorful paper twirlers and spinners
23. Learn how to make garden wish flags
24. Dye pasta into fun colors and use it to make colorful pasta jewelry
25. Make a God’s Eye (or Ojo de Dios) weaving (on Art Bar Blog)
Summer Art Activities for Kids
Here are a few of kids’ art activities with summer themes:
26. This ice cream art is an easy printmaking activity for kids
27. Butterfly symmetry paintings are simple yet so much fun!
28. Try some edible art! Make grape and toothpick sculptures (and then eat them!)
Summer is also the perfect time to try some fun, but messy, action art activities in the backyard or local park.
29. Drive your toy cars and trucks in some paint for some fun action art!
31. Bubble printing with bubble snakes
32. Splat painting (SO much fun!)
33. Splatter painting like Jackson Pollock
Science Experiments Perfect for Summer
34. Try the melting ice science experiment with salt and color
35. Raise butterflies from caterpillars, then release them into nature
36. Experiment with goop. Here are 13 super fun things to do with Oobleck
37. Send the kids outside to make their own fizzy glitter potions (a super fun sensory play idea!)
38-52. 14 of the best kids’ science experiments to try at home (make a baking soda volcano! try the geometric bubbles!)
A Few MORE Summer Activities for Kids
53. Blow bubbles! Here’s how to make homemade bubbles
54. Build (and paint) your own backyard playhouse
55. Make your own obstacle course (or host your own backyard Olympics!)
56. Water play! For example, slide on a Slip ‘n Slide (or your own DIY version)
57. Play fun DIY outdoor games with rocks
Even More Summer Fun Ideas for Kids:
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