Are you looking for fun summer camp activities that you can keep your kids engaged in?
Summer season can be difficult to bear at times for you and your kids as well. To make the scorching heat and weather of summer bearable, summer camps for kids of all ages are an enjoyable and exciting opportunity. Summer camps often consist of a 3-4 week period and kids do a lot of fun activities and play games that prove to be a good escape from the overwhelming hot weather. Whether they are arts and crafts, indoor/outdoor play, STEM activities, or any other fun activity, it is very helpful for kids during summer.
Here’s a list of 30+ fun summer camp activities for kids that can keep them engaged, playful, and happy during the summer season:
- Stone painting:
Painting is something that keeps kids creative and lets them show their artistry in a very cool way. Wherever your summer camp is, there might be lots of stones there. Let the kids pick any smooth stone and paint it however they want to do. They can keep these stones with them as cute memories with their friends.
- Water balloon dodgeball:
Water activities and summer are a perfect duo. Water games are an easy way to keep kids cool and active during warm days of summer. For this fun activity, you will need balloons and inflate them with water. Now place each ballon with a kid on a designated area. Then, you can easily play dodgeball using these water balloons.
- Sumo suit wrestling:
Kids might have the wish to do wrestling with their fellow friends. However, it’s not safe for them to wrestle with each other.
To fulfill their wish, you can introduce sumo suit wrestling in your summer camp activities. You will have to rent out or buy inflatable sumo suits for kids for extra protection and safety.
Now you can have an incredible wrestling match for kids filled with joy and laughter.
- Scavenger hunting:
Another fun activity for kids at summer camp can be scavenger hunts. You can play it indoors as well as outdoors. Outdoor scavenger hunt proves to be more joyful and entertaining as compared to indoor. However, on a very hot day, you can play an indoor scavenger hunt to keep kids safe from getting heat stroke.
Let the kids find objects in nature. Give them a list of objects to find and let them help each other work in groups. This can be both fun and a harmonious activity for kids.
- Bottle rockets:
Making bottle rockets is included in the most exciting summer camp activities. It can be done as an art project for kids as well. You will need a bottle, fill it with water, and set it upside down with the help of cardboard, sticks, bricks, or anything you have. Add a tablespoon of baking soda and vinegar, and here you have an amazing science experiment that will impress everyone.
- Bird feeders:
Bird feeders count in the very humble summer camp activities. For making bird feeders, kids are supposed to make anything that would attract birds to eat them. One example of it is a peanut butter stack. Apply peanut butter over anything and hang it near your campsite or your camp and let the kids have a little bird family in their summer camp.
- Nature bracelets:
Another fun summer camp activity can be making nature bracelets on each other’s hands. For making these bracelets you will need only a transparent double-sided tape. Tie the tape over the wrist of the kids and let them pick different flowers, leaves, and petals, and paste them on the tape. There you have a wonderful nature bracelet for each kid.
- Build a solar oven:
Another STEM science project is making a solar oven. You might have been amazed by it. Your kids can get amazed too!
This should be your next summer camp activity. Utilize the hot sunny days and make a solar oven with your kids. Let them come up with their recipes and have fun using their very own solar oven.
- Tie dye projects:
It’s time to be creative with colors and dyes this summer. This summer camp activity will give your kids a new way to make colorful and fun activities with their friends. Give them a tie-dye project either with any t-shirt, towel, or garment. And there you will have a wonderful set of dyed clothes by your creative kids.
- DIY suncatchers:
Your kids can make their own DIY suncatchers. For this simple art project, you will need a polymer and a string to tie the suncatcher. Here you have the most adorable and quick DIY suncatcher for your windows.
- Ninja tire course:
This Ninja-inspired tire obstacle course is a wonderful opportunity for kids to have physical activity while playing. Do it as a fun and exciting summer camp activity as the kids will feel very adventurous and creative during the whole obstacle course. You can set up this obstacle course in an open area using anything like tires, chairs, blocks, or anything. Kids can also wear colorful Ninja-inspired headbands to represent their teams.
- Friendship bracelets:
Crafting with beads can be a soothing activity for all kids. Provide them with different types of colorful beads and threads. Let them make friendship bracelets, necklaces, or anything of their choice to keep it as their wonderful summer camp memory.
- Spray paint projects:
Let your kids take out their creativity this summer!
You can include spray paint projects into their summer camp activities to make their camp experience even more wonderful. As in summer camps, you have a lot of open fields and spaces where kids can carry out this project. Give them a huge cardboard or any surface to make artful drawings using spray paints. And that would be a collective masterpiece made by every kid.
- Water clocks:
Your summer camp activities are going to be very fun and productive when you carry out these scientific projects as playful art with your kids. Kids love to explore new things and that’s where this activity will help.
Help them make water clocks and tell them the history of clocks. How they evolved and let them create their very own ancient water clock.
- Ballon tennis:
You can make broad versions of common sports by introducing creative changes/alterations, such as balloon tennis. Moreover, you can easily replace traditional equipment with fly swatters or tennis rackets. Children can play individually with friends or in teams. The reduced risk of injury from balloons allows for multiple teams to play simultaneously on a large field.
- Treasure hunt:
Another exciting summer camp activity can be a treasure hunt. Just like scavenger hunting but made more interesting this time.
Prepare a treasure, it can be lots of snacks, playing jewelry, toys, coins, or anything, and hide it somewhere. Let the kids be pirates in search of that valuable treasure. Give them their hats and let the game start.
- Paper airplanes:
Hold a paper airplane-making competition in your summer camp and let’s see who comes up with the best design. That’s how you can encourage creativity as well as playfulness in kids while they are enjoying fun summer camp activities.
- Water sponge tag:
This is another water-based activity for your summer camp. Take some sponges and assign them to each kid. Now let the kids stand in any positions a little far away from each other and then the game begins!
Let them target each other with those water-filled sponges but tell them to be careful and not target face because it can cause injury.
Keep a bucket of water to soak sponges again and again as the kids play and enjoy this amazing summer camp activity.
- Nature art:
If you are looking for a simple activity to keep your kids engaged, this one is for you. During the summer camp, take the kids out in an open field and let them wander around and observe nature. Then hand over some paint and sheets, canvas, or anything to let them paint what they observed.
- Storytelling:
The easiest summer camp activity that you can do anytime without any preps and requirements is storytelling. Just like a bonfire, let all kids sit in a circle at any time of day or night and let them start their storytelling session. That’s how each kid would participate and tell their stories to their fellow friends.
- Flashlight limbo:
Occasionally, adding an element of darkness to a game can enhance the fun. Dim the lights indoors and utilize a powerful flashlight to establish a limbo “beam” in place of a traditional bar. make the game more exciting with music and allow children to take turns under the beam without stumbling or using their hands to support themselves. Gradually lower the limbo light closer to the ground until a victor emerges.
- Parachute games:
Children of all ages find it great fun to play with a parachute. It offers numerous opportunities to promote focus and collaboration among them. Activities range from simply lifting the parachute up and down, to collectively ensuring a beach ball remains atop the parachute, and even raising the parachute, approaching inside, and then closing it to create an enclosed space. Using a parachute is an easy way to introduce engaging games, requiring minimal preparation beyond the parachute itself and sufficient space for play.
- Sardines:
What if we tell you to play hide and seek but with a twist?
To play Sardines, one person has to hide and other team players find that one person together. The one who finds that person hides as well. So the last player who has to find the rest of the others is the one who hides in the next round.
- Campfire cooking:
For this summer camp activity, you will have to be very careful. Teach kids to carefully cook on a campfire. From roasting marshmallows to cooking meals, give your summer camp experience a little twist and more fun.
- Outdoor movie night:
For this summer camp activity, you will have to set up a projector outside. Gather up all the kids and select a movie. Here you have a perfect movie night for your summer camp.
- Capture the flag:
Here comes the kid’s favorite activity, capturing the flags of others.
For this game, you will need two teams. One team has to capture the other team’s flag. There’s an area called jail where you have to go once you are tagged by the opposing team. You can get out of jail if your team members tag someone from the opposite team or capture their flag.
The game ends when the time is up or when flags have been captured.
- Star gazing night:
On a clear evening, take campers on a journey through the night sky. Use a telescope or binoculars to observe constellations, planets, and shooting stars while sharing stories from mythology and astronomy.
- Outdoor art studio:
Set up easels, paints, brushes, and canvases in a shaded outdoor area and let campers show their creativity. Encourage them to paint landscapes inspired by the camp surroundings or create abstract masterpieces using natural materials like leaves and flowers.
This can be a very easy and relaxing summer camp activity.
- Camping for a day:
You can also let kids do camping as their summer camp activity. Let them do scavenger hunting, cook on a campfire, or do any other activity with their fellow friends as their solo party.
- Paper bad puppet show:
Ditch the TV, it’s puppet show time!
Here’s the fun part: the kids get to make the stars! you’ll provide brown paper bags, colorful paper, feathery things (poufs!), silly eyes, bendy pipe cleaners, and more. They can create their own awesome paper bag puppet friends.
The kids can use their imaginations and put on their own shows with friends. To make things even cooler, you can have a puppet stage ready for them to shine!
- Survival skills workshop:
As a part of your summer camp activities, you can teach kids different survival skills. Such as building a shelter, tying knots, identifying edible plants, and many more. It is both educational as well as interesting for kids.
Summer camp activities are a never-ending list. You can use any of these above-mentioned activities to keep your kids playful and active during the summer camp.
Play with your kids and ask which summer camp activities they liked the most!
