71 Summer Bucket List Ideas for 2025 (Add Yours!)

Encourage everyone in the family to pick random acts of kindness to carry out!

Check out a local lake and feed the ducks! Instead of bread, opt for healthier choices like corn, defrosted frozen peas, and seeds.

Catch a local fireworks show for the 4th of July, or see if there will be one happening as part of another summertime fair or festival.

Check the schedules for any local outdoor concert series held in your area, and plan to catch at least one with the kids this summer. You can make an event of it by packing a fun dinner to enjoy outside on a blanket!

If your kids are old enough, let them choose one night where kids make dinner for the whole family. From planning the meal to serving it and taking all the credit, they can tackle the whole thing. Maybe you can help with the dishes, though!

Planting a vegetable garden as part of your summer bucket list will give you and the kids plenty of things to do outside all summer long, and might inspire your kids to try some new fruits and veggies.

Take that "summer bucket" list and fill it up with soap and water. Wash the car on the driveway with a bucket of suds, sponges, and a hose.

Summer is a fun time to experiment with some different hairstyles, especially when you're not in a rush to get out the door in the morning for school. There are lots of easy hairstyle tutorials on YouTube!

Challenge the family to learn new dance moves like the Dougie, the Macarena, the Worm or Jackhammers!

Run a mile for a true "milestone" to check off your family summer bucket list! Help your kids create realistic targets and try to work toward the goal every day. Maybe someday you and your family can tackle an organized race together!

Challenge everyone in the family to try a new food for your summer bucket list. Sushi, artichokes, calamari...it might be a different one for each person!

Pick a summer shower and head outside without umbrellas to play in the rain, splash, dance and get soaked. The kids will have fun watching the weather to anticipate this summer bucket list idea!

Challenge your family this summer to learn a new language! It's excellent brain work and kids can at least master a few phrases. For example, learn to greet hello in 10 languages or learn to count to 20 in Mandarin.

Alexandra F. said:  Duolingo is a great free app for learning a language.

If you have a dog or another trainable family pet, have the kids to choose a new trick to spend the summer teaching it.

One of the first summer bucket list ideas you check off should be creating a big family summer playlist to enjoy all break long. It will be the soundtrack to your summer! Choose a bunch of songs everyone loves that will get you in the right mood for summer break (Beach Boys, anyone?), and keep adding to it as you think of more.