10 Screen-Free Fun Activities for your kid this Summer (2026 updated)
Have you run out of family activities for this summer? Do you have bored kids who are constantly complaining or demanding screens?
Here are 10 screen-free activities for families. And each activity has variations of it included, so they’ll stop saying “I’m bored” Easy to implement, actually free (0 dollars)
Whether you’d like to implement over the weekend, during a walk, or create sustainable family memories, these will definitely help you.
Let’s see what’s beyond!
WATER BATTLE
What is summer if not to have some outdoor games? This could be a weekend activity, an afterschool game or some refreshing excuse to weave off the summer heat.
Fill in water ballons and create teams. There are many ways you can play:
· All against each other
· Last one standing
· One-on-one battles
· Tag
· First one to laugh gets a water-shoot
· Questionnaire: Wrong answers? Water-shoot.
BSomeone laughs at a bad joke? This is a bit different: A shot of water.
· Pass the balloon: Get in a round and toss around a water balloon. Try not to make it pop!
o For more fun, whoever gets their balloon popped gets a round of water-shooting!
These are perfect activities for 6-year-olds, prepare to have laughter all day long. To sum it up, be as creative as you want! The only real requirements are just a water-shooter, a bucket OR a hose and 2 or more players. The rest is up to you! Have fun!
BACKYARD OBSTCLE COURSE
This is a fun variation of the floor is lava. Go to your yard or the park. Pick some hula hoops, towels, toys, sticks and more. You don’t have to do it yourself, let the kids pick their obstacles and create their own course. Perfect activity for hyperactive 8-year-olds.
Not only will they be more engaged but it will help their creativity and imagination and interactive play!
You can also ask them questions about the obstacle course, is there a story? A mission to accomplish? Have them imagine and get more involved into this game.
Turn this into a curiosity filled magical adventure!
Here are more fun variations of the obstacle course:
· Spin around many times before trying to complete the course
· Blindfolded teams! One guides with their voice, the other tries to follow their directions. Then switch places
· One leg only
· Imitate one animal per obstacle!
· Leave an object at the end, they have to bring it back as soon as possible. So, one way obstacle course, getting the object, 2nd way obstacle course and their teammate receive it. First team t grab 3 objects wins!
· Holding hands teams! Kids go in pairs of 2 and they must complete the course without letting go of each other’s hand
o Another variation could be tying up their feet!
How many more variations can you come up with?
NATURE SCAVENGER HUNT
Do you want to improve your kid’s observation skills, curiosity and family bonding all at once? Nature scavenger hunts are the answer.
Get them searching, observing and exploring their surroundings. The best part? No set up, just print and walk through your neighborhood.
There are many FREE resources that will encourage your child to go beyond the screens and discover the world. Why watch someone else’s adventures when you can live your own?
We have an awesome free printable game activity; you might want to check it out. No risk, no compromise (spoiler: your kid will love it)
FAMILY BACKYARD PICNIC
There’s a reason why classics are classics. Picnics are peak family bonding time, unforgettable active play for kids in an outdoor park or backyard. Don’t overcomplicate yourself and go back to what has been working time and time again.
Use the picnic set up and calm play to have some family fun, and quality time with your little ones.
The picnic can start before you go out, let them help pack, or cook their own food (for some independent play stimulation and building their confidence). You can also:
· Tell a pun with your food’s name
· Try to introduce another family member’s food.
This is a time for slow connection, memory making and quality time with loved ones. Enjoy it.
CATCH A COLOR!
This one is perfect for family bonding and outdoor activities. (7-year-olds LOVE this activity) Grab a camera, each of you picks a color and you take a walk around your neighborhood taking pictures of your color!
At the end of the walk, share your own pictures and how your kid’s storytelling comes to light. This could also be a conversation starter about observing, storytelling and different points of view. You all went through the same path but were observing different realities.
How many new things can a walk around your neighborhood show you? You and your kid have lived there for some time, can you find something new you haven’t observed before?
Some fun variations of this are:
· Each picks an animal to photograph
· An object
· Something you’ve never paid attention at before
· A texture
· A particular way to take the photos (symmetrical, upside down, bottom up, selfie, etc)
Stress free, screen free fun, no prep & meaningful family moments. An all-rounder if you ask me.
DING DONG STAY!
Did you want an adventure game? Or al least one that feels like it? This is it.
We all know ding-dong-ditch, but have you heard about ding-dong-STAY?
The objective here is to stay for the longest time possible making conversation with your neighbors before they ask “what are you doing here?” Or “can I help you with something?”.
How are your kids conversation skills? If your kid is up for a challenge, this is the game for them
Train their creativity, social skills and problem solving whilst making your neighbors day!
Only One rule: you cannot tell them it’s a game. How long can you make it?
BUILD A FORT.
Although it’s summer, that doesn’t mean your kid cannot have some indoor fun! This is an indoor activity game (or for rainy days as well)
Each of you has to bring at least one item for the fort and have to find a way to include it in the creation of it. Create something unique including everyone’s addition! How cool will the fort look at the end?
Let’s wish that someone doesn’t think of bring something extremely bizarre… what would you do then…?
ACT OUT A BOOK
Grab a book, and select 2 people:
1. A “narrator” Their job is to open the book at a random page and paragraph and start reading it very dramatically.
2. An actor / actress. They will have to act out the scenes being read. They cannot speak. If there’s dialogue the narrator will dramatically read their lines while the actor simulates being the one talking.
This engages your kid’s storytelling activities, creative thinking and imagination play! Make believe (or play pretend) are crucial in the healthy development of a child.
How will the narrator talk? Will they use a high-pitched voice or a grumpy grandma cracking one? How can you be sure the narrator is actually reading or just inventing their own story as they go? How will the actor choose to do the scenes?
Now you have a fun play in the making, switch positions, add new actors or narrators.
Go bonkers and prepare to have your stomach hurt from the laughs!
WALKING STORIES
Go for a walk and create a story. How? There are many ways to do it. I suggest:
1. Go for a walk with 2+ people
2. One person picks something PRESENT in the walk (an object, a person, a situation, the weather, etc). Anything but present.
3. That person creates a story. The story itself can be as adventurous and magical as they wish.
4. The story is left on a cliffhanger and is passed up to your walking pal. They will have to do the same as you but connecting their object and their story to the previous one.
5. Have fun and go wild!
PRO TIP: To make it even funnier, break the logical steps of the story. We humans LOVE a pattern because our brains spend less energy and start the autopilot mode. We keep engaged when we BREAK said pattern! It makes it even more entertaining!
SIDEWALK CHALK
Is your 6-year-old bored? Give them a bit of chalk and let them create their own games on the sideway. You can turn this moment into a family bonding time or encourage independent play and let them go wild.
Apart from drawings, you can write actions they must do before reaching “the next station”: hop, crawl, roll, run, jump like a frog, or move reaaaally slowly. The sky is the limit (pun intended)
CLOUD WATCHING
Perfect for a 6 and 7 year old This might feel a bit outdated for an 8-year-old kid, but there’s a switch that will make them LOVE this.
Sometimes the simpler the thing the more memorable it gets. Grab a blanket, lay outside and imagine what shape clouds are.
Our ancestors saw shapes in the stars, maybe you can select a few animals or objects to always look out for (not just this once) and have a little ritual of finding a cow, an alligator or a trashcan! (and THIS is where the 8 year olds will learn to love this over time, it’s the tradition and the bonding that keeps them going)
What a beautiful and simple family tradition in the making! Pick anything and start creating magical adventures with your little one(s)!
WALKING COLOR HUNTING
Create a bingo of colors to find, things to do in your walk, a scavenger hunt, animals to see, textures to feel, etc and go explore nature!
First to get a line (horizontal or vertical) or a full sheet wins! How many can you find?
At the end of the day, it’s not about fancy toys or extravagant experiences. For kids, EVERYTHING is new, IMAGINATION is at an all-time high and CONNECTIONS are vital to their development.
This means that entertaining them, is simpler than we think. Go have fun, create memories and do not overstress about things that could, and should, stay simple.
Want more unforgettable activities? Go check our FREE game. I call it: the 3 F’s
· Screen-Free
· Stress-Free
· Actually-Free
Instant download, 0 risk, no compromise, Printable fun.
See you soon,
Stay magical