85 TV Free Summer Activities for Tweens

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Does your tween aged child get bored easily during the summer months? Being a Tween is a tricky age (usually defined as a child between the ages of 9 and 12). They often want to do grown up things, but younger child things appeal to them, too. It kind of depends on their mood, and that always seems to be changing.

One of my pet peeves is seeing kids sitting around the house with their noses in a device of some kind all day long throughout the summer. I don’t mind it for short bits of time, but don’t be trying it all day long. In an effort to give my Tween aged children some ideas of what to do, I came up with this list of fun things to do throughout the summer months. Some of them are more girly and some of them are obviously slated toward the boys, but many of them are unisex. Feel free to pick and choose ideas that will work for YOUR Tween. Hopefully these will get your kids excited about doing something that’s not on an electronic device for a change! And do me a favor, if you find something not on this list, leave a comment below so we can add to it.

Start a Book Club (in person or online)
Write a Letter
Explore Nature Around Your House, taking photos and sketching what you see
Take a Babysitting Class
Write a Story or a Poem
Read a Book
Make a Scrapbook of Childhood Pictures
Entertain Your Siblings by Making a “Camp” for them to attend
Go Camping in Your Back Yard
Take a Bubble Bath
Record Your Own Radio Show or Movie
Interview Your Siblings and write a Family Newsletter about your “findings”
Make Jewelry – Paracord Bracelets are pretty easy to learn
Start a Business (mowing?, pet sitting, odd jobs, baby sitting, etc.)
Make Popsicles for your Family
Bake Something for a Friend
Have a Picnic
Play Charades
Wash the Car and Play in the Hose
Have a Tea Party (or a sports party!)
Learn How to Hula Hoop
Host a Scavenger Hunt or better yet, a Video Scavenger Hunt
Decide on Something You’d Like to Improve About Yourself and Do it.
Write a Play (and act it out?)
Play Frisbee (or better yet, play night frisbee using a light up frisbee)
Get a book about Braiding Hair and Learn How to Do Several New Braids.
Shoot a BB Gun in the Back Yard (if you have the space and your community allows it)
Play Catch
Learn How to Make a Killer Paper Airplane
Plant Something (and take care of it as it grows)
Make a Marshmallow Gun (and have fun shooting it at your friends or siblings)
Have a Water Gun Fight
Play Croquet
Go Geo-Caching using a GPS
Take a Hunter’s Safety Course
Build a Lego Masterpiece
Play Dominoes, see how long you can make a domino train
Craft with Duct Tape (Have you tried making a duct tape wallet yet?)
Try Simple Woodworking Projects
Play Board Games
Volunteer Somewhere (church, library, animal shelter, etc. – this may require a parental volunteer as well)
Learn Photography
Learn to Play Guitar
Try Science Experiments (You could use this cool book)
Go Star Gazing
Plan a Hike
Make S’mores Over a Camp Fire
Fly a Kite
Try Wood Burning (with supervision, using this inexpensive wood burning pen)
Go to the Zoo
Make Your Family a Meal
Go Fishing in a Nearby Pond or Stream
Go Swimming
Host a Fashion Show with Your Friends
Get Your Ears Pierced
Paint Your Nails Crazy Summery Colors (offer to paint your friend’s, too)
Bake Cookies in Your Car!
Make Ice Cream
Go Canoeing
Have a Water Balloon Fight
Go Biking on a Trail
Have a Mud Fight (get parent approval first!)
Go Rock Skipping
Go Fossil Hunting
Host a Turtle Race
Run or Walk in a 5k with your Parents
Learn to Sew
Go Garage Saling
Brainstorm Ways to Turn $10 into $20
Make Bouncy Balls
Go Bowling
Go Horseback Riding
Visit a Flea Market
Have a Relay Race with your friends
Make a Sidewalk Chalk Mural
Make a Box Maze (out of appliance boxes you collect from a local store)
Go to the Beach (even if it’s at the lake and not the ocean)
Create a New Food Dish Using 5 Preset Ingredients
Tie Dye T-shirts
Paint a Picture
Design Your Own Clothes (by drawing them)
Write a Summer Bucket List
Feed the Ducks (or the Sea Gulls – ever tried throwing bread in the air to them?)
Visit a Museum
Shoot Air Soft Guns with Friends or Family

I hope this gives you a good starting point! We really do love summer! I hope you and your kids will embrace summer with me, get way from the devices and just enjoy being kids for a change!