100 Ideas for Keeping Your Child with Special Needs Busy All Summer

Already wondering how you’re going to fill those long summer days? We’ve got 100 fun ideas to keep you and the kids (or grandkids) busy!

1. Plant a garden
2. Find a pen pal
3. Start a new collection
4. Climb a tree
5. Make crock-pot apple sauce
6. Play in the sprinkler (affiliate link)
7. Pick strawberries
8. Water balloon toss
9. Try essential oils (tips on using lavender from My Blessed Life)
10. Start a new therapy (We’re starting feeding therapy this summer. It’s pretty intense so summer is a great time to try!)
11. Make jelly or jam
12. Try a new snow cone flavor
13. Swing

    

14. Make a tent/cave

15. Volunteer (my sister, who has Down syndrome, loves to help out at a local food pantry once a week)
16. Travel
17. Stamp with TP rolls (via 4 Crazy Kings)
18. Go bowling
19. Find a Lego camp or class
20. Try horse back riding
21. Take a theatre class
22. Learn to beat-box
23. Go see movie (check for free movies in your area!)
24. Pack a picnic
25. Pass on old toys
26. Try a new recipe
27. Take a meal to someone who needs a break from cooking dinner
28. Go fishing
29. Learn to sew

30. Celebrate June 25th- Eric Carle’s Birthday

31. Encourage pretend play (from Under God’s Mighty Hand)
32. Catch lighting bugs
33. Make a shower curtain play mat from Dollar Store Crafts
34. Start a new book series
35. Blow bubbles
36. Sign up for your library reading program
37. Visit a park you’ve never been to before (one year we went to a new park each week for eight weeks!)
38. Play No Time for Flashcard’s Angry Birds inspired water balloon game
39. Attend Vacation Bible School
40. Grill out
41. Celebrate June 7th- National Crayon Day
42. Take swim lessons
43. Go to  a water park
44. Visit a zoo

45. Start a blog

46. Take a hike
47. Go camping
48. Get a group of parents together to go through a Bible study for special-needs parents (my husband and I wrote this one, Held: Learning to Live in God’s Grip). Let the kids play together while you meet.
49. Try these Cardboard box craftsfrom Craig List Dad
50. Cut up pool noodles and dump them in the bath tub
51. Make popsicles (affiliate link)
52. DIY outdoor movie night from The Taylor House
53. Go to the beach
54. Make s’mores
55. Walk through a creek
56. Make side walk chalk (Erin Lincoln)
57. Slide down a water slide
58. Ride a bike

59. Try Do-a-Dot art, like these Minecraft pages (from The Multi Taskin’ Mom)

60. Grill pizza
61. Make a butterfly feeder from eHow
62. Homemade fruit roll-ups from Sondi Bruner
63. Abacus wafflesfrom education.com
64. Make play-doh (via Seeded at the Table)
65. Make edible, allergy-free play-doh (via Healthy Mama Info)
66. Make homemade ice cream
67. Get a water table (affiliate link)

68. Try these slime recipes and activities from Growing a Jeweled Rose

69. Find constellations
70. Try a new app
71. Writer letters to your friends from school
72. Wash the car
73. Go to a new restaurant
74. Try a new food (Maybe one you grow in your garden? Or pick from a local orchard?)
75. Go on a scavenger hunt

76. Have a movie marathon

77. Invent something new
78. Have a garage sale
79. Trade in old video games for a new one
80. Write a song
81. Write a book
82. Catch and identify bugs (affiliate link)
83. Visit a farm
84. Go to a parade

85. Take a nap (maybe this is just on Mom and Dad’s list!)

86. Learn to drive
87. Potty train (this is on our list, for the 3rd summer in a row!)
88. Go to an indoor bounce house when it’s super hot outside
89. Read KidVentures by Jen Murray for 50 outdoor ideas (affiliate link)
90. Find a splash pad to enjoy
91. Fly a kite

92. Color these summer pages from DLTK

93. Have breakfast for dinner
94. See how many times you can roll down a tall hill
95. Ride a train
96. Find a local support group (or research how to start your own)
97. Make a pool noodle water wall (from Teaching Mama)
98. Check out Celebrating Our Stories: Teaching children about differences and kindness through books by Courtney Westlake and make a list of books to read (affiliate link)
99. Dress up like your favorite character from a book, movie, or TV show
100. Paint finger nails and toe nails a fun color

And for even more ideas, follow our summer activity Pinterest Board.

Sandra Peoples is a pastor’s wife and mom to two boys. She’s the author of  Held: Learning to Live in God’s Grip (a Bible study for special-needs parents) and the upcoming new release, Unexpected Blessings: The Joys and Possibilities of Life in a Special-Needs Family.