Fun Family Summer Bucket List Ideas

How to start a fun family tradition of creating a summer bucket list. Glean inspiration from our lists with 80 family activities ideas and practical tips for follow-through. Get ready for a summer full of memory-making & quality time together! *Updated with our 2023 list and process video.

Last summer, a new family tradition was born. We created our first Lanker Family Summer Bucket List, and it led to a summer full of memory-making and quality family time and duo dates.

Shout-out to my friend Abbie Abbott for 100% inspiring us to give this a go last year. She has been sharing her family summer bucket lists on Instagram over the years, and her blog post on the subject gave me the pep talk I needed to take the leap and create our first bucket list last summer.

It was such a win for all four of us, it was a no-brainer that we’d be creating a bucket list every summer henceforth. And today was the day we tackled our 2022 Lanker Family Summer Bucket List!

I’m excited to share share supplies we used, some tips for generating ideas for your own summer bucket list, and 80 family activity ideas on our lists from which you can pull endless inspiration.

Brace yourself for a summer of family fun ahead!

Supplies for Creating Your Bucket List

Here are the supplies we used for creating our list this year. *I’ve included Amazon affiliate links for your convenience:

• white paper roll
• Crayola Super Tips: washable markers
• Kwik Stix: quick-drying tempera paint pens OR Crayola Quick-Dry Paint Sticks
• washi tape
• black Sharpie
• scissors (Yes, I have a set of fabric scissors just for paper; I love their sharpness.)
• painter’s tape
• large white sticker numbers purchased at our local craft store

This morning, my 6-year-old daughter Juniper and I unrolled the white paper, put on the Encanto tunes, and worked together to create a colorful backdrop for this summer’s bucket list! And we’re both so tickled with how it turned out.

We gleaned inspiration for our colorful design from @GoldeePayton’s family summer bucket list on Instagram. Juniper and I are both suckers for rainbows, and we were able to put her new Crayola Quick-Dry Paint Sticks to good use to create the colorful left margin (Kwik Stix would work well, too!). We edged off our margin with washi tape that we easily removed after the coloring was complete!

Juniper kept saying,

“I just can’t believe how straight that line is!”

I know, girl. I know! So satisfying.

The white sticker numbers for “2022” we had on hand from Pepper’s Mickey & Minnie Mouse 3rd Birthday Party last month. To write our heading and list items, we used Crayola Super Tips markers and a Sharpie.

My big recommendation to you is this:

Whatever color, drawings, stickers, or lettering you decide to do, have fun with it! Invite the kiddos to participate if they would enjoy that (and you would, too). The moment this process starts to feel stressful, just simplify things. A list written in pen on the back of a receipt has just as much potential to lead to an AMAZING summer of memory-making as a colorful poster-sized one. The magic of this experience is truly just in setting some intentions and opening yourself up to possibility.

Tips for Writing Your Bucket List

Since school let out a few weeks ago, we’ve been jotting down ideas for this summer’s list on piece of scrap paper. But the vast majority of our list we hashed out today. It’s really amazing how once you start building a list, it just keeps growing!

Here are some tips for coming up with ideas and inspiration for your summer bucket list items:

• refer to your bucket lists from past years if you have any
• read through other families’ summer bucket lists like ours below or those you find on Google or with a #summerbucketlist hashtag search on social media
• look at your summer calendar to see what fun events you already have coming up
• refer to summer photos from past years
• ask each family member to contribute ideas

We intentionally leave some blank space at the bottom that we can fill in throughout the summer as new ideas strike!

We slapped some painter’s tape on the back of our 2022 Lanker Family Summer Bucket List and hung it up on the dining room wall where we will see it each night at our family dinners. It’s always one of our favorite discussion topics…

“Well, what are we going to do next?”

2022 Lanker Family Summer Bucket List

Since I know it’s not always easy to read everyone’s handwriting (especially if you’re reading on a mobile device), here’s a bullet point list of our Summer Bucket List for 2022. As you read, I encourage you to jot down ideas for your own list as they strike:

• build a doghouse for Bella
• swim lessons for Pepper
• dance camp for J & P
• Camp of the Woods (one week unplugged)
• campfire s’mores
• CAMPO game night
• high speed pass for Mark
• Ocean Grove trip
• meet Baby Jubilee!
• treat from an ice cream truck
• family bike ride
• Millie Moo’s play day
• Junie & Pepper date
• Daddy & Mommy date
• Daddy & Junie date
• Daddy & Pepper date
• Mommy & Junie date
• Mommy & Pepper date
• visit Pop Pop
• all-family paddle board
• glow stick dance party
• bake elephant ears
• visit the library
• play on a new playground
• family yoga
• catch fireflies
• pillow fort
• P & J manicures
• camp arts & crafts
• family board game
• pre-k & k photo books
• Art for Kids Hub videos
• mini golf
• re-organize bedroom desk
• play a card game
• family movie & popcorn
• host the Kaspars
• blow bubbles

2021 Lanker Family Summer Bucket List

Let the inspiration continue! Here was our sun-tastic bucket list from last summer:

• make our own jello cutouts
• all-family paddle board
• go on a “high-speed pass”
• visit a splash pad
• fly a kite
• Mommy & Junie date
• Mommy & Pepper date
• Tween Waters
• Daddy & Junie date
• Daddy & Pepper date
• kayaking
• Daddy & Mommy date
• Junie & Pepper date
• ballet camp
• ice cream truck
• make rainbow popsicles
• night swim
• Camp of the Woods
• Ocean Grove
• Day’s Ice Cream
• Mark & Lauren overnight away
• Go to “Esther: A Musical Adventure”
• make s’mores over a fire
• enjoy pizza on the beach
• watch the sunset on the roof
• road trip
• dinner on the dock
• dance in the rain
• walk on a boardwalk
• game night
• find seaglass
• 1 week unplugged
• build a pillow fort
• stargaze
• make a pre-k photo book
• Musikgarten
• re-organize learning loft desktop & cabinets
• milkshakes
• “Casablanca” movie night with the Pizarros
• Science Center
• new sunglasses
• play wiffle ball
• family dance party
• indoor picnic

There were so many sweet memories we would’ve never made last summer had we not written them on our bucket list. Here’s a glimpse at just a few of them:

UPDATE: 2023 LANKER FAMILY SUMMER BUCKET LIST

Annnnnnd, it’s a year since first publishing this post, but I’m popping back in to share our 2023 list for you to see!

Between these three lists, you’ll have 80 unique ideas to pull from as you build your own family summer bucket list:

• visit the Orlando Science Center
• visit a new playground
• dance camp
• Musikgarten class
• horse camp
• girls’ closet clean-out
• Londyn’s playdate
• M & L date night at “The Garlic”
• Ocean Grove trip
• family day trip to New Smyrna Beach
• cookies & crafts with Mrs. Cabney
• dance under a rainbow
• see a sunset & sunrise in the same day
• go to Jeremiah’s Italian Ice
• visit the library
• work on a puzzle together
• visit a new playground/splash pad
• family bike ride
• host a neighbor for dinner
• try 10 hairstyles from “Braids & Bows”
• watch “Mary Poppins Returns”
• Mommy-Pepper date
• Mommy-Junie date
• Daddy-Pepper date
• Daddy-Junie date
• Junie-Pepper sister date
• go to Camp of the Woods
• Mark solo retreat
• Lauren solo retreat
• read Jigsaw Jones book
• garage declutter
• L: make school photo books

2023 PROCESS VIDEO

Update: If you’d like to see what the process looked like from start to finish, creating our 2023 Summer Bucket List, mess and all, here’s the 45 second Instagram reel:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lauren Lanker | REST, CREATE, CELEBRATE (@thinkingcloset)

Tips for Actually Doing Your Bucket List

TIP 1: Hang up your bucket list in a place where you will see it often.

Last summer, I remember many family dinnertime conversations reviewing what we had already done and anticipating what we’d be doing next. That really helped keep our hopes for summer fun in the forefront of our minds.

TIP 2: Bust out the calendar!

In terms of when we’d tackle bucket list items, there were a variety of ways things played out:

• some items we put on the calendar
• some items were already on the calendar (like family trips or dance camp)
• some items we’d spontaneously do during an unexpected pocket of free time
• we aimed to take on at least one activity every week on our family’s Sabbath day of rest

Every week, our family dedicates one day as a Sabbath day of rest from our work. It’s a day when we prioritize family time, delight in God and His creation, and celebrate the good things of life. Ya know, like ice cream and the wind off the lake and the sky at sunset. And most of our summer bucket list items fit so naturally into the spirit of Sabbath for us.

In fact, for those of you who practice Sabbath or are considering practicing Sabbath, creating a “bucket list” of fun family activities to pull from can be a really wonderful exercise to do together. While we try not to schedule too much on our Sabbath days so we are free to listen to God and respond to what our bodies and souls need most, it’s helpful to have a “menu of possibilities” to pull from when you’d like quality family time together, but aren’t sure what to do.

Psst! I am working on a community & course on the practice of Sabbath. If you’d like to know when that launches so you can join us, add your name and email address to the sign-up form HERE:

TIP 3: Give yourself permission NOT to do it all.

I think in the past, I was always overwhelmed by the idea that we might create a Summer Bucket List and not be able to finish it all–and that I would feel like a failure.

Can you tell I’m a recovering perfectionist?

But something my wise friend Abbie emphasized in her blog post that really stuck with me is this:

“Have grace with yourself along the way. Don’t worry about getting it all done. We never get everything checked off! And I am good with that. The summer bucket list should never add stress, but rather create space for dreaming, hoping, seeking joy, and planning for rest.”

–Abbie Abbott

See, I told you Abbie was wise.

We didn’t finish our list last year, but we experienced way more joy and rest than we would have without a bucket list. And made way more family memories together!

Whether we check off twenty items, a dozen, or one, just the act of creating space for dreaming, hoping, seeking joy, and planning to rest is a worthwhile practice in its own right. It’s like a muscle to flex. And the more we practice, the more we’ll become people who dream, hope, seek joy, and find rest…list or no list.

To Close

I hope this post gave you the tools and inspiration you need to create your own Summer Bucket List, and that you’re reaching for your own paper and pen as we speak.

Let your hopes spill.

Let grace abound.

Let a summer to remember unfold for you and your family!

I can’t wait to hear all about it. Don’t be a stranger. For real. Tag me if you share your list, message me to share, or comment below!

*Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase after clicking through, The Thinking Closet may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping to support this site!