Fun End-of-Summer Activities
As autumn approaches, you’ll want to squeeze in more summertime moments with friends and family. Try these ideas for savoring the last glorious days of the season.
Camp in your backyard
Now is a perfect time to enjoy the outdoors. Take in a beautiful summer night by pitching a tent and camping in your backyard. You can watch fireflies light up the night sky, sing songs, tell scary stories, and listen to a chorus of crickets before falling asleep under the stars. Document your family’s staycation with photos and videos.
Create a summer shadow box
You might want to preserve memories of your summertime activities, and a great way to do this is by filling a shadow box with memorabilia. Assemble items you’ve collected over the summer, such as shells, movie or concert ticket stubs, and photos, to store in a box, and display it on a wall, a shelf, or your coffee table.
Go for a walk or on a bike ride
Don your walking shoes, or take a bicycle tour of your community. Head to a local park for a picnic, or go into town for lunch or ice cream. You might also want to bring your pup along on your walk so your four-legged family member can get in on the fun.
Have a summer cookout
One of the pleasures of summer is cooking and eating outside. So before the days get shorter, host a final cookout of the season with family and friends. Be sure to offer summer favorites, such as corn on the cob and watermelon. For dessert, you could make gooey s’mores over a campfire or serve a fresh strawberry shortcake.
Host one last competition
Get in the competitive spirit by hosting an afternoon filled with summer outdoor games. Invite family and friends over to play active games like cornhole and Spikeball; large versions of indoor family favorites, such as Checkers, Jenga, and Yahtzee; or children’s favorites like hide-and-seek, hopscotch, and tag.
Paint and hide rocks
You and your loved ones can participate in the Kindness Rocks Project, a fun art activity and scavenger hunt where individuals paint rocks, add inspirational messages, and place them within their communities in parks, town squares, and other places. Your rocks might encourage others in your town to participate too.
Plant a garden
The summer gardening season is winding down, which means you can start planning and working on an autumn garden. Depending on your USDA plant hardiness zone, you might be able to plant crops such as beans, cucumbers, peas, and leafy greens like spinach, collards, and kale; and flowers like mums and marigolds. You can enjoy harvesting your crops in the fall.
Tie-dye in the backyard
Tie-dyeing is best done outside when the weather is nice since this craft is messy. You could tie-dye T-shirts or coverups to wear to your last few trips to the beach or pool or create matching clothing. You can also wear white T-shirts and fill squirt pistols with watered-down acrylic paint, which should wash off skin easily, and have a family water-gun fight for a fun way to get the tie-dyed look. Just make sure you don’t wear anything you wouldn’t want to be covered with paint.