10 Easy Play Activities to Kick off Summer

Whether you are setting up camp in your backyard, taking a trip to a lake close by or road tripping across the country we got you covered. Let's play along!

🚰 Water Tag

A summer classic - tag but instead of tagging, use water balloons, spray bottles, or a bottle of water to "tag" players with water to become "it"!

🌊 Marco Polo

Another classic! If you don't have a pool open near you, modify it to play on land where instead of finding players in the pool, you have to find them in your play space and when the person who is "it" thinks they've found someone, they have a water bottle ready to spray at them!

🧽 Dodge Sponge 

The same rules as dodgeball, but using sponges that are full of water! If it's hot outside, it should make for a great incentive to try the risky move of catching a sponge to bring back a teammate. 

🎈Water Balloon Volleyball

Try to play volleyball using water balloons - if a balloon pops when you try to hit it, the point goes to the other team!

🏃‍♀️ Bucket Race

Place two buckets on opposite ends of your play space, filling one with water and leaving the other empty and putting a line of tape on the inside. The player is then given a cup with the goal of filling up the other bowl up to the line in the fastest time using the cup and running back and forth. For multiple players, either take turns or set up multiple buckets!

🎣 Fish Secrets

Using the magic of the lake, send messages to your swimming friends! If you take a twig, small stone, or even a leaf and whisper a message into it, when you place it into the water, your fish friends can hear you! 

🐦 Chirpy Names

Listen to the birds that are singing and chirping at the lake. Based on how they sound, what names would you give them? Can you sound like them too? 

🦋 Flutter By

Look at all of the butterflies and other bugs that are over by the lake. How do they move, buzz, and fly around? Can you fly like them? Can you sound like them?

🔍 Car Spy

I Spy is a classic for road trips, but try out adding some of these rules to make it more fun in a car:

- Things can only be in the car

- Things can only be outside of the car

- Things can only start with a certain letter, be of a certain color, etc.

☁️ Cloud Stories

Great for trips on days with lots of visible clouds! Look at the clouds until you see a shape form to give you a character for a story that you make up about what you see in the clouds. 

We hope you enjoy these ideas! For more fun, say hello on instagram @playfollies!