Family First Summer Activities: Week 3
Make this a summer to remember with the third week of the Family First Summer. It’s full of summer activities the whole family will enjoy.

Family First Summer
The summer is all too short. Make the most of every day!
A Family First Summer is all about doing simple, low-cost activities as a family.
This third week involves both indoor and outdoor activities.
Pick the ones your family will enjoy, or complete all seven!
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Week 3 Activities for the Family First Summer
Check out these low-cost and high-interest activities for the whole family to complete together.
Day 15: Sculpt with Homemade Playdough
Sure, store-bought Play-Doh is cheap and works well.
But have you ever had the fun of making your own?
These simple recipes will have you sculpting in no time!
- 100 Best Homemade Playdough Recipe Ideas
- Easy Marshmallow Playdough Recipe
- DIY Edible Green Play Dough
Make a batch (or two) of your favorite playdough recipes and turn them into a game.
You can complete a simple sculpting challenge, where each person gives another a sculpting idea.
Or, you can turn it into a game of Sculpt-Charades.
This is like Pictionary or Charades, except you sculpt the clues in playdough.
Write simple noun prompts on slips of paper and put them in a bowl. Then sculpt and guess!
Day 16: Hold a Family Book Club
Why do kids have book clubs and adults have book clubs, but they never mix? That ends today!
Hold a family book club.
Depending on your kids’ ages and your available time, you can pick the book ahead of time, and each person can read it independently (or listen to it).
If time is scarce or you have early readers, you can pick a book to read aloud and discuss on Day 16.
Even picture books work well for book clubs! Check out these book lists for ideas.
- Best Book Club Books for Middle Schoolers
- The Best Kids Books That Are Movies
- The Best Books for Preschool
- 25 June Books for Kids
- July Books for Kids
You can make the book club an event complete with snacks and book club activities.
Day 17: Create a Backyard Obstacle Course
Move over, American Ninja Warrior! Create your own backyard obstacle course.
You can walk a balance beam plank, design a hula hoop challenge, and crawl under a picnic table.
Once you create the course, race through it. Who has the fastest time?
Run the whole course relay style and time the group. Can you beat your time on the next run?
Day 18: Watercolor Painting Outdoors
Draw inspiration from nature and paint with watercolors outdoors.
You can paint what you see or try abstract art with Watercolor Spatter Paintings.
Although you can use whatever paper you have on hand, it’s easiest to paint on watercolor paper.
Watercolor paper is thicker and more absorbent than regular paper, so the paint does not run as much.
Day 19: Build a Bird Feeder with Recycled Materials
You can make a simple bird feeder with a toilet paper roll.
- Punch a hole on each side of one end of the toilet paper tube.
- Run a string through the hole. This is how you tie your bird feeder to a tree or post. The tube will hang vertically from one end.
- Spread the outside of the toilet paper tube with peanut butter. Leave the bottom inch clean.
- Spread the birdseed on a plate and roll the sticky tube in the birdseed.
- Then, punch a thin stick through the tube on the empty end. This could be a stick from outside, a chopstick, or a pencil. It is a perch for birds.
- Hang your recycled bird feeder from a tree!
Check out more ideas on how to upcycle toilet paper tubes.
Day 20: DIY Tie-Dye T-shirts with Fabric Paint
Day 20 is the day you make the official shirt of the summer!
You can DIY tie dye with old white or light T-shirts, pillowcases, dishtowels, socks, or whatever you have.
You can use a tie dye kit to make designs in a typical way.
Or you can use fabric paint, which has distinct advantages.
The first advantage is that you don’t have to pre-soak the material in soda ash (or another mordant).
The second advantage is that you can dye any material (even synthetics). Traditional fabric dye only works well on cotton.
Thirdly, colors don’t run when you wash the fabric. Once you paint it and set it, it’s done.
We recommend using Dye-na-flow fabric paint. It’s thinner than other paints, so it works better as a dye.
It’s also non-toxic so that you can use it safely with kids.
Before you dye, cover the area with a plastic garbage bag and wear rubber gloves to avoid staining.
Then prepare your fabric by twisting and securing it with rubber bands. Don’t tie them too tightly, or the fabric paint will not penetrate the center of the fabric.
Paint the fabric. Let dry.
Then, unravel the fabric and run an iron over it. This sets the colors.
Now it is wash-safe! The colors won’t run onto the rest of the fabric (or anything else in your wash).
Day 20: Family Yoga Session in the Living Room
Yoga helps improve balance, strength, and relaxation.
Why not make those gains together?
This could be the start of a family pastime. (Read here on the benefits of yoga for kids.)
Search YouTube for “Family Yoga” or “Yoga for Kids.”
Some yoga videos include stories along with the poses, so it’s exercise and storytime in one!
Week Three Family Activities
From art to exercise, nature to indoor activities, this list of seven family activities has something for everyone.
Complete this week of Family First Summer to strengthen your bond and have fun with your family.