- Exciting Teen Summer Bucket List Ideas 2024
As a teenager, there weren’t that many exciting things to do growing up in the ’90s well at least I didn’t think so besides Disneyland, Carowinds, Water Parks, and Six Flags. In today’s perfect world, so much technology revolves around us with views of different places, festivals, and events to go do some awesome things. It’s hard not to see what new and exciting adventures a teenager can do out in the community or around the world.
What is a Summer Bucket List?
A summer bucket list is just simply a list of things that you want to do or accomplish in a specific time limit. For example, completing a camping bucket list is something that I’ve always wanted to try when growing up because it’s something that I enjoy doing. A bucket list can contain a variety of many different things whether it’s related to traveling, family adventures, relationships, work, or personal development. So let’s look at the top trending summer teen bucket list ideas that the new generation of teens are doing to have fun in today’s world with family and friends.
Best 25 Outdoor Fun and Creative Summer Bucket List Ideas for Teens
- DIY Tie-Dye Party: Gather some friends and create the perfect vibrant tie-dye shirts, socks, towels, totes, and bags outside.
- Outdoor Movie Night: Set up a big projector in your backyard, or a local park and invite some group of friends to watch some classic summer films under the stars.
- Beach Clean-Up Day: Grab a group of friends and organize a beach or park clean-up day with friends to make a positive impact on your community/neighborhood.
- Camping Adventures: Plan a big camping trip, whether it’s in a local park, backyard, or a national forest.
- Backyard Bonfires: Have a bonfire night with s’mores, spooky scary stories, and acoustic guitar music.
- Nature Hike: Explore a new hiking trail in your state or nearby park and take in the beauty of nature.
- Geocaching: Join the global treasure hunt by finding hidden geocaches in your area.
- Kayaking or Canoeing: Spend a day on the water or lake exploring cool lakes or rivers.
- Outdoor Art Project: Set up an art easel outside or on the beach and paint the best scenery around you or a place you want to go.
- Fruit Picking: Visit a local orchard, fruit farm, or berry farm and pick your fruit to make some yummy desserts.
- Water Balloon Fight: Cool off this summer with an epic water balloon fight with some friends.
Outdoor Fun and Creative Summer Bucket List Ideas for Teens
- Picnic in the Park: Pack a delicious picnic and spend the day lounging around in a beautiful park.
- Star Gazing: Lay out some thick blankets and watch for constellations, shooting stars, and maybe even planets with your telescope.
- Outdoor Yoga: Practice yoga moves in a serene outdoor setting that’s free of distractions.
- Photography Challenge: Go on a photo scavenger hunt to capture interesting sights in nature.
- Beach Volleyball: Organize a beach volleyball party or game with a group of friends.
- Farmer’s Market Tour: Visit different local farmer’s markets in your area and sample some fresh produce, local veggies, and homemade goods.
- Bike Ride Adventure: Plan a long bike ride on a scenic trail in your community, and maybe stop at an outdoor fast-food restaurant for some burgers or ice cream.
- Flower Crown Making: Collect wildflowers and create beautiful flower crowns with friends.
- Tree Climbing: Find a sturdy tree in your backyard and enjoy a fun climb, just like when you were a kid growing up
- Fishing Trip: Spend a day out on the lake or pond and go fishing and through it on the grill later that night.
- Slip ‘n Slide: Set up a slip ‘n slide in your backyard for some wet and wild fun with some friends.
- Nature Journaling: Spend some quiet time outside writing, drawing, or sketching in a nature journal.
- Butterfly Garden: Create a small or big butterfly garden in your backyard by planting some flowers that attract butterflies and watching them flutter around.
- Outdoor DIY Craft Fair: Make and display your crafts in an outdoor setting, invite friends, family, or co-workers to do the same, and trade creations.
25 Indoor Fun and Creative Summer Bucket List Ideas for Teens
- DIY Craft Day: Spend a day creating some handmade crafts like friendship bracelets, dream catchers, God’s eye, or painted rocks.
- Cooking Challenge: Host a cooking challenge with friends and family where you each create a specific dish using a secret ingredient.
- Virtual Museum Tour: Explore famous museums around the world through virtual tours.
- Indoor Camping: Set up a big or small tent or make a fort in your living room and have an indoor camping experience complete with snacks and stories.
- Board Game Marathon: Spend a day playing your favorite board games with friends or family.
- Escape Room at Home: Create your extravagant escape room challenge using puzzles, riddles, and clues around the house.
- Baking Extravaganza: Bake a variety of different cookies, cakes, pastries, and other treats, then have a taste test with friends.
- Home Theater Experience: Transform your living room, den, or bedroom into a home theater with popcorn, blankets, and a movie marathon.
- DIY Spa Day: Pamper yourself with natural homemade face masks, manicures, pedicures, and relaxing music to set the mood
- Book Club: Start a huge book club with friends and family to discuss your favorite reads and put together a reader’s theater.
Indoor Fun and Creative Summer Bucket List Ideas for Teens
- Learn a New Skill: Pick up a new hobby like knitting, origami, or calligraphy through online tutorials.
- Virtual Travel Experience: Use VR or online resources to explore new places and cultures from the comfort of your home.
- Jigsaw Puzzle Challenge: Complete a challenging jigsaw puzzle on your cell phone or paper solo or with friends.
- Photography Project: Create a photo album or digital scrapbook with pictures from the past year of places you visited with your friends and family.
- Video Game Tournament: Organize a video game tournament (Tekken, Street Fighter, etc.) with friends, complete with prizes (Gift cards, self-care basket, or food) for the winners.
- Indoor Gardening: Start an indoor natural garden or care for some houseplants.
- DIY Fashion Show: Pull the old clothes out of the closet redesign old clothes and host a fashion show to display your creations.
- Podcast Production: Create your free podcast on a topic you’re passionate about and share it with the world.
- Room Makeover: Redecorate your room with new colors, furniture arrangements, or DIY decorations.
- Writing Challenge: Write a bunch of short stories, or poems, or even start a novel and have a theater night.
- Virtual Game Night: Play online games or trivia with friends via video call.
- Learn a New Language: Use language learning apps (Duolingo) or online courses to start learning a new language (Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, English, etc).
- DIY Science Experiments: Conduct fun and safe science experiments at home using household items.
- Build a Model: Assemble a model airplane, car, or even a miniature building.
- Indoor Treasure Hunt: Create a treasure map and hide clues around the house for an adventurous indoor treasure hunt.
Top 25 Fun Water Sports Summer Bucket List Ideas for Teens
- Stand-Up Paddleboarding (SUP): Balance yourself on a paddleboard and explore lakes, rivers, or the ocean with some friends and family.
- Kayaking: Glide through serene water, lake, or beach ocean to tackle mild rapids in a kayak.
- Snorkeling: Discover underwater life in clear waters, exploring coral reefs or local lakes.
- Surfing: Catch some cool waves at a nearby beach, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced surfer returning to the beach.
- Wakeboarding: Get towed behind a small boat and ride the waves on your wakeboard.
- Waterskiing: Similar to wakeboarding, but on skis this time, perfect for thrill-seekers.
- Tubing: Hold on tight while being pulled on an inflatable tube behind a boat down a quiet calm river or lake.
- Canoeing: Paddle through calm waters in a colorful canoe, great for relaxing in the sun and enjoying nature.
- Jet Skiing: Speed across the water on some powerful jet skis for an adrenaline-pumping experience.
- Windsurfing: Combine surfing and sailing by learning to windsurf.
- Parasailing: Get in the water while being towed behind a boat with a parachute.
- Bodyboarding: Surf the waves closer to the shore on a bodyboard.
Fun Water Sports Summer Bucket List Ideas for Teens
- Kitesurfing: Use a large kite to harness the wind and surf across the ocean waves.
- Scuba Diving: Jump into the ocean and deep dive to explore marine life and underwater landscapes.
- Sailing: Learn to sail or enjoy a day on a sailboat with friends and family
- White Water Rafting: Navigate through the rushing rapids and enjoy the thrill of white water rafting with some safety gear on.
- Rowing: Join a rowing team create your own and race alongside other teams or go solo for a workout on the water.
- Fishing: Spend a full day fishing, either from the shore, lake, river, pier, or boat.
- Cliff Diving: For only the bravest, find safe spots to dive into deep water from cliffs.
- Float Down a River: Relax on your inner tube and float down a lazy river with friends.
- Underwater Photography: Capture some stunning photos of underwater wildlife while snorkeling or diving in the ocean with family or friends.
- Water Polo: Organize a water polo match in your backyard pool, lake, or local pool.
- Hydro foiling: Try the latest trend in water sports by riding a hydrofoil board.
- Wakeskating: A blend of wakeboarding and skateboarding combined, performed on open water or lake.
- Water Trampolining: Bounce and perform cool safe flips on a water trampoline for endless fun in the open ocean or lake.
Conclusion
Regardless of how you spend your summer as a teen, you want to make sure that you’re first and foremost safe and doing activities that would jeopardize you later on down the road. Because you wouldn’t want your future to be miserable over a silly mistake you made when you were hanging out with friends over the summer.
These seems really fun! I think i can be the teen this summer 🙂
Wow, what a fantastic list of outdoor summer bucket list ideas for teens! As a parent, it’s always a challenge to keep teenagers engaged and active during the summer months, and your creative suggestions are a breath of fresh air.
OMG… these are fun ideas. I will definitely steal them. I do not have teens yet but I can do some of them with my young daughter. thanks for these.
Love these ideas for teens’ bucket list ideas. Everyone loves a good bonfire and a tie-dye party sounds like a real hoot. A cooking challenge with friends sounds like great fun. Thanks for sharing all these fab ideas for teens.