School is out, summer is in full swing and families everywhere are asking the same question: How can we make this summer as fun as humanly possible? There’s nothing wrong with spending hot afternoons lazing around at the local pool. But with just a little planning, your family can pack a lot more adventure into the weeks ahead.
To give you some ideas, The New York Times for Kids asked dozens of young people around the country to tell us about their own favorite places to go and things to do over the break. Use their suggestions as inspiration to seek out similar activities in your area — or add their tried-and-true spots to your travel itinerary. Either way, when the kids in your life go back to school in the fall and are asked how they spent their summer vacation, they’ll have a lot to say.
Rent a camper
In the summer, we go camping a lot. We take the camper truck, which has a bed and a bunk in it. My favorite place to go is Silver Lake State Park, because there’s a big dock to jump off. The water is really deep. We light a fire, and usually we eat hot dogs and marshmallows. At night, my brother and I put on concerts for our parents where we dance. Ellen L., 7, South Royalton, Vt.
Slide down a ski hill
The ski resort here, Whitefish Mountain Resort, is really fun in the summer. There are alpine slides, which are very long slides where you sit in a little cart. You can control your speed as you go down the mountain. You definitely feel like you’re going fast, and you’re kind of scared, but you can look around and see the mountains all around you. Pearse J., 9, Whitefish, Mont.
Take an overnight train trip
I like to take overnight trains, like from Boston to Chicago. It’s a really different kind of travel than flying in a metal tube in the air. We stay in a sleeper car, and my favorite thing is to listen to music and podcasts and look out the window. I take a lot of pictures of the sky as the clouds change and we pass by different cities and nature and train stations. It’s so relaxing. Charlie W., 12, Maynard, Mass.
Visit a science museum
I like going to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, which is like a museum where you can play with stuff. There’s a mini earthquake simulator, where it shakes on the ground. There’s also a space capsule outside the planetarium, where you can lie inside the capsule and push buttons. William S., 8, Portland, Ore.
Go backpacking
I like to go backpacking with my dad, like to Williwaw Lakes in the Chugach Mountains. In early summer, it’s so high that there’s still snow and ice there! We go camping too, but backpacking feels really different — more chill, but also more tiring. We basically walk forever, and we talk nonstop. My dad told me all the Greek myths. If he stopped telling the story, then I stopped walking. Hava R., 6, Anchorage
Check out an art fair
I love going to the Ann Arbor Art Fair. Lots of art businesses come downtown, and they close the roads. When you think of art, maybe you mostly think of paintings, but there’s also stuffed animals and jewelry and photography. I got cat earrings made of clay that are supercute. Annabella M., 14, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Meet local creatures
I love appreciating nature near where I am, so I love LeFleur’s Bluff State Park. It’s wooded and really fun to explore with a friend. If you lift up logs, you’ll find tiny creatures underneath, like salamanders and frogs. There’s also a science museum, where they have lots of live specimens, like alligators and fish, plus millions-of-years-old dinosaur fossils and a lot of native Mississippi fish. It’s one thing to read about animals and other living things in a book, but seeing it right in front of you, knowing what kinds of creatures are all around you, is so cool. Jordyn S., 15, Jackson, Miss.
Hit the road
I love going on road trips. It can feel long, but you get to go through states that you haven’t been to before, and you can stop and see different stuff. We drove to Chicago last year, and we were driving for hours, and then finally there’ll be a sign that says, like, “Welcome to Ohio.” It’s really cool to see all these cars on the highway going to different places. We also went on a road trip to Maine, where we got to have crab cakes and go to the main L.L. Bean store, and see a giant boot statue there. It was really cool. Max W., 11, Locust Valley, N.Y.
take to the sky
Pine Lake Water Park in Berne, Ind., has obstacle courses and ziplines and slides, including one that’s totally dark. There are also towers that you can jump off from really high into the water. It’s scary, but it’s also really fun! Sofia L., 13, Indianapolis
Visit a bird sanctuary
VINS Nature Center in Quechee, Vt., is a home for birds who can’t live on their own. You see a lot of birds that you don’t get to see normally, like snowy owls, falcons and bald eagles. The birds are trained, so they’ll fly into the workers’ hands. There are also canopy walks through the trees, and a playground there where there’s a big tunnel. Rosa K., 7, Washington, Vt.
go on an epic bike ride
Last summer, I went on a four-night biking trip with some friends from school and some of our teachers. I hadn’t biked very much before, and I was nervous. It was a lot of biking! But it was so cool. We biked from Oakland to San Francisco to Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz, and we got to pass through all kinds of landscapes: houses, forests, the side of highways and roads and the water. I didn’t even know there were beaches like the ones at Half Moon Bay. Biking alongside nature and water nurtured my mental health and made me feel refreshed. Emily M., 16, Oakland, Calif.
Spy on sea life
One time my brother, my grandma and I went on a whale watch in Cape Cod Bay. We were on a big giant boat that had a cafe on it. It was my first time seeing whales, and we saw a lot of humpbacks. None of them jumped out of the water, but it was very cool, because they were flapping their tails, and I saw water come out of their blowholes. That was a little bit scary, and very surprising! Angelina S., 7, Sandwich, Mass.
Go beach camping
I like to go beach camping at Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu, Calif. It’s like going to the beach, but we go three days in a row, so we can stay in the water as long as we want! We have a camper van that we get to sleep in, but you can also sleep in a tent. You can explore the campsites, where there are other families. I like to bring my bike, because then I can bike around the campsite with the other kids there. Kian J., 7, Los Angeles
Go tubing
At Camp Tomahawk on the James River, you can rent out inner tubes and tube down the river. There are a bunch of sandbars to stop on. You pack a lunch and post up on the sandbar, and eat and play in the river. In some parts, the current takes you kind of fast, but in other parts, it’s nice and relaxing. We connect all of our tubes together so none of us get lost. Winnie L., 10, Springfield, Mo.
Chill out (literally)
It gets really hot in the summer, so I like to go ice-skating at the Pueblo Ice Arena. I like being in the coldness, and I really like skating. I’m able to do small tricks, like going in circles, and I like watching people do other tricks too. Zoey C., 11, Pueblo, Colo.
Explore by paddle board
I like going stand-up paddle boarding at Trillium Lake. It’s beautiful there, and really cool to look around at nature, like at all the trees and flowers. I like stand-up paddle boarding because you can go whatever speed you want. My brother and I love to race each other. Don’t be afraid to fall in — if you’re paddle boarding on a hot day, then it’s refreshing! Elsa M., 11, Beaverton, Ore.
Hit up ye olde faire
I love the Great Lakes Medieval Faire, which happens over seven weeks in the summer. People wear old-timey clothes, like pirates or Vikings, and they dress up their dogs too. I love to play the games, like archery and ax-throwing. There are also fun shows, like jousting and music and a guy who puts himself in chains and then gets out of them. You can eat a turkey leg and buy a (fake) dragon egg. Cici R., 11, Gates Mills, Ohio
Tour a Factory
One of the best places to visit in Atlanta is World of Coca-Cola. You get to go through the factory and see how it was created. And you can go see the vault where the secret formula for Coca-Cola is kept. They have drinks from all over the world, like from Peru, Italy and Costa Rica. Dana H., 10, Atlanta
WATCH FIREWORKS
The best thing to do in Minnesota in the summer is go stay at cabins on a lake. We like to go to Potato Lake. On the Fourth of July, there are lots of fireworks. The best ones shoot really high into the sky. You can also see bald eagles there. Bode G., 12, Minneapolis
VISIT A FARM
In the summer, I like to go to Darnell Farms in Bryson City, N.C. There’s a lot of stuff to do there. My favorite is the hayride, which is where you go on a trailer on a tractor and they take you around the farm. There’s also a farmers’ market with fresh-picked berries and ice cream and an old-timey playground, and they have goats and chickens that you can feed. Zion B., 7, Glenville, N.C.
Peer into tide pools
In Washington, the ocean is really cold. On hot days, it’s energizing to run into the water, dunk your head and run out, but I don’t really swim. Instead, I love to go tide pooling at low tide. Tide pools are like little pools of water in the cracks of the rocks, and if you peer in, there’s so much life in a tiny pool: sea anemones, crabs, little fish and seaweed. The starfish are usually purple, sometimes orange, and usually bigger than an adult’s hand. The crabs are really small — the bigger ones are like an inch big — and they’re really cute. Greta S., 13, Bellingham, Wash.
Stroll a boardwalk
I love Jenkinson’s Boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach, on the Jersey Shore. It’s a big boardwalk, with games, food and rides. Last time I went, I played Whac-a-Mole against my mom and won a giant ball. There’s bumper cars, and a carousel, and one ride where you lie down on your belly and go up high and spin like you’re flying. The food is amazing: cotton candy, ice cream, pizza and French fries. Right by the boardwalk is a ropes course. And of course, you can go to the beach! Talia C., 7, Westfield, N.J.
explore an aquarium
My favorite thing to do in the summer is go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Calif. It has so many types of fish. They have neat miniature replicas of ecosystems, which look like a slice taken from the ocean. They have a kelp forest that feels real. You can also kayak nearby. It’s a good way to exercise, and you can see otters and seals. Sometimes you can even see dolphins splashing around. Ansel M., 11, Cupertino, Calif.
scream your head off
I love to go to Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va. It’s an amusement park that has rides based on Peanuts, with Charlie Brown. In the summer, there’s a water park with a lazy river. There’s also really good roller coasters. I recommend the Woodstock Express. Definitely put your hands up in the air and scream! Daniel L., 9, Stafford, Va.
sand surf
At Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, you can go sandboarding, which is where you go down a big sand hill while standing on a board. It’s really fun. I like to stand at the top first and look around — you can see cactuses and the mountains and so much sand. Andrew C., 9, Alamosa, Colo.
Catch a baseball game
The first thing I’d take someone to do in St. Louis in the summer is go to see the Cardinals play baseball at Busch Stadium. Fredbird, the mascot, is there to say hi and take pictures. And on some days, kids get to run the bases: After the game, you go down the ramps onto the field, and you can run or walk around the bases, which is really fun. I always wear a Cardinals jersey that I bedazzled myself, so it’s really shiny. Legacy J., 15, St. Louis
Explore a cave
It’s really cool to go to Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, Tenn., which are caves way far underground. They’re so deep down, you take an elevator to get there from the surface. It’s nice to go in the summer, because it’s hot outside, and it’s cold in the cave. On the tour, they show you amazing crystals and tell you about how they form from minerals over a really long time. If you hold a flashlight behind one of the crystals, you can see it glow! Felix S., 6, Signal Mountain, Tenn.
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