Our Summer 2023 Bucket List! 30+ Ideas for Your Summer in Central MA (and Beyond)
Memorial Day is behind us and that means summer is within reach. Every year I like to make a bucket list – or more of an aspirational list – of things we want to do this summer.
30+ Ideas for Summer 2023!
- Sign up for our local library’s summer reading challenge.
- Go camping at a real campground – Dennison and Nickerson State Parks are already booked for this season. Jamaica State Park in VT is another favorite spot of ours.
- Ride the train at the EcoTarium and visit their Alden Planetarium
- Bake a fun new dessert together.
- Bring the kids to splash and play at Davis Farmland
- Hold (another) lemonade stand
- Take a day trip up to the beach or make a weekend of it and visit the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport
- Eat ice cream and lots of it. We have lots of favorites but our new favorite spot is Lilac Hedge Farm. Plus I need to try a wine slushie there!
- Visit our two favorite zoos Roger Williams Park Zoo and Southwick’s Zoo.
- Take a day trip to Six Flags. I’ve never brought my kids, but I think my almost 9 year old will absolutely love it.
- Do some at home science experiments, per my children’s request.
- Do a beach day. Or two. Or three.
- Pick strawberries and blueberries and bake yummy treats with our harvest
- Create a massive blanket fort and watch movies in our pajamas all day. One of the best rainy day summer activities!
- Go back in time with a visit to Old Sturbridge Village –Kids are free July 1 – 4 in honor of Independence Day.
- Camp out in the front yard – always a hit with my kids.
- Bring my daughters to the Boston Science Museum – we haven’t spent much time there in years.
- Hop a ferry to the Boston Harbor Islands. (This goes on my list every year and we haven’t made it happen since before our kids were born. Hoping this is the year!)
- Rent canoes or kayaks from Nashoba Paddler to enjoy a morning on the pond.
- Watch Fireworks
- The kids loved Mystic Seaport & Mystic Aquarium and are asking when we can go back – hoping to tack that onto our summer plans too!
- Plant and harvest a vegetable garden – my top favorites to grow are tomatoes, potatoes, and lettuce.
- Go for a bike ride on the rail trail. See our guide to local stroller/bike friendly locations.
- Take a hike at Purgatory Chasm or explore another one of the stroller friendly trails nearby
- Play in the treehouse at the Discovery Museum in Acton. Friday nights are free all summer!
- Take my kids bowling – I have already signed them up for the kids bowl free for the summer! See our bowling guide.
- Visit the Puppet Theater in Lunenburg to take in a show and explore the fairy tale garden before they close their location in September this year.
- Get crafty with some at home arts and crafts like this one
- Explore the secret garden in Shrewsbury
- Find new playgrounds to explore. I’ve been wanting to go to Castle in the Trees with the kids for a long time now.
- Hike Mount Wachusett with both kids.
- Bring the kids to a demonstration at The American Heritage Museum
- Enjoy the beautiful spring and summer flowers at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill and enjoy their beautiful space for kids “The Ramble.”
- Visit Worcester Art Museum on a hot day! The girls love WAM’s art camps, so we can’t wait to spend an afternoon at the museum and see some armor demos, do a scavenger hunt and take part in art carts. Kids 17 and under get free admission to WAM!
- Take one of our favorite day trip plans and head to the Boston Aquarium and then have lunch at Boston Market and play in the fountains on the Rose Kennedy Greenway
- Because the kids had so much fun at fairs last year, we definitely hope to find a fair or two this summer.
What else should we do this summer?
My bucket list is always overly ambitious, but it’s fun to dream of all the possibilities! What is on your summer 2023 bucket list? Tell us in comments below!.
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