It’s been 3 months already since I posted our Chicago Family Bucket List – Spring 2016. We’ve marked many of them checked ✔even though we haven’t completed them all. Now the summer is here and finally school is out – today-, we can focus on our summer bucket list. There are so many things kids want to do as well as I want to do with kids. At the end of the day, I want everyone to have a memorable summer as a family.
I’m sharing our Summer 2016 Family Bucket List. Some of the items are summer specific, some of them are Chicago specific. (F) are free events or activities. You can also find the printable list below.
Outdoor Activities
- Go camping
- Visit the beach (F)
- Go fishing (Fishing permit info for IL)
- North Branch Trail (Our goal is to once ride from the start in the city all the way up to Chicago Botanic Garden) (F)
- Bike on the 606 (F)
- Find geocaches
In the Backyard
- Waterbaloon fight
- Make big bubbles
- Do science experiments
- Have a block party
At Home
- Have play dates
- Make ice cream and eat it
- Read books (CPL Summer reading program) (F)
- See the movie BFG
Arts & Crafts
- Make spin art
- Make a stop motion movie
- Make chalk art by the side walk
- Sew a summer dress or summer bag
Discover Chicago
- Visit a skyscraper
- Visit a museum (Museum of Contemporary Art, with the tickets we won at our school’s fundraiser)
- Lake Michigan / Chicago River boat ride
- Yoga at Adler Planetarium
Visit Parks
- Movies at the parks (F)
- Theater at the parks (F)
- Concerts at Millenium Park (F)
- Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park (F)
- Garden of Phoenix – previously Osaka Japanese Garden at Wooded Island. Reopens June 2016 (F)
Visit Festivals
- Visit a street / neighborhood Festival (F)
- Bristol Renaissance Faire (July 9 – Sep 5)
- Chicago Dragon Boat Race (F) (Saturday, June 25)
- Chinatown Summer Fair (F) (Saturday, July 17)
- Oshkosh Airventure Show (July 25-31)
- Air and Water Show (F) (Aug 20-21)
Please add any fun activity, event or festival ideas you enjoy in Summer with your children in the comments below.
Family Bucket List – Chicago Summer 2016
*I created our list for our children, ages 10 and 8. Therefore, I don’t have many activities for pre-elementary ages. Still, you can enjoy most of these activities and events with younger children as well.
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