College Life Made Easy is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Learn more.
Insanely Fun Things to Do With Friends in the Summer
Summer is the perfect time to make memories with friends! Whether you’re looking for adventure-filled days or the perfect instagrammable moments, there are plenty of ideas for enjoyable activities to try this summer.
From beach days and campfires to road trips and silly games, there’s something for everyone on this summer bucket list with friends. So grab your besties and get ready to create an unforgettable experience!
Here are 121 super fun things to do over the summer with friends.
Summer Bucket List With Friends
❑ Star gazing.
Somewhere out in the country or on an overnight hiking trip somewhere far away from the light pollution of the city.
❑ Have a little picnic at a park.
Make it a potluck style picnic! Each friend can be in charge of bringing a dish or drinks.
❑ Play cornhole.
❑ Spend a day at the beach.
Swim, build sand castles, stroll along the boardwalk, and have all the fun in the sun you can handle.
❑ Take cute sunset beach photos together.
The epitome of summer aesthetic friends goals. <3
❑ Ride a tandem bike together.
❑ Soak in a hot spring or hot tub.
I love using Swimply to find hot tubs and pools to rent nearby!
❑ Zip around town on electric scooters in matching outfits.
The kind of scooters you can rent by the hour.
❑ Attend a rave!
One of the best things to do with your friends in the summer who love music and dancing.
❑ Go to a concert together.
❑ Share ghost stories and roast s’mores around a bonfire.
A classic pastime that I always make sure to do every summer.
❑ Sunset pizza date on the beach. <3
❑ Play disc golf or ultimate frisbee.
This is a great cheap thing to do during summer with friends because all you need is a disc! I know my city has a lot of disc golf courses open to the public.
❑ Take a food tour together.
❑ Go on a bike bar beer crawl.
A must-try to include on a summer bucket list for friends who are of drinking age. (;
❑ Get slurpees in your pajamas.
❑ Play croquet in traditional croquet attire. Have tea and crumpets available for grazing.
❑ Go on a group date at a drive-in theater. Get burgers and milkshakes at a diner afterwards.
❑ Have a Mario Kart tournament.
❑ Play paintball.
You might split the teams as girls vs guys/girlfriends vs boyfriends.
❑ Laser tag!
❑ Ride on a ferris wheel.
❑ Fork someone’s lawn.
Get a pack of plastic forks and go to town. Preferably fork the lawn of someone you know!
❑ Play urban golf.
Get some expensive golf clubs from Goodwill or a yard sale and a pack of foam golf balls. Make up your own course of 18 holes – signs, fire hydrants, lamp posts, dumpsters, etc. Don’t forget to yell FORE!
❑ Night swim with glow sticks in a swimming pool.
❑ Conduct blindfolded food taste tests.
❑ Play Settlers of Catan.
And buckle up to a long ride, the gameplay really sucks you in!
Related: 11 Insanely Fun Board Games for College Students
❑ Put together an amazing charcuterie board spread.
I’m obsessed with charcuterie spreads lately. They’re so fun to experiment with and try new things!
❑ Visit a petting zoo and take cute pictures.
Look for a llama sanctuary!
❑ Get ice cream cones.
❑ Wander around a botanical garden or an arboretum.
❑ Play hacky sack.
❑ Hit up as many yard sales and estate sales as you can.
❑ Make a super long DIY slip n’ slide with a tarp and dish soap.
Trying sliding on an inflatable bodyboard if the ground is too lumpy. And make sure to have something cushiony at the end of the slip n’ side to avoid injuries!
Check out the how-to video below if you want to go all out.
❑ Tie-dye shirts, shorts, or shoes.
❑ Paint ceramic gnomes and have fun posing them in different locations around the city. Take pictures!
❑ Watch the sunset together at the highest point in town or on a roof.
❑ Go horseback riding.
Pin it for later 📌
❑ Spend a few hours at an arcade.
❑ Paint portraits of each other.
❑ Take part in a floating lantern festival.
For sure one of the best things to do over the summer with friends!
❑ Rent a cabin and do a girls trip.
❑ Take silhouette pics as the sun is setting.
❑ Read at the beach.
Don’t forget the snacks and sunscreen!
❑ Ride the train for a day trip at the next town over.
Make a little adventure out of it by doing all the stereotypical touristy things.
❑ Spend the day at an amusem*nt park.
❑ Have a sleepover.
Build a pillow fort, watch your favorite movies, and stay up talking until the early hours of the morning.
❑ Bake and decorate cupcakes.
❑ Paint records and CDs.
Pick them up for cheap at a thrift store.
❑ Shop for bouquets of flowers at the farmers market.
❑ Longboard down a hill.
You might need to add learning to longboard to your things to do during summer with friends first, of course.
❑ Frolic in a field of wildflowers.
❑ Bead braid each other’s hair.
❑ Skate at a roller disco.
These events are a total blast!!
❑ Do matching mani pedis.
❑ Play slip n’ slide kickball!
❑ See what you can find geocaching.
❑ Fly kites on a windy day.
❑ Buy a pack of clothespins and write a message on each clip. Compliments, old timey insults, jokes, whatever.
Give each friend the same amount of clothespins then go to a mall or a bookstore. The first friend who clips all their pins on other people without being caught wins!
❑ Try ziplining.
❑ Visit an aquarium.
❑ Indulge in carnival food at the state fair.
❑ Go get matching build-a-bears.
❑ Try hammock camping for a night.
❑ Go ice blocking!!
Ice blocking is an activity where you slide down a big grassy on a block of ice. Here’s how you do it.
❑ Make friendship bracelets.
❑ Play a game of Manhunt with Nerf guns.
❑ Shoot off some fireworks and/or watch a fireworks show.
❑ Play tennis.
❑ Create the perfect summer playlist.
So you have tunes ready to do when you’re doing all these things with your friends in the summer!
❑ Do a shopping cart photoshoot.
❑ DOLLAR STORE BATTLE!
Each friend goes to into the dollar store (or Goodwill, Walmart, your store of choice) with $10 in hand (or whatever amount you choose). You then have ten minutes to spend your money on weapons and armor.
Creativity is a must, will you choose a sticky hand for slapping? A binder for a shield? How about a pool noodle? Meet in the parking lot, form a circle, and battle it out!
❑ Jump on a trampoline and double bounce your friends.
❑ Take cute polaroid pictures together.
❑ Do a bring your own board night.
This is one of the more unique summer bucket list ideas with friends. I love how this could go some many different directions.
❑ Take turns painting each other’s backs.
❑ Dance in the rain.
When the opportunity arises, you gotta seize it! Summer rain is the best because it’s warm.
❑ Veg out and sample allll the ice cream flavors you can afford.
❑ Try goat or puppy yoga.
❑ Take a road trip.
❑ Play a game of telephone.
Hello nostalgic summer with friends vibe.
❑ Build the ultimate s’mores bar and have a s’mores party.
❑ Play a game of flashlight tag.
❑ Catch fireflies.
Or dragonflies or whatever the local summer bug is in your area.
❑ Do a DIY backyard movie theater campout!
❑ Play mini golf.
Even better, try glow in the dark mini golf if it’s offered in your area!
❑ Go for a late night gas station run to stock up on snacks.
❑ Go bowling.
❑ Do an aesthetic trunk date at a location with a beautiful view.
This is such a cute thing to add to your summer bucket list with friends!
❑ Go on a whale watching tour.
❑ Go berry picking at a u-pick farm.
❑ Climb a tree.
❑ Doodle an amazing chalk art masterpiece together.
❑ Perfect your homemade lemonade recipe.
❑ Swing on a tire swing.
❑ Make flower crowns.
❑ Have a Midsummer celebration.
Things to do with your friends in the summer don’t much more aesthetic than this.
❑ Cook and enjoy a waffle brunch together.
❑ Go to a baseball game.
❑ Mattress surf down some stairs.
❑ Play twister with dyed shaving cream.
What to Do on a Hot Day With Friends
❑ Go swimming!
It doesn’t matter whether it’s at a pool, a lake, or the ocean—swimming is always a must when it comes to things to do over the summer friends.
❑ Suntan together on lounge chairs.
Work on some cute suntan tattoos while you’re at it!
❑ Cliff diving!
❑ Have a water balloon fight.
I definitely recommend using Bunch O Balloons – it makes filling hundreds of water balloons so quick and easy.
❑ Go kayaking.
❑ Go snorkeling.
❑ Go paddle boarding.
❑ Do yoga on a paddle board.
❑ Play volleyball on the beach.
❑ Go skinny dipping! 😝
❑ Organize and throw a super fun pool party.
Pin it for later 📌
❑ Ride on jet skis.
❑ Boating with tubing and wakeboarding!
❑ Ride bikes by the beach.
The wind in your hair, the smell of the ocean, just beautiful a time with your best friends!
❑ Roller skate in bikinis at the beach.
❑ Take underwater pictures and videos.
❑ Explore some tidepools.
❑ Chill in hammocks by a river.
❑ Go to a water park.
❑ Try surfing.
❑ Rope swing into a lake.
❑ Spend a whole day drifting down a river on floats as a group.
Bring water squinters for some added fun. You spray each other and other people floating down the river!
❑ Go whitewater rafting.
Last but not least, one of the more adventurous things to do with your friends in the summer!
Final thoughts on things to do during summer with friends
So that wraps up this post on 121 fun summer ideas with friends. I hope this helped you figure out what your summer aesthetic friends goals are and how you want to spend your summer.
What are the must-dos on your summer bucket list with friends this year? Share in a comment below, I’d love to hear your ideas!
Related:
- The Ultimate College Bucket List for Summer: 60+ Ideas for Good Times
- 55 Most Popular College Bucket List Ideas
Pin it for later 📌
