Summer Bucket List for Teens (46 Ideas, Tips, Inspiration!)

What is a bucket list for teens, you may ask? Well, it’s basically a list of things you want to do while you’re still a teenager – or in this case – during the summer. A bucket list is a collection of things that you want to do in your life, before you “kick the bucket”, in other words before your life is over.

A bucket list for teenagers can either be a regular bucket list that you make as a teenager, or a list of things that you want to do while you’re still a teen. As such, a summer bucket list for teenagers is a list of all the things you want to do before summer, or summer vacation, is over.

The Best Summer Bucket List Ideas for Teenagers Are Here:

Here’s our list of summer bucket list ideas for teenagers.

Are you ready for a summer you’ll never forget? Follow some of these buck list ideas for teens and you’ll have a memorable, fun, exciting summer, and a summer that’s filled with personal growth.

  1. Mini golf: Play a round of mini golf and then try to beat your score. How well can you play with a day or two of practice? This is one of the most popular bucket list ideas for teens, and for good reason.
  2. Craft night: Host a craft night just for yourself, or with some friends, and make something useful, pretty, or just something fun.
  3. Geocaching: Spend an afternoon geocaching with friends and see what you’re able to discover.
  4. Stay busy: Relaxing is great, but make sure you spend enough time doing summer activities for teens and making some memories, the summer will be over before you know it.
  5. Indoor games: There are lots of great indoor games for teenagers that you can enjoy when it’s too hot to spend time outside.
  6. Find peace: If you’re someone who might benefit from anger management for teens, the summer can be a good time to work on overcoming some of these anger issues for a fresh start.
  7. Cooking: Don’t worry about becoming a master chef, just set a goal of learning to cook one meal (maybe your favorite meal, or your crush’s favorite meal?) perfectly. Master one dish, and those skills will apply to many more.
  8. Invite your crush to hang out: Is there someone you had a crush on all year? Now that it’s summer, invite them to hang out. What have you got to lose? If they say no, everyone will forget about it by the time school returns after summer.
  9. Join a gym: Spend some time at a gym, learn the basic lifts and exercises, and form good habits that can last a lifetime!
  10. Calligraphy: Learning basic calligraphy skills will allow you to write the most beautiful letters, to create a stunning signature, and to impress people with your penmanship skills. It’s a rare skill, but everybody notices it.
  11. Vision board: Create a vision board with some of your hopes and dreams to go along with your bucket list for teens.
  12. Daily selfie: Take a selfie each day and see how you’ve changed over the summer by animating them into a quick slideslow. Try to frame your face identically in each subsequent photo.
  13. Tie-Dye: No bucket list for teens is complete without some fun tie-dye clothes to give new life to things you don’t wear anymore.
  14. Limo ride: Book a limo ride with some friends, it doesn’t cost a lot if everyone chips in. You can get them to take you to prom, or even just to McDonald’s.
  15. Stargaze: Look up at the sky. You may have to drive out to the country for a better view, but it’s worth it, especially if you’re with someone you care about. It can be very humbling, and is a great addition to a list of summer bucket list ideas for teenagers because it’s not something you would normally do.
  16. camping: Book a camping spot somewhere, or even just camp out in your own backyard. Sleeping outside on a nice night is a special experience, even if you wouldn’t want to do it every night.
  17. Grow food: Plant a garden with foods that you can eat in a few months once you’ve grown, or even just some herbs like basil. You can find a recipe that uses the things you’ve grown, it’s such a proud moment when you finally get to eat it.
  18. Photoshoot: Do a photoshoot with a friend where you go aruond town and take pictures of noteworthy things, whether you want to be in the photos or if you just want to take pictures of others.
  19. Play in the rain: Next time it’s raining hard, run out into the rain with zero cares about getting wet.
  20. Mindfulness: Learn the basics of mindfulness for teens that will help you improve your mood, stay calm and focused, and thrive in life.
  21. Make a video: Make a fun little video, whether it is a work of fiction, a documentary, or even an animation.
  22. Do a major good deed: I’m not talking about helping an old lady across the street, I mean think of a way that you can majorly change someone’s life for the better with a little bit of effort. Something they’ll never forget.
  23. Learn to drive: If you’re old enough, the summer is a great time to learn to drive so that you’re ready to pass your road test when the time comes.
  24. Fancy dinner: Save up to go out for a fancy dinner somewhere that you have to dress up nice for. You can go by yourself, treat a friend, bring your parents, or whatever you feel like.
  25. Life skills: Check out these life skills for teens and see which ones you could work on this summer.
  26. Try a new food: Hit up the grocery store and look for something you’ve never tried before, and try it! You never know what could become a new favorite. You could even do a small shopping list of things you’ve never tried, and maybe your summer bucket list will end up finding you a new favorite food.
  27. Overcome a fear: Overcome something that you’re afraid by by exposing yourself to it (Like jumping off a high dive!)
  28. Invent a game: Invent a game with cards, or even using the pieces from an existing game, and play it with your friends. This could also be a physical game or a sport.
  29. Yes day: Plan a day where you say yes to everything (within reason!). For example, if a parent asks you to help them with something, just say yes right away and help. If a friend invites you to do something, say yes!
  30. Nap in a hammock: Find a shady spot with a hammock and grab a nice nap this summer. It’s not cheating to cross something this simple off of your summer bucket list for teens.
  31. New hairstyle: Try a new hairstyle that you normally wouldn’t wear during the school year. Summer is all about experimenting and finding yourself without having to worry about everyone seeing it right away. If it ends up bad, you’ve got plenty of time to fix it before the school year starts up again.
  32. High dive: Does your local water park have a higher diving board? Are you brave enough to jump off of it? If this is something that you’re afraid of, conquering this fear can allow you to check two things off your bucket list for teens if you remember number 27 from this list.
  33. Chat with a senior: No, I’m not talking about the senior high school year name, but rather a senior citizen in your community. Even if it’s outside of your comfort zone, strike up a convo with a senior at the grocery store, or one of your neighbors, and ask them about their day.
  34. Free teenage games: Spend a day playing free online games for teens, just for fun!
  35. Dress outside of your style: Do you usually wear a certain style of clothes, to a point where your friends and classmates would lose their minds if they saw you dressing another way? Summer’s a great way to try new things, and who knows, maybe you can shock some people when school resumes!
  36. Learn to play music: Summer is plenty of time to learn the very, very basics of playing music on an insturment. If you practise everyday, you should have an okay grasp in a couple of months, at least enough to play a few beginner songs and then you just keep going from there.
  37. Museum: Even if a trip to a museum sounds boring, it’s the type of thing that you’ll remember, and you’ll be glad you did. We can learn so much from museums, and you’ll probably see some really cool stuff that you might not expect, too.
  38. Work a summer job: Working a job might not sound like the most fun way to pass a summer, but it’s the best way to get yourself some spending money for the weekends. Gaining job experience at a younger age is very useful, even if it’s just for motivation to realize that you want a great job when you grow up instead of a typical summer job for teenagers.
  39. The Zoo: The Zoo is the perfect place to see all sorts of animals! If you feel a bit old for the zoo, think again! Try going and actually reading all of the information about each animal to better understand them. You can learn a lot, see some awesome animals, and it only takes a couple of hours. Perfect way to pass some time in the summer!
  40. Finish a puzzle: Find a puzzle that has an image on it that you really like, complete the puzzle, then use a puzzle saver product to “seal” the puzzle, so that you can hang it on your wall. It’s like a poster with an added sense of accomplishment.
  41. Volunteer: Find somewhere and volunteer your time. There are surely countless volunteer opportunities for teens in your community.
  42. Have a picnic: Gather up some snacks, a blanket, and find a nice place in the park to have a picnic.
  43. Super Soaker fight: Dig through the shed and find some water balloons and Super Soakers, or grab a few from the store, and let the battle begin!
  44. Slumber party: Host a slumber party with movies, snacks, and your besties.
  45. Take a spontaneous road trip: If you have your license and a car, or permission to borrow the family car, you can take a spontanious road trip to somewhere that’s a couple of hours away, even if you’re just there for a day trip.
  46. Classic movie marathon: Think of some of those “classic” movies you’ve always heard about but haven’t seen before, and spend a day finding out what all the fuss is about.

Will Your Complete Your Summer Bucket List for Teens?

Hopefully, these bucket list ideas for teens have given you some inspiration. You don’t have to be too overzealous, you can make a modest and humble bucket list that won’t be too hard to accomplish, instead of trying to do 100 different things and getting overwhelmed and then feeling disappointed.

Pick some summer bucket list ideas for teens that interest you, go at your own pace, and make the most of the summer – on your own terms! If you have any ideas of other things that we should add to this summer bucket list for teens, let us know!

Sara Dylan

Author Information

Sara Dylan is passionate about researching and writing interesting articles to help people. Sara is a prolific writer at TeenWire.org, and enjoys a nice cup of tea as much as the next person.