20 Fun Outdoor Summer Activities

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I’m so excited that the beautiful and precious days of summer are just around the corner. This summer, I hope you’ll offer your residents every possible chance to spend time outdoors. Here are 20 activities to get you started:

• Sponsor a kids’ carnival and invite residents to oversee the games. Or they can simply watch the fun if they prefer.
• Invite an ice cream truck to come to your facility with treats for residents and employees.
• Escort a few residents to a community playground so they can watch the children play.
• Hold a seated yoga class outdoors on a beautiful summer morning.
• Rent a dunk tank and invite residents to dunk their favorite caregivers.

• Set up a scavenger hunt in the courtyard. Residents and volunteers can search for items together.
• Invite a petting zoo to come to your facility.
• If you have a childcare center, give the kids some sidewalk chalk. Residents can watch as the children create masterpieces.
• Show a movie on a large sheet set up on the side of your building and pretend you’re at a drive-in movie.
• Invite residents’ families to an outdoor BBQ.

• Invite employees to participate in outdoor competitions (races, tug-of-war, etc.) and encourage residents to cheer them on.
• Plan a Hawaiian luau. Play Hawaiian music and ask residents to help plan a Hawaiian menu.
• Eat watermelon or popsicles. It doesn’t matter how messy you get when you’re outdoors!
• Sit outside and reminisce about residents’ outdoor activities when they were children.
• Host a block party for your facility and local emergency responders on National Night Out.

• Invite residents from a nearby facility to join your residents for a garden party.
• Move your regular chapel services outdoors into the beauty of nature.
• Find someone who plays the guitar, then hold an outdoor sing-along. Encourage residents to suggest their favorite songs.
• Enable residents to attend a local charity walk/run where they can cheer for the participants.
• Invite a guest speaker from an astronomy organization to come in with telescopes and help residents with stargazing.

Many of the spring and fall activities I’ve featured in the past are also perfect for summer. Please check them out, too! Oh, and be sure to help residents apply sunblock if they’re going to be outdoors for any length of time.