Your Family Adventure Guide Starts Here
School’s out, the sun is shining, and it’s time to make the most of the long, carefree days ahead. Whether you’re looking for ideas to get out of the house or creative things to do at home to keep the “I’m bored” blues at bay, we’ve got you covered. This guide is packed with fun, family-friendly activities to help you make memories all summer long—without breaking the bank or losing your sanity. Let the summer adventures begin!
Create a Flower Herbarium
• Explore your backyard, roadside trails, local parks, or even The Western Kentucky Botanical Garden to gather a variety of flowers. Use a field guide or an app like iNaturalist to help identify each species you find.
• Here’s what you’ll need: newspaper, heavy books, white paper or cardstock, glue, clear contact paper or plastic sleeves, and a notebook or binder.
• To press the flowers, lay them flat between sheets of newspaper, then place them inside a heavy book. Add more books on top for extra weight and leave them for 1–2 weeks until fully dried. Once dried, glue the flowers to cardstock, label each with its name, location, and date collected, and place them in a binder or frame them for display.
Take a Hike
• Research hiking trails in the region and document your experience with the journal Take A Hike by Carmen Crowe.
• Scan here to check out this local list of trails with distances included:
• And don’t miss this in-depth trail guide of the Greenbelt, which includes interesting facts about the native plants, trees, and land you will encounter along the trail:
Build a Bug Hotel
• Gather natural materials like old wood, twigs, pinecones, bark, bricks, and straw. Ask neighbors if they have any extras they’d like to get rid of.
• You could use a wooden box, drawer, or other frame to create compartments. Fill each compartment with different materials to create cozy spaces for insects. Or you could drill small holes in pieces of wood to attract solitary bees.
• Place your bug hotel in a sunny, dry spot near your garden or in your landscaping.
• Read Heartwood Hotel together—a fun, engaging story about insects and their homes.
Have a Garage Sale
• Set up your own garage sale by decluttering your toys and items in your room, garage, backyard.
• Price items affordably, not going over $1 and set up a lemonade stand to make some extra cash. You might even to grill burgers or hot dogs for some extra money.
• Help your child understand the value of money by setting up a cash box and having enough change on hand. Take a trip to the bank together with $20 to exchange it for a variety of dollar bills and coins, allowing them to see how different denominations work.
Host a Mini Backyard Carnival for your Neighborhood
• Choose a sunny weekend afternoon to host your event and set up simple booths like ring toss, bean bag toss, duck pond, and face painting—let kids help design and run them to take ownership. Add festive touches with string lights and upbeat music.
• Ask local businesses to donate snacks or prizes, and set up a small snack stand. Or spend some time in the kitchen preparing themed treats. Include a donation box to raise money for a local nonprofit of your choice.
• Invite friends to help run booths and spread the word with flyers to neighbors and family.
• After the event, deliver your donation as a family and learn more about the nonprofit’s mission.
Outdoor Movie Theater Night
• Create a screen using a white sheet and a projector.
• Set up seating with cardboard box cars, laundry baskets, or inflatable pool loungers topped with blankets.
• Add ambiance with string lights, glow-in-the-dark shirts or sticks, and citronella candles for bug control.
• Make it special by ordering takeout or giving each child $5 at the dollar store to pick out their favorite snacks.
“Kid Chef” World Cooking Night
• Let your child pick a country (like Italy, Japan, or Morocco), find it on a map, and look up 2–3 fun facts about its culture, food, or animals.
• Play music from that country while cooking to set the mood.
• Choose a fun, age-appropriate recipe. Let kids help make the grocery list and shop with you.
• Assign kitchen tasks by age—washing, stirring, pouring, or cutting with cookie cutters.
• Set the table together, then serve the dish “restaurant-style” with a fun name or mini menu.
• During dinner, chat about the country and what they learned!
Plant Milkweed and Watch the Life Cycle of a Butterfly
• Pick up some milkweed plants at a local nursery or get free seeds here:
• Plant the milkweed in your garden to attract monarch butterflies and watch their incredible life cycle unfold! The butterflies lay eggs on the milkweed leaves, which hatch into tiny caterpillars. These caterpillars munch on the leaves, grow quickly, and eventually form chrysalises. After about 10 days, a beautiful butterfly emerges, ready to begin the cycle again. It’s a fun and educational way to connect with nature!
Go Berry Picking and Make Jam
• Visit Reid’s Orchard for strawberry picking and collect plenty of yummy berries!
• Let your kids help mash the strawberries with a potato masher. In a saucepan, combine 2 cups strawberries mashed with 1 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir over medium heat. Let it bubble for 15 minutes, stirring often. Let it cool slightly, then spoon into clean jars. Store in the fridge (lasts 2–3 weeks) or freeze.
Host an Outdoor Karaoke Party with Neighbors
• Use a karaoke machine or Bluetooth speaker with a mic.
• Create a shared playlist in advance with fun, family-friendly songs, and print copies or display it on a board for easy selection.
• Offer light snacks like chips, popcorn, and lemonade. Let neighbors bring something potluck-style to share.
• Encourage singalongs, duets, and theme rounds (like ‘80s night or Disney tunes).
• Have small prizes for participation or fun categories.
Family Paint Party
• You can choose a fun theme like “Under the Sea,” “Outerspace,” “Abstract Art” or just let everyone paint whatever inspires them. Set out some example pictures or let kids create from their imagination.
• End it with a gallery walk by inviting extended family over or host the family for a voting party to win a prize.
• If you want a community connection, visit Owensboro Museum of Fine Arts for inspiration!
Adventure Day
• Plan an unforgettable adventure day by surprising your kids with a personalized “adventure backpack” filled with clues, snacks, and fun gear. Start by secretly packing each backpack with items like a water bottle, sunglasses, a small journal, crayons, a map (real or pretend), and a few mystery items wrapped in paper (like trail mix, a scavenger hunt list, or tickets to a local zoo or park). In the morning, hand them the backpacks and give them their first clue or challenge to “unlock” the day’s journey.
• Build the day around local stops. Some ideas are Joe Ford Nature Center, a new playground, a picnic at Smothers Park, or a surprise ice cream treat at Toad Hop—revealed one at a time.