Three weeks. That's roughly how much summer is left right now.
Not to be dramatic about it, but if your kids go back to school between August 18 and September 5 (which covers about 85% of US schools), you have somewhere between 15 and 35 days to squeeze in everything you said you'd do this summer.
No pressure.
The good news: you don't need a trip to Disney or a week at the beach to make the last stretch of summer feel memorable. The activities kids actually remember are the small, tangible, hands-on ones — the ones that produce something they can point to and say "we did that."
Here are 10 things worth doing before school starts, ranked loosely by how much setup they require (starting with almost none).
1. Do a Giant Art Project the Whole Family Colors Together
This one earns the top spot because it requires zero setup, works for every age from 3 to 13, and produces something you can hang on the wall when it's done.
Roll out a Giant Coloring Poster by SJPrinter — 30"×42" or 24"×48" — tape it to the kitchen table or lay it on the floor, and put markers in the middle. That's the whole prep time. Kids negotiate colors, claim sections, and work on it across multiple afternoons. By the end of summer, you have a piece of art the whole family made together.
It's the end-of-summer activity that keeps going — kids come back to it every time they're bored without you having to restart it. One poster can last 3–5 days of on-and-off coloring.
Want to make it a tradition? Get a new poster every summer. In ten years you'll have a stack of them.
- Single poster: from $19.99 — browse designs by SJPrinter →
- 2-Poster Bundle: $50 with free shipping — shop bundle by SJPrinter →
Use code WELCOME15 at checkout for 15% off your first order. Free local pickup at 1400 Berlin Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003.
2. Have a Backyard Campfire Night
No campground required. Drag chairs into the backyard after dark, roast marshmallows, tell a story nobody has ever told before, and let the kids stay up later than usual. The staying-up-late part is what they'll remember. Bonus: if you have a fire pit, get a sparkler pack. If you don't, citronella candles in a circle do the job.
3. Travel the World Without Leaving Home
Pick a country. Look it up together. Cook or order food from that country. Watch a short YouTube video about it. Find it on a map. Then stamp it in a passport.
A Pretend Passport by SJPrinter paired with World Flags Stickers (192 countries) turns an afternoon into a geography adventure. Kids collect stamps and flag stickers for every country they "visit." It's the same game teachers use to run month-long classroom geography units — and it works just as well on a rainy Tuesday in August.
All Pretend Passports by SJPrinter are printed larger than an actual U.S. passport per federal law — for educational and pretend play use only, not valid travel documents.
Shop Pretend Passports + World Flags Stickers by SJPrinter →
4. Make Homemade Ice Cream (The Hard Way)
Get a bag of ice, a bag of rock salt, a small zip-lock bag, heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. Put everything in a gallon bag with ice and salt and shake it for 10 minutes. You get ice cream. Kids are obsessed with the chemistry of it and will ask to do it again. It takes 20 minutes and costs under $5.
5. Do a Full Screen-Free Day
One day. No phones, no tablets, no TV. Just see what happens. The first hour is chaos. By hour three, kids are building forts and making up games you've never seen before. This is the one activity on this list that costs nothing and teaches the most. Read our full guide to screen-free summer days →
6. Visit Every Park Within 10 Miles
Make a list of every local park, playground, or trail within a short drive. Spend the last few weeks of summer checking them off one by one. Pack a lunch. Let kids rate each one out of 10 in a notebook. At the end of summer, reveal which park won. Free, gets everyone outside, and gives kids something to look forward to every few days.
7. Cook One Ambitious Meal Together
Pick something with multiple steps — homemade pizza, tacos from scratch, pad thai. Give everyone a job. Let kids do the parts that are messier than you're comfortable with. Eat it together at the table with no devices. The meal doesn't need to be perfect. The process is the point.
8. Create a Personalized Summer Memories Poster
This one works best as a last-week-of-summer project. Order a Personalized Coloring Poster by SJPrinter with your family's name, the summer year, or a design that means something to your kids specifically.
Color it together during the final week of summer break. Hang it up when school starts. Every time a kid walks past it in the hallway during the school year, they see the summer they had.
Custom orders can be placed directly through SJPrinter — browse personalized posters → or contact SJPrinter for custom designs →
9. Do Something Kind in the Community
Bring cookies to the fire station. Leave a book on a neighbor's porch. Help an elderly neighbor with yard work. Write a thank-you note to the librarian who recommended the best book of the summer. Acts of kindness are a natural end-of-summer ritual — and kids who do them carry the feeling into the school year.
10. Make Labor Day Weekend the Official Closing Ceremony
Don't let summer just... end. Labor Day weekend (September 5–7, 2026) is the natural closing ceremony. Make it intentional: finish the coloring poster, have the backyard campfire, do the park rating finale, eat the summer's best meal one more time.
Kids who have a clear "end" to summer — a ritual, a ceremony, a last thing — transition back to school with less anxiety than kids who wake up one Monday and it's just suddenly September. Give summer a proper goodbye.
Order Before August 15 — Receive Before School Starts
Giant Coloring Posters, Pretend Passports, World Flags Stickers, and Personalized Posters are all printed by SJPrinter in Cherry Hill, NJ. Free shipping on orders over $50. Free local pickup available at 1400 Berlin Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 — typically ready within 24 hours.
Order by August 15 to guarantee delivery before school starts.
First order? Use code WELCOME15 at checkout for 15% off.
Shop Giant Coloring Posters by SJPrinter →
Shop 2-Poster Bundle — $50 with Free Shipping →
Shop Personalized Coloring Posters by SJPrinter →
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