Our 2023 Summer Bucket List

We may be a little biased, but we love a good Rhode Island summer. We have great beaches, amazing food,  vibrant culture, and great festivals. Our  Summer Bucket List will keep you and your family busy this summer and help you make the most of these feeting sunny days!

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
– F.Scott Fitzgerald

 

Stay Home

Rhode Island Summer days can get LONG with the kids home from school. Keep these ideas handy for when the kids start complaining that they are bored. (Or just make them clean their room!).

• Have a water balloon fight.
• Make a blanket fort.
• Try one of these simple at home activities.
• Have a watermelon seed spitting contest.
• Let the kids stay up late and stargaze together.
• Make paper airplanes.
• Do a scavenger hunt of at-home items.
• Make a homemade slip n slide.
• Have a lemonade stand.
• Break out the sprinklers (or make your own!)
• Play Capture the Flag.
• Create an obstacle course in your own backyard.
• Ride bikes.
• Raining? Measure the rainfall!
• Have the kids collect interesting rocks and paint them. Find somewhere fun in the yard to make a “rock garden”.
• Go on a bug hunt.
• Have a sidewalk chalk “Art Show.”
• Have a dance party.
• Have too much fruit from berry picking? Make homemade sorbet with the kids.
• Go on a campout in your backyard. This is great for sleepovers!
• Make S’Mores.
• Two words – sensory play!

Do Good

• Spread some cheer to kids at Hasboro with Good Night Lights. At 8:30 people in various parts of the state gather to signal to kids in the hospital that they are thinking about them. Through blinking their headlights, shining flashlights, or turning lights on and off, Good Night Lights aims to spread some cheer. Check out their website for info on where people gather. Get a group together and go one evening this summer!
• Help your local firefighters cool down by bringing ice cream/treats to the firehouse. (They might even let you see the trucks).
• Next time you’re at your local playground, teach your kids about taking care of their community by taking a few minutes to clean up.
• Even closer to home, pick up trash in your neighborhood.
• Didn’t quite get around to spring cleaning? Do a summer clean out and find toys/clothes/household items to donate.

Get Out

• Go to the beach – yes, even with a baby!
• Explore a new playground.
• Cool off at a splash pad. 
• Go for a bike ride or walk the Blackstone River Bikeway.
• Go on a hike with the kids!
• Go fishing, but don’t forget your license! RI Residents pay only $18, and you can buy online!
• Have a picnic lunch at Brenton Point.
• Have a picnic at Colt State Park. 
• Get awestruck with local fireworks.
• Enjoy an outdoor concert at Burnside Park.
• Rent a kayak or canoe and paddle around Lincoln Woods State Park.
• Explore Swan Point Cemetery.
• Head to Spring Lake.
• Get up-close at Chepachet Farm’s Petting Zoo.
• Go camping.
• Go berry picking.
• Visit the farmers market.
• Tend the garden.
• Visit Slater Park and see an outdoor concert, visit the animals at Daggett Farm, ride the swan boats on the pond, enjoy the playground, and visit the home of the Rhode Island Watercolor Society.
• Organize a family bike ride from Barrington to Bristol.
• Take an overnight trip to one of these nearby destinations.

Eat Local

We asked our contributors what Rhode Island summer food they were dreaming of. This is what they had to say. What would you add to the list?

• Go to Red Parrot in Newport for nachos and a mudslide (and some Parrot Pizza for the kids!)
• Hit up Wrights for a family style chicken dinner.
• Visit Wright’s Dairy farm too and don’t miss their new scoop shop located in PVD!
• Have ice cream at Brickley’s.
• Discover some new clam shacks.
• Start the morning right with Allies Donuts.
• Drink all the Del’s!
• Enjoy a whole new level of comfort food at Bayberry Beer Hall.
• Grab a food truck lunch at Kennedy Plaza.
• End a day at the beach with an Awful Awful.
• Chowder, clamcakes, doughboys! Local favorite? Iggy’s, of course.
• Visit Olneyville New York System for an RI favorite, hot weiners.
• Have brunch at Castle Hill Inn.

Ditch the Kids

Summer fun isn’t just for the kids! Here are our favorite things to do when you have a rare minute off from being mom.

• Read some good fiction (and not the rhyming kind!).
• Visit a local coffee shop…alone.
• Spend an afternoon at a local brewery
• Get a babysitter and snuggle up with someone at WaterFire.
• Go on a wine tour.
• Date night!
• Have a picnic dinner on the beach.
• Yoga on the beach.
• Run on the beach.
• Do nothing on the beach alone! (Possibly our favorite).
• See a movie- nothing PG allowed!
• Send the kids to Grandmas, and catch up on… sleep.
• Organize the year’s worth of photos.
• Work out in the yard.
• Go kayaking.