13 Fun Summer DIY Projects For The Whole Family

Last Updated: July 2026

Don’t miss the chance to make something memorable and have fun with your family this season by doing one of these summer DIY projects!

Summer DIY Projects You Must Try With Your Family

Fun DIY Projects This Summer

Don’t let your family lounge on the couch all day and waste this awesome, sunny season. Head to the beach, go out for picnics, visit natural parks, and of course, take on a few summer DIY crafts.

Not only do you get to have fun, you also enrich your family bond as well. Just remember to encourage everyone in the family to be part of the process.

Now check out the rest of our family-friendly summer DIY ideas!

1. Herb ‘Garden’ in Pots

With a few clay pots, seeds (or grown herbs to be transferred in pots), and good soil, you should be able to start creating a potted herb garden. Choose herbs you normally use such as basil, cilantro, oregano, sage, among others.

When these babies are grown enough, you can use them fresh to spice up your meals or you can dry the herbs yourself and store them for future use.

2. Tie-Dye Shirts

Hardly anything beats this classic DIY! It’s simple, fun, and definitely budget-friendly.

All you need are old white t-shirts and tie-dye kits, which are readily available in craft stores and online shops.

Full tutorial: How to Make a Classic Spiral Tie Dye Shirt

For our family tie-dye shirts, my initial plan was to buy individual fabric dye powders and squeeze bottles for every single color the kids wanted. But when I stood in the craft store aisle and realized how fast the cost of separate colors, fixatives, rubber bands, and plastic gloves adds up, I put them all back. Getting the pre-bundled kit instead gave us an entire rainbow of pre-measured colors for a fraction of the price:

3. Fairy Garden

First, come up with the concept of a fairy garden. Then, determine just how many clay pots you need, the type of plants you want to include in the garden, and the mini structure you like to put up.

Remember, making a fairy garden is easy enough once you’ve gathered all the materials you need. What you just have to do afterward is to put everything into place, as creatively as possible.

4. Foam Paint Art

You just need three ingredients to make your own foam paint: shaving cream, glue, and food coloring. Just put the foam paint in a piping bag and prepare old cardboard boxes to paint on.

Then your family can start creating some fun artwork. Once the art pieces are completed, set them aside to dry overnight.

When I first looked into doing the foam art project, I actually priced out buying commercial colored foam sprays and several cans of shaving cream, glue, and individual food colorings. I was genuinely shocked to find out that buying the separate commercial sprays and raw ingredients was surprisingly way more expensive and wasteful. I ended up getting this dedicated foam paint kit instead:

5. Mason Jar Lanterns

The basic materials used in making mason jar lanterns are pliers, old or unused mason jars, a 22 gauge wire, and tea candles. But of course, you need more than these if you want to add a more creative and personal touch to the lanterns.

Painting a boho pattern on the glass or placing pebbles or gravel in the jars are only two of the many, simple ways you could do to beautify your lanterns.

6. Lemonade Stand

Use large cardboard boxes, wooden crates, or old furniture to build a fancy, colorful lemonade stand. The structure does not have to be too complicated.

But make sure the stand is sturdy enough to hold pitchers of lemonade and of course, pretty enough to attract actual customers.

RELATED: Backyard Projects To Enjoy Time Outdoors This Summer

7. Plant Stands

From old wooden racks to slabs of concrete, there are many materials out there which you can use to make a plant stand. A simple wooden crate can become a decorative plant stand and all you need to do is spice things up by painting it with different colors or giving it a smooth, rustic finishing.

RELATED: 13 Creative DIY Pallet Planter Ideas For Your Garden

8. Indoor or Outdoor Teepee

With four wooden poles, an old blanket, a long rope, and fasteners, you would be able to build your own teepee. Make the nook even cozier by adding pillows and blankets inside and placing decorative lights around it.

To avoid making three separate back-and-forth trips to the hardware store for raw wooden poles, heavy-duty canvas, and the right nylon rope fasteners, I went with the all-in-one kit:

9. Painted Tires as Flower Pots

Gardening 101: When it comes to gardening, anything can be used as a pot! We love how this tire was painted and reused as a hanging planter for these beautiful flowers.

How have you gotten creative with your pots and planters? #greenwaybiotech #garden pic.twitter.com/YbyipYzOMZ

— Greenway Biotech (@greenwaybiotec) December 21, 2017

Instead of throwing old tires away, recycle them into unique flower pots. You don’t really need to do much, unless you want to shape the tire into, say, a teacup.

Just cover the tire with paint and you’ll have a decent, recycled flower pot.

10. Recycled Bird Feeder

#INOXEnvironment -4: Name any three scrap material that can be recycled. RT & answer to win this lovely Bird Feeder.. pic.twitter.com/trjCIziIU2

— INOX Leisure Ltd. (@INOXMovies) June 2, 2014

There are many ways to make your own bird feeder. You can reuse an old pie tin, drill three or four small holes near the edge, and loop a cord (or attach chains) on each hole.

Fill the pan with bird feed then use the cord or chain to hang the bird feeder from a tree branch.

11. Garden Hammock

This summertime, a hammock would be a cool addition to your garden. You can make your own hammock from paracords, old blankets, canvas, or ripstop nylon.

If you don’t have trees in your garden, you can also set up your own hammock stand.

12. Rope Tire Ottoman

Convert old, unused tires into rope-covered ottomans, or even coffee tables. What’s great about this fun project is you can definitely repurpose it in many ways.

You can use the tire ottoman as actual furniture or as a decorative piece in your home.

13. Kites

It’s a great time to fly kites since it’s summer! Plastic shopping bags, paper, and light fabric can be used to make a kite.

Wooden skewers, thin bamboo poles, and drinking straws, meanwhile, can be used to form the frame.

Check out more summer DIY projects in this video by Katie Betzing:

Everyone in the family must be involved in making these cool cheap DIY projects. To make things more interesting, do a contest—like whoever makes the prettiest plant stand gets to win a box of pizza or a day off from doing chores.

Maintain the good vibes, be open to ideas, and keep the process fun and simple.

QUICK POLL

Which summer DIY collection should we make next?

Do you have any experience in making summer DIY projects? Share your ideas by posting a comment below!