Fun 2025 Bucket List Ideas for Families

Whether you’re looking to explore new destinations, embrace creative hobbies, or strengthen your bonds through unique experiences, creating a family bucket list is a perfect way to make the most of the year ahead.  

The ideas on our 2025 family bucket list are perfect for families with one or more young children. However, you can easily adapt them for older children and teenagers too (top tip: give them special tasks and responsibilities to keep them engaged).

We challenge you to try every idea on this list before the end of this year!  

1. Picnic with a Twist

We challenge you to have a family picnic somewhere you have never had one before. Think outside the box – on a rainy day, laying a blanket on the floor indoors can put a fun twist on lunchtime or snack time!

This is also the perfect time to introduce a few new foods into the mix. The excitement and novelty of eating lunch in a different way might really encourage hesitant little ones to try something they haven’t eaten before.  

If your child is particularly anxious about unfamiliar foods, try serving some of their favourite foods in a different way. For example, if your little one likes chopped apple, give them the opportunity to try it steamed, pureed, cut into different shapes or raw and whole (if age-appropriate).  

‍

2. Borrow a Pet

Looking after a pet is a great way for kids to learn independence and enjoy having responsibilities.  

Ask a friend if you can ‘borrow’ their dog for a walk, visit a neighbour to meet their pet hamster, or take a trip to a pet shop and ask the owner about how to care for each animal.  

Your little one may also enjoy role-playing caring for a pet at home, especially if you don’t have any real pets of your own.  

‍

3. Make a Mini Garden

Create your own mini garden using a small planter or recycled food containers. Fill it with a small amount of soil, plant seeds and water.  

You can also use dry beans. You can plant them directly in the soil, but we love to place them inside a transparent food storage bag with a damp paper towel, then tape them to a window in a sunny spot. That way, kids get to see them sprout and push out little shoots – amazing!

Once they have sprouted, you can transfer them to your mini garden.

Another fun option is to buy a bag of mixed seeds (or mix several different kinds together yourself) and plant them. Be sure to leave enough space between each seed. You can talk to your child about the differences between them, e.g. ‘this one is tall’, ‘that plant has two leaves’.  

‍

4. Build a blanket fort

Most adults can remember the fun and excitement of building a blanket fort at home. In warmer weather, you can take this activity outdoors too!

To make a blanket fort, all you need are a handful of blankets and some creative use of furniture. Use clothes pegs to help secure the blankets in place. You can even decorate your blanket fort with some fairy lights or homemade decorations!

Of course, you’ll want to supervise this activity and ensure your little ones don’t try to move any heavy furniture, for example.  

Once your blanket fort is ready, it makes an awesome place to eat a snack, have a sensory break or read some books together.

We challenge you to see how long you can keep it up for too!

‍

5. Go berry picking

This is a must-do in late summer and early autumn if you’re based in the UK, as a patch of blackberry bushes is usually never too far away!

Wherever you are, you’ll want to do some research to find out where edible berries can safely be picked in your area.

You may want to explore the option of visiting a pick-your-own farm, or even growing your own fruits at home.  

Alternatively, perhaps a neighbour doesn’t mind you visiting their garden to harvest some of theirs.

Another seasonal twist on this is pumpkin picking in late autumn.  

‍

6. Fly a kite

Kite-flying is usually an activity for older children, but little ones will love getting involved too. You may need to take the lead until they are confident enough to get the kite airborne.

Flying a kite is also a great way to talk to your child about the weather. What kind of weather is it today? What do we like to do when it’s windy/rainy/sunny etc.?

Kites can often be purchased secondhand or borrowed from a friend. We recommend sticking with a classic shape that has plenty of colours. This will make it easier to launch and spot once in the air.

Wait for a windy day and steer clear of trees – you don’t want to spend your afternoon trying to get your kite back down again!

‍

7. Have a themed dress-up party

You don’t need an excuse to have a party with your children – any ordinary day will do! For this activity, it helps if you can build up a collection of dress-up items.  

These can be unused handbags, costume jewellery, scarves, hats, homemade masks and so on (of course, make sure these items are safe and age-appropriate for your family).

Some of our favourite themes are superhero, princess, under the sea, kings and queens, knights and dragons, jungle animals, on the farm and favourite jobs. Feel free to pick whatever your little one is interested in at the moment.  

Dress up, put on some fun music and have a boogie. You could even incorporate some themed snacks.

‍

8. Camping Adventure

Okay, we know camping is not everyone’s idea of a holiday. However, bear with us! Camping at home can be a hilarious way to fill a few hours on a rainy day.  

Simply set up a tent, either in your garden or inside your home. You may need to push some furniture out of the way but that’s part of the fun!

If you don’t have a real tent of your own, a kid’s play tent or even borrowing from a neighbour will work fine.  

You could also get creative with some camping-themed role play. Make pretend fire (colourful fabric or strips of paper work well), enjoy some smores or hot dogs and sing some campfire songs.  

We also love indoor camping as an unusual birthday party or sleepover for older children.

‍

9. Pebble painting  

This low-budget activity is great for getting kids outdoors and exploring in all kinds of weather. If you’re brave (and organised!) enough, you can bring paint and brushes with you.

You’ll need to head out for a walk somewhere where there are likely to plenty of pebbles for you to scavenge. A pebbled beach is ideal as the best stones for painting have large, flat surfaces.

We also like heading to the local park, where there are usually some larger stones we can use (though they sometimes need to be washed first).  

Painting pebbles is a good opportunity to develop fine motor skills and explore colour theory. Try providing only red, yellow and blue paint, and encourage your little one to see how many new colours they can make.  

You can also use this activity as a way to encourage early literacy. Challenge your child to write the first letter of their name, for example.  

‍

10. DIY obstacle course  

Making an obstacle course requires little preparation – just use what you have to hand! You can also easily tailor this activity to each child, setting extra challenges for older or more confident children.  

Some useful items to have to hand are hula hoops, bean bags, balls, skipping ropes, benches etc.  

Don’t be put off if you don’t have much sports equipment at home. Some of our children’s favourite obstacle courses have been ones that only used cushions, a kitchen step, and some far-too-big shoes (see how far you can walk in them!).  

Homemade obstacle courses are also a fun way to learn about time measurement and turn-taking. Whilst one child (or adult) is working their way through the challenges, another can time them using a sand timer or stop clock.  

‍

11. Make a DIY bird feeder

There are so many ways to make homemade bird feeders that we find our kids just never get tired of this one! Learning about nature, getting outdoors and creating something new – it ticks all the boxes.

Some of our favourite ways to make bird feeders are:

• Pine cone feeders: Coat a pine cone in peanut butter or lard and roll it in bird seeds. We recommend twisting wire onto it or adding a loop of string before covering it in the bird food. That way it is slightly less messy!
  

• Monkey nuts (peanuts in shells) on wire: Take a length of wire and push it through monkey nuts until you have a string of them. Make a loop at the end. Be careful of sharp edges on the wire.  
  

• Recycled feeders: Your everyday recycling can be great for making bird feeders. Yoghurt pots and other plastic containers can be washed and then used as moulds to create fat balls of lard mixed with seeds. Egg boxes work well too.  

‍

12. Create a chalk masterpiece  

Jumbo chalks are perfect for this activity, especially if your little one is still developing the fine motor skills and hand strength to use smaller chalks.  

Head outside and create the biggest drawing you can on the pavement or a patio. Make a rainbow, draw your family, a jungle filled with animals...whatever your child is interested in.  

Mixing crushed chalk with water to make chalk paint is another incredible twist on this classic activity. One of the best parts is that it is fairly low-mess. Once it rains, all that chalk will be washed away!

‍

13. Splash in Puddles

Yes, we promise this can actually be fun for all of you! It just requires a bit of preparation.  

On a very wet day, wrap up in your best waterproof layers and put on a reliable pair of boots. Find the biggest puddles you can and enjoy splashing. Your little one will love it if you join in too!

Plan to snuggle up with some hot chocolate or warm milk when you get home.

‍

14. Sensory scavenger hunt

We all know the basic concept of a scavenger hunt - make a list of items to find, and set about finding them as quickly as you can. But have you ever tried a sensory hunt?

A sensory scavenger hunt focuses on the senses, in particular what you can hear, feel and smell.  

You can do this activity both indoors and outdoors, and at any time of year. The best part is that each time you do it, your kids can make different discoveries.  

You can choose to focus on one sense or mix things up by searching for all the senses.

Something you smell: salty air, flowers, cut grass, baked bread etc.

Something you hear: birds singing, an airplane flying overhead, a police siren, a lawnmower, something crinkly, something crunchy, something quiet, something loud.  

Something you feel: Something soft, rough, scratchy, tickly, smooth, slippery, wet.  

So there you go! 14 bucket list activities to try in 2025.

Let us know how many you get through, and which ones your little one enjoys the most.  

‍