Summer – oh what a toasty season! I adore summer as it brings wonderful weather that allows us to spend time outside which is key or our wellness and mental health. Summer is a great time to engage in wellness activities for adults, as it is typically a time we take some time away from our offices and jobs to just relax and restore our batteries. For myself, summer is a double-edged sword as the humidity is horrible for my health, however, I enjoy being outside on less humid days.
Last summer with it being early in the Covid-19 pandemic wasn’t a typical summer. Parks and attractions were all closed, and the cautionary note was to do things with your household only. This curbed a lot of typical summer activities that help promote wellness. This year, with things being more open and a good portion of the population vaccinated these attractions and activities are beginning to resume.
This summer I’m taking time to really focus on my wellness while engaging in summer activities. Below I’ve listed some ideas I’ve jotted down for myself and hopefully, it’ll help spark an idea or two for you as well. I’d love to hear from you what your favourite summer wellness activities are – let me know in the comments below!
Summer Crafts
Crafts aren’t just for kids! Crafting is a great way to engage in wellness activities for adults while having fun. Crafting provides time for your mind to focus on simple tasks, which helps promote a reduction in stress. Repetitive tasks are good at helping to promote a sense of calm and crafting typically involves repeating different tasks. Crafting with friends helps to engage in stress-free social interaction which helps promote a sense of wellness. Don’t forget, using your fine motor skills helps your joints as you age. For myself, I love to put on some music, and just get lost in a craft for an afternoon that is bad weather.
Host a BBQ
Gather up a couple of friends and host a BBQ in your space or at a local park! You can either do a potluck style where you can have a lot of different foods to share, or you can host it and provide all the items. Either way, having a BBQ is a great way to promote wellness as it promotes socialization which helps to lower isolation and sadness, and stress within your system. Hanging out with friends and sharing a laugh produces endorphins that release stress from your system.
Invite some friends over, decorate the space, and let the good times begin! Here are some summer cleaning tips!
Visit a Local Zoo/Museum
With more and more opening this is a great time to engage spending a day learning! Take a couple minutes and quickly google what zoos and museums are near you and interest you. Visiting local attractions helps you learn and engage in meaningful dialogue and discussions. If you are able to attend a local zoo seeing and interacting with animals helps to reduce stress levels in the body and promote a sense of calm.
Beach Day
I did this just a couple of weekends ago with a friend and it was so lovely! Plan out a beach day, and take some time to find a local beach or one you’d like to go to. Pack all your essentials (below for ideas) and invite some friends or have an alone beach day with a book!
Spending time in the sun helps to promote Vitamin D in our system, as well as elevates and increases your mood. Interacting and engaging with the water either by going for a swim or walking in the water helps promote a sense of calm as water is a relaxing sensation for our systems.
Gardening
Te bulk of planting and planning for your garden comes in the spring, the summer is still a time when you maintain your garden. Gardening engages in repetitive activities which were mentioned above helps promote a sense of calm and reduces stress.
Spending some time tending to your garden is an exercise for your body as it helps build strength. Gardening helps to build strength, promotes sleep, provides Vit D exposure, and has mood-boosting benefits. Gardening is a great wellness activity to either do alone or with a loved one or roommate.
Learn a new Recipe
Although we tend to spend less time in the kitchen in the summer (the hot oven is a good deterrent!) experimenting with different recipes is a great activity to promote wellness. It promotes creativity, relieves stress, engages your mind in learning, and provides a sense of accomplishment when complete. Who could forget the yummy food/treat you get once it’s done?!
For myself, I like spending time in the summer learning new drink recipes such as different versions of iced tea, fruit mocktails, and more!
Read a Book
Reading isn’t for everyone, I know! But honestly, reading a good book in the shade of a tree as a warm summer breeze blows through is great. Reading helps slow your heart rate, as well as reduce muscle tension which leads to a reduction in stress. It also helps keep your brain in shape and slows cognitive decline. Reading helps us learn new words, as well as can help promote a more restful sleep by relaxing our minds and body.
You can buy a book from a local bookstore, go to the public library, and rent one or look for online eBooks to download to a phone or tablet.
Fly a Kite
It’s likely when you read that title that you might not be able to remember the last time you flew a kite. Flying a kite is a very soothing activity as it provides space for our minds to focus on one activity. Flying a kite also helps with fine motor skills, Vit D exposure, and repetitive task stress reduction.
So, go online and get yourself a kite (or use one you already have!) and find yourself a big park where you can fly it! A couple of years ago I did it, and it’s significantly harder than I remembered but once I got the hang of it, I was hooked for hours of laughing and enjoying watching my kite dance and come crashing down. Make sure you have a good pair of sunglasses as you’ll be staring up a lot near the sun!
Attend a Local Festival
Lots of local townships, cities, and counties have festivals that either come through town or are local traditions! Summer is a great time to scope out what is around and see what interests you! Attending local festivals helps you engage with others; socialization helps to reduce stress and encourages endorphins to boost your mood. Most festivals also take place outside which encourages Vit D absorption and provides you with a light cardio walk around the attractions.
Looking for cute summer date ideas – check out this list!
Learn a New Skill
Learning a new skill is a great wellness activity for adults! Learning new skills helps improve your brain health as well as your memory. Engaging in a new skill helps promote self-confidence, which boosts your mood and makes you feel great about yourself! One of the best feelings is that sense of accomplishment that comes after learning something new!
Not sure what new skill to learn? Check out this list below!
- Surfing
- Gardening
- Sign Language
- Calligraphy
- Crochet/Knitting
- Painting
- Basic First Aid/Emergency First Aid/Mental Health First Aid
- Candle Making
- Learn a new Language
- Baking/Cooking
- Musical Instrument
- Coding
- Basic Home/Car Repairs
- Photography
- Start a blog with these summer blog ideas!
Walk & Picnic in Local Parks/Downtown
Last but certainly not least, make a day in your local area! The summer is a great time to go exploring (on foot) and have a nice picnic at a local park. One of my favourite activities for years has been walking around downtown and checking out all the local shops. Last year, unfortunately, that wasn’t an option as shops were closed but I’m excited this year to go exploring! Taking time to be with nature is so good for your wellness, it helps reduce anger, fear, and stress. Being in nature helps you feel more emotionally balanced and more at peace and boosts your mood. It helps reduce blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension. So, what are you waiting for get outside and explore! Make sure you pack some essentials for the day.
I hope you’re as excited about summer as I am! What are some of your favourite summer wellness activities for adults?
Talk Soon!
Some lovely suggestions here. Although it certainly doesn’t look like Summer from my window! It can be so tempting to just laze around in the garden in the Summer, can’t it? I’m definitely trying to do more and be more active this Summer! I think it’s going well so far; I’ve been to some race events, gone for more walks and cooked a lot more as well!
I love that you’ve included so many great suggestions. BBQs and picnics are something I always look forward to every summer.
Great suggestions Alex! I love summer. One of my favourite things to do when it’s nice out, is to grab my camera and go for a hike along the nature trails. Thanks for giving me some more ideas for how to spend my summer days!
What a great list! I definitely want to host a BBQ this summer, I’m always attending but never throw them myself. Can’t wait!
I love this post! So many fun activities, especially having a bbq xx
These are fantastic ideas and I’m going to bookmark this so that I can work my way through your suggestions. I tend to go through times where I don’t prioritize my overall wellness so this has been a perfect reminder to get back on it. Thanks!
There are fabulous activities Alex. My favourites from this list are host a BBQ, visit a Local Zoo/Museum, Beach Day, Gardening, Learn a new Recipe. It’s been so long since I did any of these. I need to get back on track lol. Thank you for sharing.
I love this post. I want to spend as much time outside in the Summer. We went to a beautiful ornamental garden today. It was so nice to be outside and taking our time walking around. I adore zoos and farms too as we love animals! The idea of kite flying is so sweet and nostalgic! Also exercising outside is lovely. I want to do yoga in my garden when the weather is good
Great ideas! I love visiting zoos, we’re going to one in a couple of weeks! So exciting 🙂
Corinne x
These are all such great summer ideas! Thanks for sharing these!
There’s so many great ideas in this post! I really have been wanting to try calligraphy, so maybe I should do that this month! xx
I love going to the zoo. Even though I am an adult I love seeing the animals. It’s such a wonderful play to visit
I’m jealous, we’ve had a mini heatwave this week so I wish it was a tad cooler! Yes, definitely hot weather can encourage having a lounge in the garden – it sounds like you’ve had some awesome activities and events so far! Race Events sound like so much fun – Happy Summer!
Thanks – I hope this summer you get to have lots of BBQ’s and Picnics with friends & loved ones!
Thanks Tiffany! That sounds so lovely to spend a day hiking and taking some picture – hope you get the chance to get out on the trails this summer!
Thanks – you go girl, host your first bbq! They’re so much fun to put together – I love organizing so events like that speak to me!
Thanks – hope you can have/attend a bbq or two this summer Della!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the post. Taking time to recharge in the summer is so important so I’m glad your using this as a reminder to infuse some wellness activities – happy summer!
Thanks Ruth – I hope you have a chance this summer to do all of those! Visiting local zoos/museums I missed so much last year I’m eager to get back to exploring them as things open! Happy Summer.
Thanks Emma – oh that sounds so lovely to walk about in the garden! Yoga in your garden sounds so relaxing – I hope you get to do everything you’d like outside this summer. Definitely encourage flying a kite, it brings on so much laughter and joy it’s wonderful for the soul.
Thanks – hope you and Leo enjoy the Zoo!
Thanks – I hope you have a wonderful summer!
Thanks – this is a great time to give it a try! Best of luck – happy summer!
YES – going to the zoo as an adult is just as much fun. I hope you have a wonderful time if you get to visit a zoo this summer!
Cool ideas. While it doesn’t look too summery from where I sit (Japan). I’ll definitely be getting in a beach day or 2! I love the crafts idea…my creative friends and I will get a kick out of that and I’ll spend some time developing the skills I’ve been learning during the pandemic.
I really like your activity suggestions. After being deprived of so many things last summer, we can now make up for it and spend a lot more time outside. One thing I will definitely be doing is reading. I’ve been wanting to get back into it for a long time and I think it’s the right time now. Great post!
Lake days and swimming is my ultimate summer wellness activity! Since summer is only for 2 months, I try and swim as much as I can in fresh water! Farmers markets and buying fresh produce is also my fav! Thanks for sharing, Alex x
Lynn | https://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
I love all these ideas! Beach days, reading, and gardening are among my favourites. Although I don’t have a beach near me, you’ve reminded me to get out more often and enjoy the summer!
Lots of great ideas! I love BBQs and trips to the seaside. Nothing better than warm sand between your toes and the sound of the waves
Awesome to hear – I hope the sun comes out soon and you get to enjoy your beach day! Crafts are so much fun, and a great way to really destress (and make something pretty). Thanks for reading – happy summer!
Thanks – yes it’s wonderful that we get to enjoy this summer compared to last! I hope you can find a good book or two to enjoy!
I hope you have lots of lake days ahead, I know BC was in a mini heat wave recently so I’m hoping the water helped keep you cool! Farmers Markets are lovely, I love getting my weekly fresh produce locally as well 🙂
Fantastic, I’m glad this post help motivate you to do some of your favourites this summer! I hope you can find a beach and maybe take a day trip to get there? Happy Summer!
Thanks – that’s a wonderful feeling! I hope you get to have lots of BBQ’s and beach days this summer!
Great summer activities. I used to fly a kite a lot as a kid, made from a plastic bag and stick haha.
Thanks – I’m glad you’ve enjoyed this list and flying a kite is so nostalgic to those days as a kid! Doing it as an adult it brought me so much unexpected joy I highly recommend it.
So many amazing suggestions for summer wellness activities. I love reading books in the sun and enjoying a BBQ with my friends and family. Thank you for sharing these amazing summer activities.
Reading in the sun is heavenly – I love sitting in the shade of a tree and just enjoying a book for an afternoon! BBQ’s are also awesome now that we’re able to interact with each other again – Happy Summer!