8 Fun and Fulfilling Summer Break Activities for High School Students

Summer break is a time to rest, relax, and reset. It's also the perfect time to engage in fun and fulfilling activities that are difficult to fit into a busy schedule of school-year courses and extracurriculars. 

Here are 8 summer break activities for high school students that will build knowledge and experience (and help you stand out in college admissions).

Work

Put your interests and strengths to work and earn some spending money at the same time! If you can, look for jobs that will help you develop skills and knowledge that are useful for you, given your unique strengths and goals for your future. 

For example, if you enjoy working with kids, then apply for jobs at summer camps or tutoring centers. If you enjoy animals or physical activity outside, ask your neighbors if they need a dog walker, or ask local farms if they need help in the barn or in the field. If you’re great at coding or web design, check with your local chamber of commerce to see if any small businesses are looking to upgrade their sites. 

A summer job that lines up with your interests, strengths, and goals will build useful knowledge and experience AND put money in your pocket in a fun and fulfilling way.

Explore

Interested in learning more about public health? Water challenges posed by climate change? Possible solutions to international conflicts? 

It’s hard to explore during the school year, but there are numerous ways to engage in topics of special interest during your summer downtime. You could:

• Enroll in an open online course with Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, or a similar platform (you can audit many courses for free!)

• Take a for-credit college course through a pre-college program for high school students

• Attend a summer program at a high school or college (either on a commuter basis locally or in a residential program further from home)

• Shadow a professional working in a job or career of interest

• Read, watch, or listen! (See below for suggestions)

For help finding online classes, try Class Central, where you can search by subject and filter by course type, level, duration, and language of instruction.

Help

Volunteer your time, skills, and knowledge to help others. Any community service is time well spent, but consider connecting your volunteer work to what you truly enjoy and what you are good at. 

For example, if you love being in nature and know a lot about native plants, then volunteer with your local parks or recreation department. If you're good with computers and coding, then volunteer to make or maintain a website for a community organization, or to teach free computer literacy courses at your local library. If you have a knack for connecting with the elderly, get involved at a nursing home, perhaps by visiting or assisting with activities for residents. 

In high school, we often talk about community service in terms of “hours.” Your school might require you to accrue a certain number of volunteer hours in order to graduate or to qualify for an honor society. Sometimes a number of hours is linked to community service awards or to scholarships. 

But in the real world of people and communities in need, service is about using our strengths to effect change and to improve the lives of community members. Service is not really about how many hours you volunteer; it’s about what you are doing to help others. 

So, identify some needs in your community. Assess ways in which you can help. Draft a plan to use your strengths and interests to make a positive impact on the people around you. Then, take action!

Reflect

If you don’t keep a journal already, consider starting one. In paragraphs, bullet points, or doodles – whatever comes naturally to you – record ideas like these:

• What went well during this past school year? Describe a few of your favorite or most memorable experiences. What would you do differently, or what do you hope to improve upon in the next school year? Describe a few notable challenges, including what you did in response to obstacles you faced and what was the outcome.

• Make a “bucket list” for the summer. What do you hope to do in the next few months? Write everything down and put a checkbox next to each item. (Consider pulling out your calendar and penciling in some of the experiences that will require advance planning). 

• During the summer, reflect on significant events or encounters. If you go on vacation, write about what you did, how you felt about it, and why or how it was meaningful. If you start a new job (or continue an old one), write about what you hope to learn or accomplish and what you are doing or have done to achieve those goals. If you attend a summer program, or take a class, or climb a mountain, or play for a travel baseball team, record key takeaways and memorable moments. 

The idea here is to be a thoughtful and engaged participant in your life experiences -- something we sometimes forget to do in our rush to get from one activity to the next. A journal can help you grow as you think through your struggles and accomplishments, your context and community, and help you start setting goals and taking the actions necessary to achieve them.

As a bonus, your journaling will yield a bank of memories and experiences to draw from when faced with college, job, or summer program application questions in the future.

Read

Fiction, biographies, newspapers, magazines, scientific journals…whatever you enjoy, read about it! This will help you keep your vocabulary and comprehension skills sharp for the next school year (and any standardized tests lurking around the corner). Reading will also help you learn more about topics of interest to you, or about current or historical events.

If reading is not your thing, try to read a little each day (remember, reading is a valuable skill and an expectation for college students!). Then, consider mixing it up with documentaries, podcasts, or other sources of credible information. 

Follow your interests, and keep it fun. If you’re not sure what to read (or watch or listen to), try asking your local public librarian, an AI application like ChatGPT, or a friend or family member. Tell them what you like or what you want to know more about, what kind of materials you’re looking for (books, movies, podcasts, articles), and ask if they have any recommendations. Enjoy!

Create

Draft short- or long-form fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, a research article, or something else. Start a blog. If you love to write, use your summer downtime to do it.

Not a writer? Start a podcast or YouTube channel. If you’re passionate about something, share it with others in a form that makes sense to you. Along the way, you may learn more about communication, technology, or even marketing – skills that will certainly help you later in college or in your future career.

You could also paint, draw, sculpt, photograph, or create in another medium, using your skills, experience, and unique artistic style. Especially if you’re considering art school, use the summer to get started on (or even finish) your portfolio. Or, create art just for fun!

Additionally (or alternatively), you could play or compose music. You could build or design something: a bookshelf, a robot that picks up dirty laundry, an energy-efficient treehouse, an ice hockey drill for improving stickhandling around defenders. 

The options are endless! Develop skills you already have, or learn new ones. Consider sharing your creation(s) with others.

Prepare

Whether you are a rising 9th or 12th grader or somewhere in between, you can use part of your summer break to get ready for what lies ahead in the fall.

Rising 9th and 10th graders:

• Complete summer reading and other assignments for fall classes

• Get familiar with upcoming course content using resources like Khan Academy

Rising 11th graders:

• All of the above, plus:

• Begin studying for the SAT or ACT: If you plan to test during the fall of 11th grade, consider a structured independent study plan or even a test prep course or tutor. If you plan to test in the spring of 11th grade, review sample questions for both the SAT and the ACT. Consider taking diagnostic tests for each to determine which exam is a better fit for you.

• Visit a few college campuses of different types to get a sense of what each is like and where you feel comfortable: for example, a small liberal arts college, a mid-sized private or public school, and a large public university. You can visit local campuses or coordinate your visits with your summer travel.

Rising 12th graders:

• Complete summer reading/assignments for school and familiarize yourself with upcoming course content using resources like Khan Academy

• If you are (re)taking the SAT or ACT in the fall of 12th grade, execute an independent study plan or complete a test prep course or tutoring.

• Finalize the list of colleges and universities to which you’ll apply. Visit any campuses you haven’t seen already.

• Complete as much of your college applications as you can before school starts. A rough timeline could look something like this:

  • June: Fill out basic application questions, such as those found in the main Common Application tab.

  • July: Draft, edit, and revise your Personal Essay.

  • August: Complete college-specific application questions. Draft, edit, and revise supplemental essays for individual colleges and universities.

(Wondering how this is "fun"? You might be surprised at how you enjoy learning, or even applying to college, when you're not faced with the immediate pressure of grades and the time crunch of your daily school-year grind. Also consider the fun that will come later...when you're well-prepared for and less stressed about school come mid-August or September!).

Play

Hang out with friends. Travel with family. Go fishing. Take apart small appliances (and then put them back together). Play your sport. Take a hike or a jog or a bike ride. Play a few video games. Do what makes you happy, brings you closer to your people, and gives you the mental and physical energy to engage in the more difficult tasks.

However you spend your summer, make sure you find a fulfilling balance of work and play that makes you the healthiest and most joyful version of yourself. This confident, grounded, and purpose-driven individual is the one that will stand out in college applications.

Looking for more ideas? Check out 13 Productive Winter Break Activities for High School Students, which includes school break suggestions for all times of the year.

Need more personalized guidance? Email me at hilltopcollegeconsulting@gmail.com, or schedule a free initial consultation here. I’m looking forward to speaking with you!