8 Summer Hobbies to Try If You’re Stuck Doing the Same Thing

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Summer is supposed to feel a little different. Longer days, nowhere to be, spontaneous plans that somehow turn into an entire afternoon.

And yet, somehow, we still end up lying in bed scrolling for three hours wondering what to do with ourselves.

If you want a hobby that gets you off your phone without making your life feel like a productivity challenge, these are eight actually fun summer hobbies to try.

They’re creative, a little nostalgic, and most importantly, they give you something to look forward to.

1. Get Ridiculously into Coloring

Remember when coloring was something you did as a kid, and now you can spend an unreasonable amount of money on markers and call it a hobby!

Adult coloring has had a serious comeback, especially with coloring books like the Teddi Browni coloring book going viral on TikTok or the cozy friends coloring book on Amazon. The cute, slightly nostalgic illustrations are basically impossible to scroll past without wanting to color something.

Pick up a coloring book you genuinely love, get yourself some good colored pencils or markers, put on a comfort show, and spend an hour filling in the pages.

2. Start a Junk Journal You’ll Actually Want to Keep

Junk journaling is basically scrapbooking’s cooler, less perfectionist sister.

Instead of buying a perfectly coordinated scrapbook kit and stressing over making every page Pinterest-worthy, you collect little pieces of your everyday life and turn them into something.

Receipts from a cute café, magazine cutouts, pretty packaging, old photographs, movie tickets, handwritten notes, pressed flowers, random stickers you forgot you owned.

The best part is that there are no rules.

Your pages can be messy, overly feminine, completely chaotic, minimalist, or covered in things that would make absolutely no sense to anyone else.

You can even give yourself a summer theme and document the little moments you don’t want to forget.

This is a hobby you want to start in your 20s so you can look back on your fond memories.

Think of it as making a physical version of your camera roll, except somehow more sentimental.

3. Turn Flowers Into Art

Before you walk past another pretty flower this summer, consider turning it into something you’ll actually keep.

Flower pressing is one of those hobbies that feels almost ridiculously simple, but the finished result can be surprisingly beautiful.

Press flowers from your garden, a bouquet that’s starting to wilt, or flowers you’ve collected on a walk, then use them to make framed art, bookmarks, greeting cards, journal pages, or little pieces of wall décor.

There’s also something very satisfying about preserving a tiny piece of summer instead of letting it disappear.

And you don’t need to be particularly artistic. The flowers are doing most of the work for you.

4. Go on a Color Walk

This is for anyone who wants an excuse to go outside but doesn’t want to call it “going for a walk.”

Everyone’s doing it on instagram.

Pick one color before you leave and see how many things you can find in that color during your walk. Maybe today is pink. Tomorrow it’s yellow. Next weekend, challenge yourself to find every shade of blue you can.

Take photos of everything that catches your eye and turn them into a little photo collection afterward.

It sounds simple because it is, but that’s kind of the point.

Suddenly you’re paying attention to flowers growing through cracks in the pavement, colorful doors, someone’s perfectly painted nails, a random vintage sign, or the sunset reflecting off a building.

It’s basically turning your neighborhood into a scavenger hunt. Think of this as a mindful exercise that allows you to slow down and pay attention to what’s going on around you.

5. Get Back on a Bike

There is something about riding a bike in summer that instantly makes you feel like you’re in a coming-of-age movie.

You don’t even need somewhere important to go.

Put on an outfit you feel good in, make a playlist, grab your sunglasses and just ride. Find a pretty route, stop somewhere for a drink, explore a part of your neighborhood you’ve never really noticed.

And if the last time you rode a bike was when you were twelve, even better.

This isn’t about tracking your distance or turning your summer hobby into another workout.

Ride because it’s fun. Ride because the weather is nice. Ride because sometimes you need to remember that you can leave your house without having a carefully planned itinerary. Use your free will!!!

6. Go Thrift Shopping With a Goal

Thrifting is significantly more fun when you’re not just wandering around hoping something magically catches your eye.

Give yourself a goal.

Maybe you’re looking for the perfect summer dress, a vintage bag, something for your apartment, the most ridiculous pair of sunglasses you can find, or an outfit inspired by a celebrity from the 2000s. You may even want to turn this into a DIY project.

You can even give yourself a tiny budget and see what you can find without going over it.

The thrill is in the hunt. You might walk in expecting to find absolutely nothing and leave with a gorgeous vintage piece you wouldn’t have found anywhere else.

Just don’t convince yourself that buying twelve random things because they’re “a good deal” counts as being financially responsible.

7. Start a Tiny Garden or Volunteer Somewhere Green

You don’t need a huge backyard or a perfect garden to get into growing things.

Start with a few herbs, flowers, or plants in pots and actually make caring for them part of your summer routine. There’s something strangely satisfying about checking on a plant you’ve been taking care of and realizing that it has grown since yesterday.

And if keeping plants alive is not exactly your area of expertise, volunteer instead.

Look for a community garden, environmental project, local farm, park cleanup, or another outdoor organization that needs volunteers.

You’ll still get the benefits of spending time outside and doing something with your hands, maybe some grounding too, without having to panic because your basil plant looks suspiciously unhappy.

8. Bedazzle Everything

Hear me out: rhinestones.

A plain phone case? Bedazzle it.

An old pair of sunglasses? Bedazzle them.

A boring mirror? You know what to do.

Bedazzling is the kind of summer hobby that makes absolutely no sense until you start doing it, and then suddenly you’re looking around your room wondering what else could use a little pizzazz.

You can decorate clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, picture frames, notebooks, makeup cases — basically anything that could survive a little glue and a concerning amount of rhinestones.

And unlike a lot of “creative hobbies,” there is no pressure for the final result to be sophisticated. The whole point is that it’s fun.

Summer is a pretty good excuse to have a little more fun..