
Who is ready for summer fun! We have rounded up 101+ summer things to do in Northeast Wisconsin including the Fox Valley, Oshkosh, Green Bay, Door County and more!
Click on the icons below for help with your Summer Bucket List Bingo!
Printable – Download Here!
Things to Do – Outdoor
- Archery
- Biking Trails for Kids
- Beaches
- Beach Inflatable
- Blueberry Picking
- Boats, Planes, Trains, Cars & More
- Bumper Cars & Boats
- Camping
- Car Shows
- Cave Tours – Maribel or Ledgeview
- County Fairs
- Family Pictures
- Farmers Markets
- Farms
- Fox Valley Rocks
- Feed Ducks
- Fireworks
- Fishing
- Fun Runs
- Gardens
- Geocache
- Horseback Riding
- Laser Tag
- Miracle League of the Fox Valley
- Mini Golf
- Music in the Park
- Nature Centers
- Outdoor Movies
- Parades
- Park Guide
- Petting Zoos
- Rummage Sales
- Slides
- Splash Pads
- Strawberry Picking
- Swimming Pools
- Take the Trolley
- Theaters
- Walking Trails for Families
- Waterfalls
- Water Ski Shows
- Yoga in the Park – FREE – Wednesdays at 6 pm
- Zoos
Things to Do – Indoor
- Archery
- Art & Craft Studios
- Bowling – Kid’s Bowl FREE
- Bumper Cars & Boats
- Children’s Clothing Stores
- Children’s Museums
- FREE Summer Movies
- Haircuts
- Home Depot FREE Kids Workshops
- Ice Skating
- Indoor Play Areas
- Libraries
- Manicures / Pedicures
- Movie Theaters
- Roller Skating
- Summer Reading Programs
- Swimming Indoors
- Toys, Games & Hobby Stores
TIP: Did you know you can get discount tickets to the Milwaukee Zoo, Six Flags, Wisconsin Dells and more? Fox Communities Credit Union and Community First offer discounted tickets as well as many Park & Rec Departments.
Places to Go – Fox Valley
- 1000 Islands Environmental Center
- Apple Creek YMCA – Explore Nature
- Appleton Public Library
- Appleton YMCA – Splash Pad & Treehouse
- Badger Sports Park
- Barlow Planetarium
- Building for Kids
- Butterfly Garden of Wisconsin
- Charles A. Grignon Mansion
- Crazy Sweet
- Funset Boulevard
- Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve
- Heart of the Valley YMCA – Gymnastics Center
- Heckrodt Nature Preserve
- High Cliff State Park
- History Museum at the Castle
- Menasha Public Library
- Neenah Public Library
- Paper Discovery Center
- Plamann Park Children’s Farm
- Pony Playce
- The Fire
- The Trout Museum of Art
- Trestle Trail
- Weis Earth Science Museum
- Wisconsin Museum of International Wildlife
- Wisconsin International Raceway
- Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
TIP: Find tips for your visit to an art museum here.
Places to Go – Around Green Bay
- Bay Beach Amusement Park
- Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
- Green Bay Botanical Gardens – FREE admission on Wednesdays for ALL from 4 – 8 pm
- Green Bay Children’s Museum
- Heritage Hill State Historical Park
- Lambeau Field Stadium Tours & Packers Hall of Fame
- National Railroad Museum
- Neville Public Museum
- Titletown District
Places to Go – Around Oshkosh
- Ardy & Ed’s
- Caramel Crisp Cafe
- EAA Air Venture Museum
- Fire Escape
- Leon’s
- Menominee Park
- Oshkosh Public Museum
- Oshkosh YMCA
- Pollock Pool
- South Park
- Terrel’s Island
Our Favorite Parks
- Fritsch Park, Menasha
- Fritse Park, Neenah
- Memorial Park, Appleton
- Menominee Park, Oshkosh
- Riverside Park, Neenah
- Pamperin Park, Green Bay
- South Park, Oshkosh
- Titletown District, Green Bay
- Wanick Choute Park, Sherwood
TIP: Check out our Park Series here!
Other Places to Go – Worth the Drive
- Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, Milwaukee
- Bookworm Gardens, Sheboygen
- Chilton Morrissey Park, Chilton
- Devil’s Lake, Baraboo
- Discovery World, Milwaukee
- Lakeside Park, Fond du Lac
- Madison Children’s Museum, Madison
- Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee
- Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee
- Mulberry Lane Farms, Sherwood
- North Beach, Racine
TIP: Find things to do for kids on the Autism Spectum here.
Not to Miss Events
- Hot Air Balloons
- Kite Festivals
- Summer Camps
- Summer Festivals
- Vacation Bible School
- June 1-30, 2018:Â Breakfast on the Farm
- June 8, 2018: Brillion Optimist Club Electric Parade
- June 13 – 17, 2018: Thomas the Train at the National Railroad Museum
- June 16, 2018: Butterfly FestivalÂ
- June 25, 2018: Kid’s Day – Green Bay
- June 30, 2018: Fly a Kite Festival, Green Bay
- July 22 – 28, 2018: Children’s Week – Appleton
- July 25, 2018: Building for Kids Children’s Parade
- August 2 – 12, 2018: Wisconsin State Fair
- August 4, 2018:Â Packers Family Night
TIP: Check out our calendar for lots of fun events here!
Food to Eat
- Ice Cream
- Drive In & Diners
- State Fair Food
- FREE (and Cheap) Restaurant Guide
- Date Nights
- FREE Breakfast & Lunch for Kids
Day Trips / Weekend Getaways
What’s on your Summer Bucket List? We would love to hear what you are up to!
Touch a truck in Oshkosh is actually august 8th. July 19th was the 2014 date. Love your list!
Thanks for catching that and letting me know! All fixed.
Something that may be of interest – Every year, the 3rd Saturday in July (this year it’s July 18th) is Wisconsin Aquaculture Day. Aquaculture is “Fish Farming”….numerous Fish Farms around the state offer tours & information, fee fishing & other activities that are open to the public & something interesting to both children & adults. We own a Trout Farm in New London – Wilderness Springs & are open May thru September on Saturdays & Sundays from 9am-4pm for fee fishing of Rainbow Trout. You do not need a fishing license, trout stamp or limit of fish you can catch. We supply simple cane poles & bait at no cost. You pay for the fish you catch by the pound & we will also clean your fish, bag & ice them. For a list of places that are open for Aquaculture Day you can go to http://www.wisconsinaquaculture.com under Events for a complete listing.
Thanks Kathy!
Kid’s Day at Plamann Park on June 11 is another great event! Kids 5k trail run in the morning and lots kids activities all day. Best part, everything but 5k is free! http://www.outagamie.org/index.aspx?page=1478
Kites over Lake Michigan takes place over Labor Day weekend at Natosha Beach in Two Rivers.
Playing outside and enjoying different events 🙂
Bay beach is a hit for us. Appleton’s Children’s Week was really fun for the kids as well.
Trying to enjoy summer with our 9 year old after a very expensive ivf cycle….finding many low price free options in the valley we never new were here!!! Last summer as a family of 3 trying to make it a fun one!
We are enjoying our summer with camp outings, swims at the Meade pool and playing at parks! We especially enjoy Memorial Park in Appleton! We would love to win one extra fun for this summer 🙂
Enjoyed checking out all the great parks in the Fox Valley area this summer!
We did Thomas, Touch a Truck, splash pads , first haircuts and Bay beach
We enjoyed our summer by staying local going to Bookworm Gardens, Green Bay Packers Family Night, West of the Lake Botanical Gardens Manitowoc, Neshoto Beach Two Rivers, Green Bay Botanical Gardens, Bay Beach, Camping in the backyard and a mini vacation to Guernee Mills Six Flags and Rockhounding vacation to Minnesota.
We have been enjoying our summer by heading to new parks in Door County, swimming at the Kaukauna Pool, having lots of fires complete with S’Mores and of course the family trip to Bay Beach!
We have had a great summer! Some highlights: Great America, Packers Family Night and the State Fair. ?
My daughter and I have been having a blast swimming and going to badger sports park!
Cookout at Plamann Park on the 4th of July!
Went to The Millwakee Zoo with the Family!
Went Bay Beach/ Bay Beach wild life
Went to South Rico’s in Kimberly for Ice Cream!
Breakfast on the Farm!
The Mulberry Farm with family&Friends on Mother’s Day!
went Swimming and played the Gymnastics area at Heart Of The Valley YMCA!
Went to Paper Fest with my daughter’s had a blast with the sawdust coin finding!
Went to the Splash Pad in Sherwood for the first time! The kids had a blast!
Had a early Bithday party for my youngest daughter at High Cliff State Park!
Went to Art At The Park! ( City Park in Appleton)
Went to Family Fun Fest at Little chute Doyle Park/swimming in the pool!
Elks club drug free life ! Free swimming at Kaukauna Pool!
Home Depot free kids workshops!
Played at the school park’s!
Went to Cheese Fest !
Camping and spending time with my kids.
We are enjoying summer by exploring the valley. We just moved up here a month ago and have found Sunset Beach, Doyle Park, and Little Chute Library. We are looking forward to trying many other ideas on the list.
Our family has had an amazing summer!! Most of our summer has been spent at the beach in Freemont – an amazing place to swim and hang out for the day at! We would love to finish it up by visit a few local places!
Lots of swimming, playing tennis, backyard kickball, nightly walks, etc… Still plan on bay beach, and bookworm gardens! Oh and farmers market;)
We’ve had an unusually busy summer but have done lots of swimming, ice cream eating, and park visiting. We’re planning to squeeze a trip to Bay Beach into this month.
We’ve enjoyed our summer by going to the pool mostly! Outdoor movies, bay beach, NEW zoo. Would love to do a few more things with the kids before school starts!
We’ve enjoyed our summer by going to the pool mostly! Outdoor movies, bay beach, NEW zoo. Would love to do a few more things with the kids before school starts!
We’ve enjoyed summer by visiting family in Canada, having backyard fire pits and lots of time outside riding bikes, scooters and trampoline jumping!
Our family enjoyed this list,if you ask my kids they will tell you that they had a awesome summer,I check go valley kids everyday for such awesome ideas to do with the kids,I love seeing the smiles on their face,we spent a lot of time at pollock pool in Oshkosh it’s our favorite place to go with the warm temperatures this summer. The bucket list is almost complete were planning on going to the Milwaukee zoo yet and one more trip to bay beach,thank you for such great ideas summer of 2016 was a blast thanks to go valley kids
We have been to Bay Beach, camping, and lots of other things. Still want to go to the beach in 2 Rivers yet.
We’ve been to Little Amerrika, Wisconsin Dells, and Neshotah beach. We try to do day activities. Hard to plan things sometimes when your husband is a police officer..days off aren’t always days off. 🙂
We’ve been doing lots of swimming, library reading program, parks, camping, Bay Beach, timber rattler game, picnics, and every other fun thing we can fit in! Great list above, Go Valley Kids!
Going to the parks, and buboltz nature place, bay beach, splash pad. Haven’t made it to a baseball game yet though
We are currently crossing the last few things off of our bucket list – the Milwaukee County Zoo, State Fair and Bookworm Gardens!
Still need to just do the wildlife sanctuary, Brown Co fair and Resch aquatic center!
LOVED this summer with my two kids!
We went to Mulberry Farm for the first time and loved it! Timber Rattler game and Bay Beach were other highlights. We still have lots to do in our last few weeks.
We’ve been getting in several camping trips, visiting the library, ice cream stops, Bay Beach, planning for the fair now.
Picking blue berries, parks, fun run, and bay beach were are favorites so far.
We went to Deyoung zoo, new zoo, pools, beach, outagamie county fair, splash pad, EAA, library events, strawberry picking
Brewer game, timber tattler game, a trip to the mall of America, and kayaking when the weather permits. #lovesummer
We took the kids to the national parks in Utah. It would be nice to do some things in the local area. Thank you sooooo much for doing this!
We’re learning how to play outside with balls and crusing around on everything. And this weekend we’re going swimming! (First time for my little man)
Summer is winding down, and we are just starting on our bucket list! Finally went camping, went to a trats game, and bay beach. Also went to two rivers/manitowoc for a beach day because of your post about it. We loved it! The zoo, bookworm gardens and building for kids is left.
Our family has enjoyed swimming at many different pools in the area, hiking at 1000 Island, Bay Beach, Chickenfest, camping in Canada and Door county, farmers markets, library reading program, strawberry picking, and several trips to Mulberry Lane.
Too many fun things to remember…we’ve enjoyed a lot this summer including Bay Beach, Swimming at the MANY pools and lakes in our area, Noahs Ark, Great America, Splash Pad in Sherwood, Winnebago Cty Fair….
Field of scenes one of our last check offs on our bucket list! It has been an ama I got summer!
So far we have enjoyed our summer by vacationing in Door County, swimming at Sunset and Pollock Pools, hunting for Pokemon at many different parks, and Mike of Music. We would love to try to squeeze in a few more adventures before summer is over!
We did a lot this Summer and still have more on the calendar this month!
We went strawberry picking, visited several parks (made it to 13/15 on our list), spent several afternoons at the beach, library, and lots of days enjoying our backyard and pool!
Your website is such a great resource for families! Recently we went to the Tall Ships Festival and a T Rat game. Lots of fun days trips throughout the summer. Great America was a blast too!
we haven’t gone to Badgers Sports Park yet!!!!
Finishing my summer with a Brewer game and golfing…It goes by way too fast!!! My kids get to go up North and enjoy nature with the grandparents.
This summer we have gone hiking at many parks, enjoyed fresh produce at the Farmers Market, gone swimming at Sunset beach and in Two Harbors, planted a garden, and spent some Fridays at the Timber Rattled games!!! We love Appleton!!!!
Looks like fun would love to win
We have been enjoying all the things our great city of Neenah has to offer. We LOVE the out to lunch concert series, the great concerts at Riverside Park, and especially all the awesome activities our Neenah library has to offer!!
We’ve been enjoying our summer by attending some local events like Touch a Truck and A Day Out With Thomas, but also by relaxing and going to the beach (Elkhart Lake) and camping in Peninsula State Park – we got there twice this year!
My daughters and I have picked strawberries out at Cuff farms, so yummy, wandered around the Farmers market, tasted our way through the Food Truck Rally, cooled off at the splash pad in South Park, took advantage of kids bowl free and even relaxed in the new dreamlounger seats at the movie theater one hot summer evening!
Enjoying parks, splash pads and pools! Having friends over is always a treat too ??
Have been enjoying “Big Cow” ice cream in Manitowoc & beach in Two Rivers
We spend a lot of time outside playing in the water, going to a few baseball games, traveling to the Shedd aquarium and Milwaukee zoo. Mostly we have had so much fun just being together and making new memories
We have done a lot of camping, swimming, trips to family in Illinios, childrens museum and much more! Would love to win
Spending time outdoors and being active this summer!
We got pool passes for the first time for Neenah Pool, so we have spent lots of time at the pool. A great way to cool off and spend time together as a family. 🙂
Every summer I have tried to get the kids out and about, away from the tv and ipads! But this year has been a struggle being pregnant. All i want to do is relax and stay in for AC but i know thats not good! This summer i have waddled and hobbbled through many kids events that i can thank Go valley kids for informing me. Gotta love facebook! So far, we’ve gone to WI dells, camping, Wi state fair, along with some nearby county fairs. We go to the city pools and the Y as well.
Had a blast at the Thomas the Train Your in June! Planning to cross of several more things still in August. Special Memories Zoo in Greenville and Milwaukee County Zoo were a couple of other highlights. Fireworks at Catfish Extravaganza Family night was a first and well worth it!