72 Ways to Play the Summer Away in Columbus

Sweet Summertime is here, so here are 70 ideas keep your summer days full of adventure!

Go Creeking!

Friendship Park – Gahanna
Highbanks Metro Park
Pine Quarry Park – Reynoldsburg
Scioto Grove Metro Park
Shale Hollow Park – Preservation Parks Delaware
Slate Run Metro Park

Check out a local Splash Pad.

Sp at the Hunt for Big Bugs at the Dawes Arboretum. The Dawes Arboretum is a nonprofit arboretum located in Newark, Ohio. It includes nearly 2,000 acres of plant collections, gardens and natural areas. For the first time, The Dawes Arboretum will be home to David Rogers’ “Big Bugs” traveling art exhibit beginning Memorial Day Weekend. The giant insect sculptures measure as big as 25 feet long, 20 feet wide, 10 feet tall and up to 1200 pounds and will be be spread out across grounds. This traveling exhibit will be included in admission to The Arboretum.

Sign Up for a Summer Reading Program. According to the School Library Journal, “Based on the findings of a recent three-year study by Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, we can confirm what many librarians have long suspected: students who take part in their local library’s summer reading program significantly improve their reading skills. In fact, we found that kids who participate in these programs are 52 Lexile points ahead of their peers who do not. Summer reading programs are also an antidote for learning loss. So instead of losing knowledge and skills during the summer months, kids who attend reading programs actually show gains.”

Spend the day at Alum Creek State Park Beach, the largest inland beach in Ohio’s state park system.

Bring your family to the Columbus Museum of Art all summer long to explore, imagine, and discover new adventures together.

Sign up for Kids Bowl Free. More than 1,500 bowling centers around the globe provide 2 FREE Games of bowling each day to kids during the Spring and Summer. This program is designed by bowling centers to give back to the community and provide a safe, secure, and fun way for kids to spend time this summer.

Catch a Columbus Clippers Game at Huntington Park

Unleash your inner art explorer with Dublin’s Art in Public Places Pass. Follow a cool tour of 12 must-see art installations, listen to artist secrets, and score sweet stickers by local artist Bryan Moss! Explore Dublin’s parks, rack up points, and redeem your stickers by November 30th.

Experience a soccer match with the Columbus Crew.

Attend an Event at the Columbus Commons.

Free carousel rides, open daily from 11 am to 7 pm.
Free movie nights presented by Molina Healthcare. Featured movies include: Encanto on May 24th, The Secret Lives of Pets on June 21st, Ratatouille on July 12th, and Coco on September 7th. For the June 21st and July 12th free movies, gates will open at 8 p.m. following a ticketed Columbus Symphony Orchestra Popcorn Pops performance. If you arrive prior to 8 p.m., you will not be permitted into the park until the previous ticketed event is finished.
Free Commons for Kids presented by Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Friday mornings from June 7th to August 9th from 10 am to 1 pm, the Columbus Commons is set up with games, inflatables, face painting, and free carousel rides. Check out the Commons for Kids page for a full list of themes, activities, and vendors for each date.

Paddle Gahanna! Kayak and paddle boat rentals are back this summer in Gahanna. Reservations are available, so secure your paddle boat or kayak rental at Creekside Park and kayak rental at Friendship Park today by visiting PaddleGahanna.com.

Spend a magical afternoon walking The Fairy Trail at Infirmary Mound Park and see if you can find the fairy homes and fairy businesses along the wildflower trail. You can find signs to the trail by starting to walk around the north side of Mirror Lake from the Shelter 6 parking lot.

Support Local Farmers at a Farmers Market. A trip to the local farmers market is a multi-sensorial experience, which can further result in increasing your child’s language development, and Central Ohio has some of the best Farmers Markets around. Check out this list and make a plan to visit a Farmers Market this season to pick up some local treats.

Spend the Day at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Explore the Children’s Garden at the Franklin Park Conservatory

Summer Letterbox Adventure is back with Preservation Parks. A letterbox adventure is another form of geocaching and scavenger hunting using clues instead of coordinates. Once you find the hidden letterbox , there’s a small activity to show you’ve found it and a notebook to leave a message for the next person who finds it. Pick up your booklet at the Wornstaff Memorial Public Library, Sunbury Community Library, or any of the Delaware County District Library, or register online at preservationparks.recdesk.com.

Take a Walk on a Story Trail.Story Trails have been popping up in local parks all over Columbus and we are here for it. These Story Trails are an educational activity that places pages of a children’s story along a popular walking route in your community in order to create a fun and engaging way to experience literacy in the wild.

Explore the North Market. There are now two locations to choose from – the one downtown and the one at Bridge Park in Dublin.

Find some treats at the new East Market. This new market is located in the Franklin Park Neighborhood on the Near-East side and features a variety of vendors offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with other goodies.

Stay Cool at COSI.

Enjoy an afternoon exploring the Topiary Garden found in the Old Deaf School Park which is tucked behind the Main Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library in downtown Columbus. The topiaries in this park are designed to replicate a one-of-a-kind artistic recreation of a world-renowned painting.

Stop and smell the Roses at the Park of Roses. The peak viewing time for the rose beds is around mid June and again in mid September. There are more than 11,000 rose bushes in the garden and over 350 different varieties of roses.

Discover the Irish Fairy Door Trail in Dublin, Ohio. Grab a passport and follow the path on the trail guide through Historic Dublin and Bridge Park to 11 businesses and find each resident fairy. Record the name of each fairy, fill in your passport and return your completed passport to the Dublin Visitor & Information Center (9 S. High St.) for a FREE Fairy Door t-shirt.

Visit The Olentangy Caverns. Take a tour of the Caverns, which are a series of caves, natural passages and rooms occupying three different levels. Or, explore the property where you will find a petting zoo, minigolf course, treasure maze, and mock gem mine, and a playground.

Visit the Stratford Ecological Center. The center features a demonstration farm and nature preserve offering hands-on outdoor experiences for all ages. Discover farm animals, organic gardens, maple sugar, and nature trails. Enjoy an educational excursion, birdwatching, gardening, or picking your own farm produce.

Pick flowers at Blossoms at the Bend. Blossoms at the Bend is a u-pick flower farm where you can make your own bouquet for $3.00. They are open from dawn to dusk May through September.