Best Summer Gifts for Grandkids (Keep Them Off Screens)

Summer is long.

Long enough that if you hand a grandchild a great gift in mid-June, they’ll still be using it in August. Short enough that if you give the wrong thing — a screen-based gift, a fragile plastic toy, something needing adult setup — it’ll be abandoned by the 4th of July.

Here’s how grandparents can nail the summer gift.

What makes a good summer gift

Three qualities show up in the summer gifts kids actually use:

Portable and durable. Summer means travel, porches, cabins, beaches, camps, backyards. A gift that can handle being dropped in sand or thrown in a beach bag wins.

Screen-free. Summer is when parents most want their kids off screens. A gift that competes with a tablet — and wins — is the best kind of summer gift.

Open-ended for long use. Summer has afternoons where kids need to fill 4-hour stretches. Open-ended toys (Spikeball, good books, bug catchers, art supplies) win over single-purpose ones.

The outdoor picks

Gifts that get grandkids moving outside.

Spikeball Original Set ($45-80). The backyard game every 10+ kid wants. Plays in a backyard, on a beach, at a park. Active, social, infectiously fun. If you want a single summer gift that has the highest chance of being deeply used, this is it.

Nat Geo Bug Catcher Explorer Kit ($15-25). For the curious 4-10 year old. A bug jar, magnifying glass, field guide. Gets them outside looking at dirt and insects — which is exactly what summer childhood should involve.

A Slackline or Ninja Line ($40-80) for the active 6+ kid. Hung between two trees in the backyard, it becomes an obstacle course. Parents love these because the kids will use them for hours.

A kite ($10-40) — simple, classic, loved by kids 4-12 at the beach or in a park.

A soccer ball, basketball, or specific sports gear matched to what the child plays. Upgrade from a cheap one to a real one.

The road-trip picks

Summer means car trips. Gifts that make the miles go faster.

Bananagrams ($15-22). Portable, plays in 15 minutes, works with 2-8 players. Best car-and-cabin game for ages 7+.

A book boxed set matched to their age:

• 5-10: Magic Tree House ($50-95)
• 7-12: I Survived ($25-50)
• 8-12: Dog Man ($40-85)
• 9-14: Harry Potter ($45-95)

Kids who read on road trips create lifelong readers.

A sketchbook + a set of colored pencils — Prismacolor Premier ($30-60) for older kids, Crayola Ultimate Art Case ($15-25) for younger ones. Both support the long car-ride pass-the-time drawing mode.

A Fujifilm Instax Mini Camera ($65-95) for 8+. Kids document the trip with instant prints, stick them in a scrapbook when they get home. Turns a road trip into a memory project.

Audiobooks — not a physical gift exactly, but a free Audible subscription or a kids’ audiobook gift card bridges long drives beautifully. Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Magic Tree House all have excellent audiobook versions.

The porch/cabin/afternoon picks

For the slower summer moments — rainy afternoons, quiet porch time, family cabin weekends.

A serious family board game — Ticket to Ride ($35-55), Catan ($30-55), or Bananagrams for 15-minute rounds. Summer is when family game nights hit their peak.

A Klutz craft kit ($15-25) — slime, sewing, beading, clay. Perfect for a rainy afternoon at a cabin.

A Play-Doh set for 3-7 year olds. Quiet, creative, engages them for an hour.

A good puzzle (500-1000 pieces for 10+, 100-300 pieces for 6-10). Sets up on the cabin table and draws the whole family in.

Raddish Cooking Kit subscription ($24-28/month) or America’s Test Kitchen Young Chefs cookbook ($15-22). Summer is when kids have time to bake. Start a tradition.

The water/pool picks

If the grandchild has regular water access, summer water gifts hit hard.

• A real snorkel set — Mares or Cressi, $30-60 — for the beach-going kid 8+
• A boogie board or skimboard ($30-80) — upgrade from the plastic Walmart kind to a real one
• A diving toy set — torpedoes, rings, dive sticks ($15-30)
• A quality swim goggle and swim cap for the swimmer ($15-40)
• Waterproof playing cards — a silly thing that ends up being the most-used pool item all summer ($10-15)

Check with the parents on what they already have.

The camp picks

If the grandchild is going to summer camp, something they can bring.

A quality camp bag or duffel — the kind that lasts for years ($40-80).

A Yeti Rambler Jr. water bottle ($25-40) — doesn’t leak, lasts forever.

A flashlight or headlamp ($15-30) — essential for camp, quietly loved.

A camp-appropriate book — something to read in their bunk.

A disposable or Instax camera ($25-95) — photos they can bring home.

Cash or a canteen fund in small bills, for camp purchases.

What to skip for summer

Anything electronic. Summer is when kids should be off screens. A tablet game, a video game system, a remote-control toy that needs charging — all compete with where you want them to be.

Indoor-only toys. A big LEGO set in July is a weird gift. Save LEGO for Christmas and birthdays. Summer favors outdoor or travel gifts.

Tie-in merchandise based on a specific summer movie. The Pixar movie character set becomes dated by Labor Day.

Anything fragile. Summer is hard on stuff. Durable wins.

The age-specific summer playbook

Ages 3-5: Bubbles, sidewalk chalk, a small sandbox set, a bug catcher kit, pool toys.

Ages 5-8: A Schleich figure collection for outdoor pretend play, bug catcher kit, a kite, sidewalk chalk, a starter bike or scooter.

Ages 8-12: Spikeball, a real sports ball upgrade, a camera (Instax or disposable), a book boxed set, Bananagrams for the road trips.

Ages 13-17: A gift card to an ice cream shop or summer-activity place, concert/festival tickets if you can swing it, a nice water bottle (Hydro Flask, Yeti), a season pass to a local water park, cash for summer-job + fun spending.

The simple formula

For any grandchild, a strong summer gift has two or three of these elements:

1. One outdoor thing — Spikeball, a sports ball, a bug catcher, a kite
2. One book or reading-related thing — for the quiet moments, the road trips, the rainy days
3. One “travel game” — Bananagrams, a card game, a magnetic travel game

Total: $30-100. Covers the active/quiet/travel axes of summer life.

The bottom line

Summer gifts should support the kind of summer you want your grandchild to have — outside, reading, playing with family, away from screens. Pick gifts that pull them in that direction, and they’ll use them for the whole season.

The best summer gift a grandparent gives is the one the grandchild is still using in late August. Aim for that.