Thursday, May 22 is the last day of school for Metro Nashville Public School students. If you’re scrambling for fun activities for the kiddos this summer, here are some ideas, from water play to reading challenges and festivals.
🌊 Cool Off in the Water
- Go to a free splash pad.
- Head to a waterpark, like Wave Country, Nashville Shores, and SoundWaves.
- Swim at a community center pool.
- Take a dip in Percy Priest Lake at the Anderson Road Day Use beach.
- Go creek stomping at Edwin Warner Park, Deerwood Arboretum, or Beaman Park.
📚 Join a Reading Challenge
- Join the Nashville Public Library’s summer reading challenge and win free tickets to Wave Country, the Parthenon, Centennial Sportsplex, and discounts and goodies at local businesses. You can download the Beanstack app to log your reading, or pick up a reading log at your local branch. There’s a kick-off party at Amqui Station on June 6.
- Sign up for Tristar Reads for a chance to win a $1,000 college scholarship, plus weekly drawings!
🍦 Create Your Own Challenge
- Visit five new-to-you ice cream shops.
- Go to a museum. The Tennessee State Museum is free and has a great children’s room. Adventure Science Center, Lane Motor Museum, Frist Art Museum, the Parthenon, the Country Music Hall of Fame, Earth Experience, and Discovery Center at Murfree Spring are kid-friendly, too.
- Watch a movie outside at Elmington Park’s Movies in the Park.
- Explore five new-to-you playgrounds, indoor or outdoor.
- Spend $1 per ticket to watch family-friendly films at the Regal Summer Movie Express.
- Attend three free library events.
- Take a kid-friendly road trip.
⚾ Kid-Friendly Summer Events
- The Inaugural Cheekwood Community Celebration is June 3-7, with different daily themes and kid-friendly activities like puppet truck performances, musical instrument petting zoos, and crafts. Or visit Cheekwood anytime this summer to play on their enchanted castles!
- The Parthenon has several MNPS STEAM Nights this summer, free for MNPS students and their families.
- See a show! We’re going to “Peter and the Wolf” at the Nashville Symphony on June 1. The Wiggles perform at the Ryman Auditorium on June 15, and Ninja Kidz Live will be at TPAC on June 21.
- Watch a Nashville Sounds baseball game on a Sunday Family Fun Day.
- Go on a Family Firefly Hike at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary.
- Head to the Nashville Farmers’ Market for its inaugural Summer Fest on June 14.
- Attend Waterfest in Goodlettsville on June 27.
🚗 Our favorite family-friendly road trips
