The Ultimate 80s Playlist + How to Have an 80s Summer (Free Printable Bucket List for Kids)

Last updated on June 23rd, 2025 at 12:06 am

Give your kids an 80s summer! Here’s a list of the best summer activities we enjoyed in the 1980s, plus the ultimate 80s playlist to go along with it.

I think most of us who are parents (and grandparents) agree that the decade we grew up in was a bit simpler than the times kids are growing up in now. 

We spent our summers playing outside, rode our bikes just about anywhere we wanted to, and to keep cool, enjoyed popsicles and watermelon outside or turned on the sprinkler. We didn’t spend our days in an air-conditioned house in front of a screen.

There was no internet, and we didn’t have cell phones or video games — at least not the kind you could carry in your pocket.

We weren’t overscheduled with lessons and day camps either. Our time was spent inventing our own games and using our imaginations.

I think kids today could benefit from a “throwback” summer! If you agree, keep reading to see how to give your kids an 80s summer this year. 

Here’s your list of all the best summer activities we used to enjoy. We also have the ultimate 80s playlist to go along with it. Lets show our kids what an 80s summer was all about–and maybe relive a little of the 80s ourselves! 

Don’t forget to print your checklist and playlist at the bottom of the page, and then get ready for boomboxes, skateboarding, aerobics, roller skating, and more 80s fun! 

How to Have an 80s Summer

• Listen to 80’s music (preferably on tapes on a boombox) 
  
• Do aerobics
• Play hide-n-seek
• Play at your local playground
• Play tetherball
• Go on bike rides
• Play frisbee 
• Run through the sprinkler
• Build a fort
• Have a water balloon fight
• Play board games
• Go to the library
• Bake cookies
• Go roller skating
• Stargaze
• Play hopscotch
• Watch 80s movies
• Go to a parade
• Make collages
• Host a lemonade stand
• Bake mud pies
• Drink from the hose
• Take a drive with the windows down
• Play dodgeball
• Go skateboarding
• Wear swimsuits, all day, every day
• Decorate your bedroom walls with magazine posters
• Make a mixtape
• Watch soap operas
• Lie on the grass, and watch the clouds
• Eat popsicles
• Drink soda from a glass bottle
• Slip-n-Slide
• Jump on a trampoline
• Drink Kool-Aid
• Get ice cream from the ice cream truck
• Go camping

The Ultimate 80s Playlist

You can listen to most, if not all, of these songs FREE if you have Amazon Prime! If you don’t have Prime, pick up a FREE 30-day trial to enjoy music, movies, tv shows, and of course, free two-day shipping on purchases.

• Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
• Don’t Dream it’s Over – Crowded House 
• Take on Me – A-Ha
• I’m so Excited – The Pointer Sisters
• Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams
• Kids in America – Kim Wilde
• I Wanna Dance with Somebody – Whitney Houston 
• Every Breath You Take – The Police 
• Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield 
• Total Eclipse of the Heart – Bonnie Tyler
• Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go – Wham! 
• What’s Love Got to Do With It – Tina Turner
• We Got the Beat – The Go-Go’s  
• Cruel Summer – Bananarama 
• The Boys of Summer – Don Henley 
• Walking on Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves 
• The Heat Is On – Glen Frey 
• Footloose – Kenny Loggins 
• Jack & Diane -John Mellencamp 
• Beat It – Michael Jackson 
• Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey 
• Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes 
• Eye of the Tiger – Survivor 
• Dancing in the Dark – Bruce Springsteen
• Pump up the Jam – Technotronic 
• Livin’ on a Prayer – Bon Jovi 
• La Bamba – Los Lobos

Click the images below to print your 80s Summer Bucket List and the Ultimate 80s Playlist (with room to add your own favorite 80s songs).

These will print full-size on 8.5×11 paper. You can also fit them to your page size. You can use the setting “fit to printable area” or set margins to zero/borderless printing to get a perfect fit.

And, don’t miss all of our other free printables.

Do you have more ideas for an 80s summer? Or, maybe some songs to add to our ultimate 80s playlist? Leave a comment below.

Also read:
Old-Fashioned Skills Kids Need to Know — Free Printable
30 Great Ways to Make Memories With Your Child — Free Printable
Teach Kids to Practice Kindness — Free Printable

You can also find MomsWhoSave on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Join us for updates.

Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe to MomsWhoSave’s newsletter.