We’re Trying to Give Our Kids a ’90s Summer
Feeling nostalgic for a time when there were fewer screens and more scraped knees, popsicles, and long, lazy afternoons. Plus, five tips to try it out for your kids.
Lately, it feels like everywhere I turn- on TikTok, in group chats, even in articles online, parents are talking about giving their kids a “’90s summer.” Even we posted a video last week highlighting the trend.
It’s become a kind of shorthand for a simpler, slower, more free-range childhood. The kind many of us remember: riding bikes barefoot on the sidewalks around the neighborhood without our parents hovering, staying out until the streetlights came on, watching TV in the middle of the day because it was too damn hot outside to do anything else, and surviving boredom without anyone feeling the need to optimize it.
And honestly? I get the appeal.
It wasn’t perfect, of course. But there’s something about that era—before smartphones, before constant scheduling, before the parenting pressure cooker we’re all simmering in now—that feels worth returning to. Or at least trying to.
So that’s what we’re doing this summer: trying. PJ has made a point to do one fun activity every day this summer for the kids. That could look like a random, last minute ice cream date, or a trip to the river for the day, or playing a board game after dinner. It doesn’t have to be something big, it just needs to be something fun. I am so grateful for him and his creativity in this area. My mind so easily goes blank with stuff like this, but his goes wild. Times like these are when I am so glad there are two of us.
PJ and I have been carving out space for slowness, especially on the weekends when we head to the farm. It’s our escape hatch from all the buzzing notifications and logistics. Out there, our kids run wild. They climb trees, jump endlessly on the trampoline, chase the animals, invent games, disappear into their own imaginations. There’s mud and mess and moments of pure magic. And while yes, there’s still plenty of bickering and requests for snacks every 17 minutes, there’s also a real sense of freedom.
That’s what we want to give them. Not some airbrushed, nostalgia-filtered version of childhood—but the real, rough-around-the-edges kind. The kind with scraped knees and too many popsicles. With hours that stretch out without a plan. The kind where kids get bored and then figure it out.
I’m not pretending we’re completely screen-free or living off the grid. We’re not. Our kids have tablets they use only on road trips, and we do watch TV, just not endlessly, and never YouTube or social media. During the school year we’re pretty strict (no TV during the week), but in summer we’re more relaxed: National Geographic, Netflix Kids, and Disney+ are in the mix.
What we’re trying to avoid is that slippery-slope, glued-to-the-screen-all-day vibe that turns every spare moment into content consumption.
And yet—even with the limits, even with intentional time outside—it’s still hard. Because unlike in the ‘90s, today’s unstructured time isn’t really unstructured. It’s constantly competing with the dopamine of devices. Back then, boredom was a given. Now, boredom is a threat—something screens are designed to eliminate.
Sometimes I feel like giving our kids a ‘90s summer means parenting against the grain. Against the pressure to schedule every hour with enrichment. Against the ease of letting a screen fill every lull. Against the (very loud) voice in our heads that says, “Good parents are productive, and productive summers = structured summers.”
But the truth is, I think there’s something radical about just letting our kids… be.
Letting them be bored. Letting them roam (within reason). Letting them waste time, in the best sense of the word.
We’re not trying to re-create the past. We’re just trying to offer our kids a version of summer that leaves space—for daydreaming, for getting dirty, for figuring things out on their own. A summer that isn’t planned to the minute or framed around performance. One that gives them a little more autonomy, and gives us a little more grace.
We don’t have it all figured out. But we’re aiming for fewer plans, more sun. Fewer apps, more dirt. A little less perfection, a little more freedom.
It won’t be exactly like the summers we had. But it might be something just as good.
Tips to Give Your Kids a 90’s Summer
1. Declare the backyard a screen-free zone.
Make afternoons all about sprinklers, hula hoops, sidewalk chalk, bug catching, and popsicles that drip faster than they can be eaten. Bonus points for a Slip 'N Slide or a hose propped up by a lawn chair.
2. Bring back the neighborhood hangout.
Encourage spontaneous play with neighbor kids—no scheduled playdates, just knock on the door and ask, “Can you play?” (Walkie-talkies also encouraged.)
3. Lean into low-tech family nights.
Dust off the board games, play flashlight tag, or host a living room movie night with popcorn in a big bowl, not individual bags. Let them stay up late for a double feature of The Sandlot and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
4. Go analog with creativity.
Stock a corner of the house with art supplies, friendship bracelet thread, stickers, and old magazines for cutting and gluing. Set up a lemonade stand. Let them invent, build, or sell something.
5. Keep it delightfully unstructured.
The best '90s summers weren’t overscheduled. Leave space for boredom—it’s where blanket forts, talent shows, and goofy sibling memories are born.
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Have you ever heard of the Thatcher effect? It’s when an upside-down face looks normal, even with flipped eyes or mouth, but it looks wrong when upright. It shows how our brains process faces as a whole, and I find it so fascinating. Look at all the photos in that IG post! It’s so trippy.
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As a teacher letting kids be bored and figuring it out is one of the absolute best things you can do for your kids. So good job!!
It sounds like you have found a very good balance for your family summer activities. Your children will be having a wonderful and wholesome vacation. This is the type of summer that I remember from my childhood. Sue P