10 Ridiculous Summer Lesson Ideas (That Actually Work)
It’s July. The brains are melting. Your students are running on popsicles and cold brew (any kind of brew). No one wants to open a coursebook. And honestly? They shouldn’t have to.
Luckily, this blog exists to help you embrace this period with zero guilt, stress and photocopies. Whether you’re in a classroom with real air conditioning (you unicorn), or fanning yourself with laminated flashcards from 2009, this post has something for every tired teacher and overheated learner.
Let the ridiculousness commence!
1 Tropic Like It’s Hot
Students are assigned bizarre holiday jobs (e.g. coconut quality control, sunscreen tester) and roleplay a day in their life.
2 Jellyfish Uprising Survival Plan
Write/speak your way out of an aquatic apocalypse. Who leads the resistance? What are your underwater escape tactics?
3 Ice Cream Debate
Convince the class that dill pickle swirl is the best flavor ever. Bonus: use the language of persuasion with horrifying passion.
4 Backpack Booby Traps
Design a backpack for surviving the first week back to school. Must include: caffeine delivery system and sarcasm shield.
5 Detective Sunglasses: Mystery at the Pool
There’s been a theft at the community pool. Who took the last floatie? Create a pool mystery. Interrogate suspects. Bonus points for fake accents.
6 Beach Blanket Book Club
Everyone brings (or invents) the weirdest book title they can think of. “Fifty Shades of SPF” may be a strong contender.
7 Wild Summer Olympics
Host imaginary competitions: fastest seed spitting, synchronized floating. Use modals for rules: “You must not pop the raft.”
8 Haunted Hammock
Write a spooky summer ghost story. The twist? It’s set in a five-star resort. Ghosts need holidays too.
9 Extreme Beach Makeover: Grammar Edition
Give a boring sentence a beachy glow-up. For example, from: “He is tired.” to “After chasing seagulls in a feathered tutu, he collapsed in a majestic heap of regret.”
10 Alien Tourist Hotline
Aliens are coming to Earth for a holiday. Explain human summer traditions: sunbathing, BBQs, getting heat rash. Try not to sound suspicious.
Why This Madness Works
All of these ideas:
- require no prep
- can be done in 5–45 minutes
- support speaking, writing, roleplay, and creative use of language
- and most importantly, keep everyone engaged when the air is 70% humidity and 30% apathy.
Use one when your lesson plan fell into the swimming pool. Use five when you just want to make it to Friday. Either way: you’re still teaching, just in a way that makes your students laugh, speak, and maybe question reality a little.
If you want a proper no-prep lesson plan, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter – this month I’m serving you Shark Tank!
Got a ridiculous summer lesson idea of your own? Share it in the comments or tag me on Instagram or Facebook – I love this stuff. And remember: just because it’s summer doesn’t mean your lesson can’t be a little… evil.
Stay shady!
