Summer in the 1980s was the perfect time to be a kid. Technology wasn’t in the way of enjoying outdoor time with friends, and ‘80s kids made the most of every summer day. Kids could be seen riding in the back of pickup trucks or station wagons if they weren’t riding their bikes all day without a helmet.

When thirsty, ‘80s kids just drank from the nearest garden hose. Mom would supply bologna, mustard, and potato chips for all their friends if they were hungry before they returned to play outside.

The local fishing hole and creek were popular play areas for the summer. Kids would play all day until the street lights came on to signal it was time to go home for the night.

If you didn’t have a fancy playhouse in your backyard, you built it out of scrap lumber and pieces you found around the neighborhood. Every ‘80s kid was skilled at creating their own forts.

They also built ridiculously dangerous bike ramps out of that same scrap material. Many scrapes and broken bones were attributed to summertime bike ramp building. After a fun day, running through the sprinklers was a great way to cool off.

If there were no sprinklers around and none of your friends owned a ‘Slip-n-Slide,’ you could just put out a tarp with some dish soap on it! At night you could catch fireflies or frogs, and some kids even fed the fireflies to the frogs to watch their stomachs glow.

Cardboard was necessary if you wanted to keep up with the latest breakdancing craze. Kids learned the ‘Wave’ and the ‘Moonwalk.’ ‘80s kids would play DJ by making their own mixtapes using a radio and a cassette recorder. Sleepovers required a long trip to the video store to get the latest horror movie. The 1980s were a fantastic time to be a kid in the summer.