Endless Summers Aren’t Just for Kids—Here’s How to Make This Summer Last Forever, According to Science
As I was writing this story, a storm rolled through my neighborhood, and memories flooded back of summer afternoons spent reading by the window as the thunder rumbled after I’d rushed home from the pool before the skies opened up. Summer as a kid encompassed so many memories, from family vacations and swimming at the beach to riding bikes until dusk, catching fireflies and staying up late to watch movies. It all seemed like endless fun until September.
As an adult, summers seem to go by so fast that we barely have a chance to enjoy them before we’re back-to-school shopping. And it’s not our imagination: There are scientific reasons why summer really did seem longer when you were a kid. Now that we’re grown-ups, is it possible to recapture that sense of an “endless” summer before the leaves start falling?
I asked time-perception expert Martin Wiener, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at George Mason University and the principal investigator of STAR lab, why this phenomenon occurs and what we can do now to make summer last forever—or at least make it seem to! Read on to find out.
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Why does summer feel so long when we’re kids but so short when we’re adults?
Scientists used to think that summers feel so long for kids because those three months make up a greater percentage of their life lived so far, as compared to adults. But Wiener says that theory is outdated. “That suggests we all experience a speeding up of time to the same degree, which turns out to not be the case,” he says. “Some experience it more than others.”
Instead, it’s the novelty of experience that makes summer seem so long for kids. Everything is new for children, and that affects their brains’ memory centers and sense of time. “When we are younger, our brains are constantly laying down new memories and experiences,” Wiener says. “Many of our experiences when we are young are things we are going through for the first time, which gives a high priority to them, and as a result, the memories are laid down in a way that expands our sense of how long they lasted.”
In addition, because everything is so new, kids tend to think about those experiences a lot afterward, which further solidifies the memories. “Recent work has shown that the more we think back on our memories, the longer in time those memories seem to be,” Weiner says. “As children and younger in life, we tend to reflect back on things that just happened frequently, whereas with older age, it may be that we are less likely to think back on recent experience and instead recall other memories from long ago.”
Adults have fewer “novel” experiences because our days are generally more routine. And our brain works on autopilot, skipping over unnecessary details and creating fewer new memories, which results in the feeling of time slipping by. “As we age, experiences become less novel, and so the length of time they are experienced in becomes shorter,” Wiener says. “With lower novelty and importance, we also ruminate less on our recent experience [than children do].”
Does this effect get worse every year?
It sure feels like it! But the “time flying” effect doesn’t necessarily get worse every year. That said, brain function peaks at age 30, so many middle-aged and older people do go through subtle cognitive declines in working memory and processing speed, which affect the brain’s ability to encode new memories. Making fewer new memories could be the reason why time seems to move faster the older we get.
“Recent work is starting to suggest that the experience of time speeding up as we age can be a subtle cue for memory impairments,” Wiener says. “If we aren’t remembering things as well, then our sense of time slipping by is exacerbated.”
So how can we make our summers feel longer?
To make our summers feel longer, try to be intentional about doing things you’ve never done before and noticing details around you. “The general finding is that the more you focus on the passage of time, the slower it becomes,” Weiner says. “Think of the phrase ‘a watched pot never boils.’”
Even if your new “novel” experiences seem to go by like a whirlwind, that might not be how you remember them afterward. “Paradoxically, moments of high excitement, which in the moment seemed to speed by—‘time flies when you’re having fun’—seem to last longer in our memories,” Wiener says.
On the other hand, familiar, everyday moments are not encoded into memory as well, and so when we look back, those routine days don’t seem to have been that long. “An anecdotal story from my recent experience: A friend of mine and I had lunch one Sunday, and then he left for a weeklong business trip and I stayed at home working my normal routine,” Wiener says. “We met again the following weekend, and he said, ‘It feels like forever since I last saw you.’ And I said, ‘Really? It feels like I saw you yesterday.’”
What are some tangible ways to get that endless summer we all want?
Making summer seem endless is all about slowing down, reducing distractions and fully experiencing the world around you, which helps your brain form stronger memories.
Try new things
If one of the reasons kids remember more is because so much of what they do is new, aim to weave that into your adult life. Pick a summer weekend activity you’ve never done before, start a new hobby or switch up your daily routine a little. “Novel experiences and situations are important, and doing things differently is part of this,” Wiener says. Being intentional about creating new and enjoyable memories can help us have that “endless summer” feeling we remember from childhood.
Plan your summer fun
Although it may seem counterintuitive to plan spontaneous summer fun, when you’re an adult it helps to have it on your calendar. “Make a schedule for your summer,” Wiener says. Count the summer weekends you have available, and plan fun outings or block off days to simply relax and enjoy your backyard with your family.
Balance novelty and routine
During the summer, adults still have responsibilities like going to work or taking care of children, so we can’t abandon routine altogether—and that wouldn’t be good for our brains anyway. “We need moments of routine, because we can’t endure novelty endlessly before becoming exhausted,” Wiener says. “Everyone’s rhythm is going to be different, so find a rhythm between novelty and routine that is best for you.”
Take a trip
This might seem obvious, but taking a summer vacation somewhere you’ve never been before is one of the best ways to make memories by experiencing something new. “Vacations are novel and high-priority situations, and so they may feel like a whirlwind while we experience them because we’re not thinking about the passage of time,” Wiener says. “But then after we return, it feels like we’ve been gone for much longer than we were.”
Live in the moment
Instead of living in your head and thinking about what’s next or things you have to do, focus on what you’re doing right now. Being mindful of what’s going on around you can help you have fuller experiences, so don’t let your mind wander back to your to-do list.
Use your senses
Stop and smell the flowers—literally! Sensory input helps our brains form enduring memories, so pay attention to all your senses every time you step outside. Notice the sweet scents in the air, the feel of grass or sand under your feet, the sound of bird songs, the taste of freshly picked berries.
Relive your childhood memories
Be young-at-heart and embrace your inner child to experience summertime the way kids do. Recall your favorite summer activities and pursue them again for a nostalgic reset. You’re not too grown-up to ride a bike around the neighborhood, cannonball off the dock into the lake or curl up with your favorite novel on a rainy day—whatever is fun for you. “What makes one person’s summer slow down may make another’s drag by, and not in a good way!” Wiener says.
Unplug
Our phones are major time-sucks that have us scrolling mindlessly while we stare at a tiny screen. Want to have a summer like when you were young? Have a digital detox by setting aside time for you and your family to turn off your devices and live in the real world.
Be bored
Adults are very focused on productivity, but you probably remember summer days as a kid that seemed to drag on because there was nothing to do. “We tend to think of time slowing down as being a positive thing, but time also slows down in many situations that are unpleasant, like when we’re bored,” Wiener says.
Boredom, however, spurs imagination and creativity (which is why parenting experts say to let your kids be bored). Take the same advice by giving yourself permission to forget about the things that need doing, and let yourself do nothing. Chances are, you’ll come up with fun ideas and new interests to pursue. No screens allowed!
Watch the clock
That childhood feeling of summers moving slowly is an unintentional by-product of the way kids experience the world. But adults have to be more cognizant of how time seems to move, as well as self-aware of how they’re experiencing it. “Be mindful of the passage of time and that it is flexible and partially under our control,” Wiener says. “Simply knowing that time is a resource that can be used could provide some benefit in how we go about our daily lives.”
Remember to remember
You can have some influence over your own brain, so remind yourself that the way to slow summer down is to make memories stick in your head. “Research has shown that what we remember is controllable to a degree, so if you think, I will remember this, then you’re more likely to,” Wiener says. “In turn, that will make the experience seem longer and give you a sense of a ‘fuller’ summer.”
Sources:
- Martin Wiener, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at George Mason University and principal investigator of STAR lab; email interview, July 2026
- Memory and Cognition: “Memory encoding for new information, not autobiographical memory load, is linked with age-related differences in subjective time passage over the past decade”
- Scientific Reports: “Malleability and fluidity of time perception”
- PLOS One: “Distortions to the passage of time for annual events: Exploring why Christmas and Ramadan feel like they come around more quickly each year”
- Current Biology: “Temporal information in the anterior cingulate cortex relates to accumulated experiences”
- Science Direct: “Cognitions about time affect perception, behavior, and physiology – A review on effects of external clock-speed manipulations”
- Harvard Medicine: “Harnessing the Senses to Improve Memory”
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