The picnic blanket is the new soft play as millennial parents embrace a 90s summer

As a child growing up in the 90s, I remember the phrase ‘I’m bored’ being met with the response that if we didn’t find something to do, we would be given some chores to keep us busy. Unwilling to be dragged into cleaning we became very skilled at making our own fun. There was never any real plan other than being out of the house from sunrise until sunset, popping back in occasionally for a sandwich and an ice pop.

Our summer holidays were filled with bike rides, den building, water fights and playing Kerby until the neighbours complained. No social media, no timetable of activities, just hanging around with the kids who lived on your street and a summer break that seemed to last way longer than just 6 weeks. It wasn’t sophisticated, it wasn’t inspired by a TikTok trend it was just spontaneous fun.

It seems I’m not the only one who is looking back at my own childhood summer with fond memories, with many millennial and Gen Z parents embracing those memories as the 90s Summer trend sweeps social media this summer.

So what does it actually look like in practice?

At its core, 90s Summer is about resisting the urge to fill every hour. Boredom isn’t a problem to solve, it’s actually the point. Kids left to their own devices (not the electronic kind) will invent their own entertainment if you give them long enough and resist the urge to intervene. The 90s Summer operates on the principle that unstructured, unscheduled time is where creativity actually lives, and that screen time isn’t an antidote to boredom, it’s just a way of avoiding it.

There’s also a quiet push toward a little more independence nothing like the full feral experience of our own childhoods where parents genuinely didn’t see us for hours on end, but a slightly more hands-off approach. Letting them wander a bit further ahead on a walk, older kids going around the block on their bikes, not hovering at the edge of the playground. The kind of low-stakes autonomy that teaches kids to problem-solve, negotiate and manage minor scrapes without an adult immediately swooping in.

And when it comes to what they’re actually doing? Nature does most of the heavy lifting. Den building in the woods, paddling in a stream, bug hunting in the garden, rolling down a hill just to see what happens. The children lead, the parents step back, and the only booking confirmation required is a weather app. Simple, low-cost and almost entirely chaotic, which is, of course, entirely the point.

What does this mean for brands?

If the 90s Summer trend tells us anything, it’s that parents are actively choosing experiences that are simpler, more spontaneous and crucially, less expensive. That’s not bad news for brands. In fact, for the right categories, it’s a significant opportunity.

And then there are the categories that benefit from the aftermath. Because here’s the thing about a proper 90s Summer day: it is absolutely filthy. Laundry and household cleaning brands have a genuine story to tell here muddy knees, grass-stained shorts, footprints across the kitchen floor. These aren’t accidents, they’re proof of a good day. Brands that lean into that narrative rather than positioning mess as the enemy will find a much more receptive audience among parents who are actively choosing the chaos.

The same is true for health and beauty, specifically kids’ bath and bodycare. After a long day in the outdoors, the bath isn’t a chore, it’s the full stop at the end of a good day. Grubby feet, sun-kissed skin, hair full of something unidentifiable from the woods. Brands in this space have an opportunity to position themselves as part of the ritual rather than just the remedy.