Now that the summer is in full swing, I thought I would share with you a little trick we tried recently. We created our own summer camp right here at home, and let me tell you- IT WAS A HIT! We have a big busy summer of travel, family plans, pool time, fun activities, playdates, and on and on and on. So when we finally slowed down for a week, and had a little time to spend at home, it was a welcome change of pace. BUT, I didn't want my kiddo to just veg out on screen time all week either. So I had a brilliant idea. Why not do our own summer camp at home? So that's just what we did.
Here are my top tips for you if you want to give it a go at home this summer too.
Camp T-shirts
Nothing says camp like a good camp t-shirt. Lexi and I like to match each other to begin with. So our closets are already filled with matching t-shirts. Each day, I picked which shirts we would wear and we matched all week long. If you don't already have matching t-shirts, you could totally make some for a fun camp activity. Or, pick a theme or color scheme instead. For example, you could all wear super hero t-shirts one day. Or wear your red, white, and blue. The sky is the limit. Matching shirts made it fun for us. Every single day, Lexi woke up and asked which shirts we were wearing today! Here's a look at some of our matching looks from camp week.
Planning is Key
I figured out pretty early in this process that making a plan for the day worked best for us. I planned each day just one day at a time. That way if an activity took longer than expected, we could easily shift things to another day without upsetting a week's worth of plans. My kiddo really likes arts and crafts. And we have lots of craft kits at home. So I knew that I would include time on our schedule each day for something arty or crafty. I enjoy field trips, and Lexi likes to do fun things that are new, exciting, or that we just plain haven't done in a while. So I also made sure we had time each day for a fun activity outside the house. Each night before going to bed, I plotted out the next day's camp activities and printed off a little itinerary for Lexi to find the next morning. We began each camp day around 8:30 am and wrapped around 3 pm. She kept us on track and marked things off our to-do list as we completed them. This schedule worked great for us, but it's your camp- so you can design your schedule around your schedule. That's the beauty of it!
Kids Pick for Lunch
For me, this was a no-brainer. I knew Lexi would enjoy having the freedom to make the lunch decisions for us. So our lunches consisted of things like Happy Meals, PB&J picnics in the back yard, and trips to the Sonic drive-in. I was completely ok with those choices. If you prefer to have a little more control on the lunch decisions, you could alternate kid pick and mom pick days. Or you could provide a list of choices and let the kiddos pick from your mom-approved list. Again, it's all up to you. But letting Lexi pick her own lunches was super fun for her, and we ended up having some really fun meals together.
Choosing your Activities
Your days at your summer camp can be as simple or as well planned as you like. We began each day with projects at home ranging from art projects to making crafts to cooking up treats in the kitchen. Once we were all finished and cleaned up from our morning activities, we had lunch and then a field trip in the afternoon. I came up with a list of all sorts of fun things for us to try our hand at. Again, some activities were super simple, some were a little more involved, and some didn't actually make it into production.
Here's a look at some of the things we chose to do.
Arts and Crafts
Paper Fortune Tellers
If you are a child of the 80s, you will remember these. Although, if you are anything like me, you will also have long forgotten how to actually make one. Thank goodness for YouTube.
Click here for the tutorial we used. But there are ton of them out there. We had so much fun making these, especially the fortunes. And when we were done, we decorated them with markers and stickers. Lexi is still asking everyone she comes across to pick a color and then a number, and then doles out their fortune to them.
Sunprint Paper Art
We have actually had this kit and have used it before but it's always a fun activity and one that comes together quickly. The idea is that you collect leaves and flowers and such from the garden, then arrange them on a piece of sunprint paper. You layer a piece of clear plexiglass on top and sit the whole thing in the sun for just a few minutes. Once the paper has changed color, you know it's ready. You run the paper under water and let it dry. Your sunprint develops like magic. It's a really cool project and the kids always enjoy it!
These kits are readily available from Amazon.
Summer Selfie Art Project
We are long-time followers of Cassie Stephens. She is a local art teacher right here in our part of the world. And last year, when the world shut down, she created all sorts of art tutorials for kids and posted them on
YouTube and
Instagram. We made all kinds of art with her last year. So a quick search on her YouTube channel was just what we needed to come up with a fun art project for one morning of our summer camp week.
This is the tutorial we used to create these summer selfies. But once you are on her channel, plan to do some poking around, because she has the best ideas for kids' art projects. Just pull one up and go step by step through it. Pause where you need to catch up, and resume when you are ready to move on. So fun and so easy.
I also printed off lots of fun and free word searches, crossword puzzles, and coloring sheets at the beginning of the week, and when we had a little extra time we worked on a few of those. I had lots of different ones to choose from, and we completed quite a few. They were a big hit too! Sometimes simple is good too.
Field Trips and Fun Outings
Story Bus
Our school district offers a wonderful (free) summertime reading service called the Story Bus to anyone who wants to participate. The Story Bus parks in a grocery store parking lot three times a week, and while the little ones visit the Story Bus for some reading fun, parents can get their grocery shopping knocked out.
So we visited one day of our summer camp, and Lexi had a ball! One of her teachers was on the bus, and Lexi lit up seeing her again!
They picked some books and read to each other from the comfort of some pretty cozy looking bean bag chairs.
And when it was time to go, they sent us away with bagged lunches, cartons of milk, Sonic coupons, and a free book. It's worth a check to see if your local district does something similar, but if they don't, check with your local library. Almost all of them offer some sort of summer reading program for kids. They are almost always free and lots of libraries offer storytime and other fun activities throughout the summer.
Roller skating
One afternoon, I surprised Lexi with a trip to our local roller skating rink, and it was the best time. She is just learning to skate, and I haven't skated in years, so we ended up being a great team.
Our roller skating rink plays fun games and has races for all age groups. When they announced a race for kids age 9 and under, Lexi was the first one to the starting line.
And she made a great run at it, even with that kiddy walker thing. She wasn't first place, but she wasn't last place either. I love her confidence!
Between skating and racing, we played some arcade games and wouldn't you know, Lexi ended up winning the jackpot. She cashed in all her hard earned tickets for a cute stuffed hamster, and all was right with the world. We skated until they were literally turning off the lights for the day. I'd say this outing was a success.
Swimming Pool
One especially hot afternoon, we made a trip to our local swimming pool for a little fun in the sun.
We swam and floated, and found friends, and Lexi showed me every single trick she knows in the water. It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.
I also have other splash pads and local water parks on my list for later this summer.
Exploring your Town
When this mural was installed a month or so ago, I knew I was going to take Lexi for a few pictures, so I put it on one of our itineraries one day.
There are all sorts of murals in our area and we have had fun doing this for years. It also makes for a fun scavenger hunt. Tell your kiddos what you are looking for and see if they can spot it.
Other Fun Things to Try at Home
Manicures and Pedicures
We spent the better part of one camp morning having an at-home spa experience. We picked nail colors and I polished fingers and toes with all sorts of glitter and sparkle. You could also play with different hairstyles, or do a foot bath, test out all your lip glosses and pick your favorite flavor. So many fun ways to play spa.
Tie Dye
We had never done tie dye before our camp week at home, but we tried our hand at it and I have to say, the tie dye kits they sell make it super simple for even beginners like us. We took a small field trip to our local craft store to buy our supplies and then worked on making matching t-shirts at home. Just make sure you have newspaper down to protect your surfaces and wear gloves to keep your hands clean.
Our shirts turned out great! I added our names with the help of my Cricut and some iron on vinyl. Now we have more matching t-shirts for our next camp week, or to wear anytime just because they are awesome!
Other Fun Ideas for your DIY Summer Camp
As I said, we didn't actually complete all the items on our summer camp bucket list, so we have lots of ideas left for other summer camp weeks. Here are some of our ideas for future summer camps:
- Paint your own pottery
- Make an iMovie
- Have a picnic at the park
- Set up water slide in the back yard
- Go for a bike ride
- Afternoon at Chuck E Cheese
- Go bowling
- Visit the local flower truck and make a flower bouquet
- Plant wildflowers
- Find a pen pal and start writing letters
- Berry picking
- Visit the local bounce house
- Go for a creek walk
- Indoor rock climbing
- Horseback riding
- Make sweet notes/ drawings for neighbors and friends
- Splash pad
- Lego party
Overall, we give Summer Camp at Home a 10 out of 10. My kiddo is still asking me when we are going to do it again. Soon, my dear. I promise, soon. I hope you all are enjoying your summer too! And if you decide to give this idea a go, comment below to let us know how you spent your time. We would love to hear from you!
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