How to Plan Your Own Summer Camp

Summer camp doesn't have to mean sending your child away from home or spending lots of money. Plan your own summer camp at home with your child and enjoy it with him or her.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Art And Craft Supplies
• Calendars
• Camping Gear
• Children's Sleeping Bags
• Children's Tents
• Sleeping Bags
• Tents
• Children's Flashlights
• Flashlights
• Sesame Street Kids' Guide To Life Videos
• Flashlights

1. Make a calendar for the weeks you're going to have your own summer camp.

2. Choose a theme for each week and plan some activities that tie in with each theme. Some theme ideas are horses, insects, Europe, rain and poetry. Write the themes on the calendar.

3. Get some books from the library that will go with your themes. Choose fiction and nonfiction - some books your child can read alone and some you'll read aloud. Plan time for reading each day. Find some books with craft projects that you can tie in with your themes. List the books and projects on your calendar.

4. Find some videos that tie in with your themes. Write them in on the calendar.

5. Plan some field trips that fit the themes. Go to the zoo, museums, beaches and local attractions. Ask your friends and neighbors along. See if your neighbor will take the kids to the science museum one week if you take them to the beach the next.

6. Look around for free local activities you can utilize. Go to the library story hour, the bookstore craft hour, free concerts in the park, parades ... Plan all of these events out on the calendar.

7. Incorporate learning experiences into daily activities. Teach fractions while baking, biology while gardening and so forth.

8. Listen to your kids. Get some feedback from them and pay attention. Your camp plans are not written in stone. If the kids dislike a theme, change it. If everyone is tired and cranky, do nothing that day.

9. Leave time in your schedule for playtime. Summer should be about fun, not constant learning.

10. Plan a sleep-away camp in your own backyard or head to a state park for a night. Set up a tent with sleeping bags and flashlights. Look at the stars, eat roasted marshmallows and enjoy the camping experience.

[aqureshi04]

on 3/23/2007 Art and craft: Let kids make palka dots on a gib piece of paper (make sure not to use too much paint)now Fold the paper in half and press the colors in all directions, not out from the paper, Press real firm. Now open up the paper and kids will see a wounderful design you cannot make ever with the brush. They also learn when colors are mixd they make new colors. let it dry and fram it later on. A termandeous painting for ever. they will love it.

on 6/30/2006 To make the summer camp more fun, tell your child's friends what you're doing and ask if they want to do it, too. Have them come over each day, and if it's a sleep away camp, have them sleep in the backyard with you each night. Their parents will thank you, it will be a free camp.

on 11/22/2005 Take different colors of cloth and cut them into different shapes. Let the child choose his own shape, then let him wet the shapes. Make a clothes line with any kind of string (make sure it's sturdy). Hang the pieces of cloth on the line with a clothes pin. Check the cloth in two days and every other day after. Observe the cloth for any discoloration from the sun. This experiment also teaches colors and shapes.

on 11/22/2005 If you have access to a pool, lube a watermelon with Vaseline and drop it in the middle of the pool. The children will be in groups on both sides of the pool. They will then have to push the watermelon to the other team's side.