Some parents get very anxious not knowing what to do with the kiddos all summer long, but creating your own summer camp is simple and doesn’t require much time. Each week you come up with a different theme, field trip and activity. Each week you can also watch a movie or cartoon based on your theme if you'd like. Sounds like a lot of work, huh? It’s really easy. Check out my sample calendar:
Week 1
Theme: Dinosaurs
Day 1: Head out to your local library and check out a few dinosaur books. Make it a fun story time.
Day 2: Research dinosaur diets and have your child do a creative craft or drawing of dinosaurs and the foods they eat.
Day 3: Cooking lessons. Have your child make a meal and tie it to the dinosaurs book or make "dino nuggets" for lunch and bake "dino bites" cookies for dessert.
Day 4: Watch a dinosaur movie.
Day 5: Take a field trip to a local museum with a dinosaur display.
Week 2
Theme: Automobiles
Day 1: Gather all your kids' toy cars and take them outside for a car wash. Simple backyard fun that doesn’t cost a ton.
Day 2: Get out your remote control cars and have a fun race. Perfect time to teach your child about crossing the street properly, red, yellow and green lights, stop signs etc.
Day 3: Get some paper, crayons, scissors and glue and let your kids get creative making their own stop signs.
Day 4: Baking and cooking day. Come up with something fun to bake like chocolate chip cookies and use colored candy to create the look of a traffic light, or use a car-shaped cookie cutter and decorate car sugar cookies.
Day 5: Take a field trip to a car- or travel-themed museum, if you have one nearby. You could also visit your local amusement park and ride the bumper cars, or car-themed ride, or race the go carts. Or you can attend a local "cruise-in" and check out all the different cars (might have to move to another day of the week to accommodate).
Week 3
Theme: Cowboy/Cowgirl
Day 1: Start off your week with a fun craft that will keep your kiddos busy all day long. Suggested craft would be a toy horse. It's simple, just save a few paper towel tubes and tape them together like a long stick or use an old wrapping paper tube. Then cut out a horse head shape with constructions paper and glue on some eyes and yarn pieces for the hair, then pretend to ride their horse. Kids can also create their own "wanted posters" and draw pictures of themselves.
Day 2: Play a cowboy/cowgirl game in the back yard. Let your kids be creative and use their imaginations.
Day 3: Use cardboard boxes to create your own old-west town.
Day 4: Head on out to the park with a tin pie pan or sand sifter and have your kids pan for gold in the sandbox.
Day 5: Kids love to cook and bake so give them some easy jobs to do and make some good old American food. Or do some research at the library and find out what cowboys ate out on the range and then try to make it.
At first this may sound like a lot of work, but it's really quite easy and so much fun. Your child will enjoy all the attention you give them and the extra special bonding time you spend with them. Before you know it, school will be back in session.
Here are some theme ideas to get you started, or you can come up with your own: Big Trucks, Locomotives, Baking, Circus, Favorite Movie, Favorite Animal, Song/Dance, etc.
