Even the most terrifying carnival ride lasts only a few minutes. The really terrifying stuff is having kids home for weeks on end ... unoccupied ... and bored. Throwing together a little Do-It-Yourself Day Camp -- with a mix of creative and educational and messy and goofy activities -- can bring some routine to the days and make them pass more swiftly. This month's All About Parenting Blog Carnival offers ideas for filling those camp days with fun. (Though, kids fingerpainting in your kitchen? Still scary.)
My reason for doing a DIY Day Camp last year was the lack of appealing options for kids with special needs in our community. So the moms of a couple of friends from my son's special education class joined with me to create a daily camp to provide companionship and enrichment for our gang. I chronicled our successes and failures in my blog last summer, and have gathered that advice into "How to Do Your Own Day Camp."
Jennifer Wolf, About.com's guide to Single Parenting, presents another good reason for DIY Day Camp: economics. Asking, "Can't Afford Summer Camp? Create Your Own," she shares another formula for daily fun, and a list of ten week's worth of coordinated activities.
More "Summer Fun on a Budget" can be found on the blog Cheap Stingy Bargains, which proposes a kid-friendly mix of sports, arts, and dirt.
Both those budget blog posts mention gardening as a good "camp" activity, but Denise Witmer, About.com's guide to Parenting of Adolescents, has another idea: Water the kids instead of the flowers. Her ideas for a "Water Fun Day With Teens" will be a hit with any young campers, especially if your "camp" doesn't have a pool.
While you're outdoors (and maybe before you rinse off with that water play), try "Three Games for Summer Camps" from the blog Baby Bloggers Parents Companion. It's good messy stuff, involving painting and tossing rocks, splashing about in wading pools, jumping in sacks, crawling through grass, and handling raw eggs.
Let's see, we've got art, dirt, water, sports, games, what's missing? Science experiments are a camp favorite, and the blog Autism Games has some information about H.U.G.S. Science (that's Help Uncover Good Scientists) that can help you delight your charges with the way things work and sneak in a little therapy, too.
Sneaking in a little learning is something a lot of us try to do with summer "camp" experiences -- sort of a DIY Extended School Year. Ann Logsdon, About.com's guide to Learning Disabilities, has some good ideas for creating camp ideas that teach and entertain. Though when you're talking to your kids, I wouldn't mention the "teach" part. Let them believe those flashcards and math problems and reading activities are all in good fun.
Of course, you may have too much going on to do a day camp every day. Leah at the blog Garden of Eagen tells tales of "Adventure Wednesdays," full of cheap or free activities that give kids something to look forward to once a week, whatever else you've got scheduled around it.
And maybe the need for camp spikes when you've got a few extra "campers" home. Katherine Lewis, About.com's guide to Working Moms, says "Summertime Can Sparkle With Blended Family Fun," and shares some big-kid-little-kid ideas to employ when stepkids come home to rearrange your family dynamic.
If what you really need is a nice long project to capture kids' attention on an idle afternoon or unplanned weekend, the Play Activities blog has lots of possibilities, including a Sunday paper collage that encourages kids to "Find, Cut, Paste Then Draw." Besides taking care of some of your recycling, it can expand to be a big multi-day or multi-person project. A little time every day, and you have a camp masterpiece.
Even the computer can be a great camp spot for your kids, if you take a little time to make sure the things they'll find there will be mind-expanding and not mind-numbing. Christy Matte, About.com's guide to Family Computing, has your plans for a "Family Friendly Computer Camp."
Here's another good use for the computer: Sharing camp ideas with your fellow parents. What Day Camp ideas will you be putting into action this year? Share them in the comments (and if you submitted to the carnival and don't see your post here, blame it on the e-mail gremlins, and give us the link to your post in the comments so we can all come visit anyway).
Want to participate in a future carnival? Check the schedule and gather your ideas.
Photo by Terri Mauro
Wonderful collection of ideas, Terri. Thanks for putting this together!
Wow! There are so many creative ideas here that can be used for DIY Day Camp or for year-round fun.