Camping Adventure
Our family loves to go on little camping trips throughout the year. We love everything from the late nights to sitting around the campfires, roasting food and marshmallows to sleeping on the hard ground. (Actually, not the sleeping part…)
This summer camp took place at the end of June 2016! We wrapped up our week of fun learning with an actual camping trip.
Day 1: Gone Fishin’- I bought butterfly nets and foam sheets at the Dollar Tree (cost: $4) The foam sheets were cut into fish shapes. I added numbers and simple action words on the backs of each fish. First, we played the “Fish Says” game (each kid picked a fish, read the word and acted it out.) Next, we added the fish to the pool for catching. After a few turns of “just” catching, I instructed the kids to catch 2 fish and add the numbers, or catch fish with numbers 1-5 to put in order, or find two fish with matching numbers. Then, the kids played camp and pretended to cook and eat fish!!
Day 2: We went for a nature walk around the neighborhood and collected “nature” items that intrigued the children. Then the items were glued to cardstock to create lovely works of art!
Day 3: We went for an early morning hike at our favorite nature preserve! Later in the day, we learned how to tie various types of knots listed in a camping book.
Day 4: We ended up being on local TV–woohoo!! And got to watch the behind-the-scenes of the making of a news segment. When the excitement of that wore off, the kids were begging for our next activity! Stars and constellations! The kids made name constellations (I wrote their names on black construction paper with a white crayon. The kids glued star pasta at the corners of each letter.) They also copied their favorite constellations in a similar manner as the name art.
Day 5: We read a bit more from our camping book about packing and other necessary preparations. Then, we got to it! We packed and headed on our trip!
Camping Adventure DIY Summer Camp lasted one week, although with the massive amount of ideas on Pinterest, it could easily last 2 weeks. The cost of the camp was $4 that was spent on the nets and foam sheets. (The camping trip costs were around $50 for some food items we didn’t have and campsite costs.)
You can find more great DIY Summer Camp At Home ideas here…
