With the economy in tatters and vacations turning into “staycations,” spending the summer at home, rather than in day camp, may become a necessity for many children this year. If at least one parent acts as primary caregiver in your household this summer, you can avoid those dreaded words, “I’m bored,” by organizing your own day camp among friends.
Ideally, each family participating takes a turn hosting camp and sharing their interests. This spreads the workload and exposes the children to more varied activities.
Share Your Interests
Are you a birdwatcher, gardener, or designer? Are you into scrapbooking, photography or crafts? Perhaps your profession or avocation is architecture, graphic arts, writing, painting, or sculpting. Just about anything that you spend time doing can be turned into a variety of hands-on learning activities that young children will delight in.
Summer is also the perfect time to attack that project you’ve always wanted to try: building a retaining wall, creating a mosaic, even painting a room. An activity that can seem like work to an adult will hold fascination for children who have never experienced it.
Plan, but Stay Flexible
The keys to organizing your own day camp are flexibility and inviting the right families to collaborate. Flexibility means the ability to vary dates, times, days of the week, and even duties to suit all the participants.
Above all, invite families with whom you enjoy interacting. Do you know any stay-at-home moms and dads or educators who have the summer off? Perhaps you know an unemployed parent planning to spend more time with family this summer. Consider the following points in establishing your own summer camp:
- Invite a small group of children (two to six) who get along and want to spend time together.
- You determine how many kids you can handle at one time.
- Collaborate with mothers and fathers you trust.
- If you are the one trying to jump start camp, volunteer to coordinate dates and activities.
- Meet in person with all parents together to discuss ideas and ground rules before making any final commitments.
- Double check your homeowner’s insurance concerning liability coverage for in-home accidents.
- Don’t be shy about making “rules” related to safety, which may be specific to each home (for example, trampolines and swimming pools require special handling).
Simplify and Save Money
Using what you already have by creating your own camp is part of the trend to “live green.” As noted in the book Living Simply with Children by Marie Sherlock [Three Rivers Press, 2003], “Contrary to popular belief, young children do not need extra classes, computers, television, or fast-tracked schooling. They need time to play with natural things, with real people, in fresh air.”
Here are more ideas to help you and your children get the most out of summer together:
- Try to provide playtime both inside and outside.
- Allow time for the kids to engage in free play and work out their differences among themselves.
- Use your hobbies and enthusiasm to provide activities that will be enriching to the kids and rewarding to you as well.
- Choose an activity for each day that can be broken down into manageable chunks, and make sure each child can participate equally.
- Consider planning field trips to low-cost or no-cost destinations.
Day camp at home organized by several cooperating families can strengthen friendships, save you money, and increase your spare time. More importantly it can give your child positive social outlets while ensuring you get quality time together, sharing your hobbies and interests.
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