DIY Day Camps During Pandemic

Anyone with a child at home under the age of 18 is experiencing some level of stress as summer stretches out before us in a world dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic. This is NOT a post to debate the issues of whether or not to venture out for organized activities or camps. If you want that local (Arizona) debate, there is a great post from Raising Arizona Kids.

However, if you have decided to create your own "at-home" experience, here are some resources that might help you. The key point is plan, plan, plan! If your kids are at camp, whether sleep camp or day camp, their schedules are tightly controlled. To create your DIY camp, I would suggest doing the same. My second suggestion is to make these activities feel "different." You've been home with the kids for some time now and to get everyone in the "camp" mood, this needs to feel special or different. Of course, you can always pick and choose fun activities from this list. So, let's create your own DIY summer camp with step-by-step instructions!

1. Create a name for your camp. Many years ago, I entertained my (now adult) niece and nephew at Camp Campbell.  One of our first "arts and crafts" activities was making a camp shirt.  Here's a link for an easy way to make tie-dye shirts with acrylic paint. It would be very easy to create some stencils with your "camp" name and paint them on after your tie-dye shirts are done. You just created 2 days of arts and crafts activities and a memento of their camping experience!

2. Plan your "camp" meals. If you want to keep it easy in a "day camp" setting, you just need to plan fun lunches that you can eat picnic style. I've packed a ton of ideas onto a special Pinterest board, Day Camp so you should have no problem planning ahead. If you really want to be adventurous and include a "sleep-over" camp with a fire, don't forget to include the s'mores and at least one "campfire" meal.  I've also included some links on the Day Camp Pinterest board for that.

3. Keep a strict schedule. Be sure to plan educational activities, physical activities, arts & crafts and quiet time into your camp, keeping in mind the ages of your campers. See the list of links below as well as my Pinterest Day Camp page for specific ideas on each type of activity. Consider creating a schedule board for each day, or a handout for the "campers" so they know exactly what is coming.

4. Consider at least one overnight camp out in the yard. This could include a tent and campfire, or as simple as some blankets and sleeping bags in the living room. 

5. Get some "camp counselors." If you have older kids, get them involved! Younger kids will be thrilled, you give those older kids something to do, and take some of the pressure as "camp director" off of you!

6. Have a specific "start" and "stop" to camp, especially if you are doing a "day camp" format. It's not sustainable to keep "camp" going indefinitely and kids will likely lose interest if you try. Keeping a "start" and "stop" is almost as important as keeping a strict schedule because it gives kids the feeling of something "different".  You also get time off when camp is not in session!

Can't bear to do this alone at home?  Here are some resources to local virtual day camps this summer. 

Ideas for Educational Activities

• Phoenix Water Services has a brand new digital resources pages. The left side is for kids and the right is for adults. Don't miss the fun videos of "Wayne Drop" and "Loo Poo".  There are activity books with coloring pages you can print for the little ones or order free hard copies in advance. Be sure to check out the tons of lesson plans you can use.

• Virtual Water Festival is another page from Arizona Project WET and geared to teaching elementary students (especially 4th grade) about water. Filled with videos, lessons and games, this is a treasure trove.
• STEM Lessons Activities from Nerding teaches how to build or do a bunch of fun things, especially for elementary and middle schoolers.
• Mystery Science has a ton of activities for kids, Kindergarten through Middle School
• Make a Time Capsule What better time than now??
• Make homemade cards and send a letter to relatives (just like at camp!)
• Grow Borax Crystals
• Make Elephant Toothpaste with a few household items. Cool science experiment - outside.
• Make up stories, create your own book and illustrate (this can be done over several days)

Ideas for Physical Activities

• Play at Home - This is a great, interactive and local website that includes mindfulness, songs and a little yoga. It's especially great for preschoolers.
• Children's Museum of Phoenix has a bunch of videos with movement and yoga, as well as other videos with projects and learning.
• Swimming - Don't have a pool? Create a slip & slide with the hose, bubbles and/or shaving cream. Hose them down when you're done. See a bunch of DIY slip & slides on Pinterest
• Biking
• Scavenger Hunt, Obstacle Course or Relay Game - see my Day Camp board on Pinterest for tons of outside games you can put together for a relay
• Paint with Squirt Guns - Arts & crafts and physical activity in one!
• Make bubbles - see Pinterest for a recipe for giant bubbles

Ideas for Arts & Crafts

• As You Wish Pottery has complete kits you can pick up or they can ship to you!
• STG Top 5 Kids Crafts - our very own!
• Cake decorating. This is fun whether you have a lot of supplies for decorating or just a few. Each kid gets to make their own cake and then decorate it.

• Create Birdseed Hearts - for a truly outdoor craft
• Make Painted Kindness Rocks and then take a walk and leave them around your neighborhood!
• Salt Painting
• Q-Tip Painted Art
• Tie-Dye T-shirts
• Make homemade pizzas

Ideas for Quiet Time

• Listen to some stories!  There are lots of resources on the internet now to watch videos of someone reading to kids.  Here are a few of my favorites:
• Hall of Flame Museum
• Phoenix Public Library
• Dolly Parton
• NASA with Story Time from Space

• Virtual Field Trips! offered through Arizona State University are seriously cool for K-8 to explore
• Australian Reptile Park has a number of short, engaging videos on its YouTube channel featuring animals American kids don't get to see much, including koalas!
• San Diego Zoo has a bunch of animal cams for your viewing pleasure
• Kitten Rescue Cam because everyone needs a kitty fix.
• National Geographic Kid Videos - This includes some great projects and games.

Whatever you decide to do this summer, take some time to relax. It's been a hard couple of months for everyone and you deserve it!

cindy

Public vs. Charter vs. Private Schools

My son has always been a challenge to educate.  He's a really good boy and very smart, but it's been hard to find a school that is the right fit for him.  We started in our "neighborhood" public school; that is, the default public school.  Kindergarten was fine, but First Grade was a nightmare - a classroom with a loose structure (i.e. group working in "centers") that wasn't suited to a kid with auditory and speech issues.  About this time we also figured out our son had ADHD.

Next step - a "traditional" public school.  A traditional school is a regular public school except the kids wear uniforms and are taught in a more traditional way - desks that face a teacher who centrally presents the lesson from a textbook.  In our case, the "traditional" public school used Saxon math and Spaulding reading methods which were very beneficial for our son.  A kid who could not memorize 15 simple spelling words without a lot of frustration and tears became a great speller because he understood the phonics of the words.  Also, the teaching method was better because it cut out distractions by having only one source of instruction - the teacher.

Fast forward to 5th Grade.  In about 4th grade in our traditional public school, students were learning how to keep a "planner" - an organizer so they can track their assignments.  By the time 5th Grade rolled around, missing assignments counted as a "0" and students had approximately 5 subjects to track.  Executive skills were a must - the ability to prioritize, manage time, synthesize important points and stay organized.  Flat out - he lacked executive skills.  In a classroom with 30 kids even with his 504 accommodation, there was no way the teacher was able to work on these skills.  At the end of 5th Grade, he was failing most classes and convinced he was stupid.  Time for a change.

We made the radical decision to go to a charter school, but not just any charter.  We turned to an online charter school.  It's very close to home schooling, but with a structure of a school (curriculum, grades, lesson plans, etc).  My husband did the day-to-day teaching with the assistance of online lessons.  It was very successful - Christian had good grades and proved to himself that he could be successful in school.  Unfortunately, it was very difficult for my husband who was also trying to work full time, so we just couldn't continue.

This year we are turning to the next school choice option - private school.  Christian is attending a very small Catholic school that uses a "classical" teaching method.  So far we are very impressed with both the quality of the curriculum and the values and sense of community we definitely did not find in public school.  The small class size and the knowledge that he can do the work is motivating him to step up in both his study but also in those organizational skills.  After our experience with online school, we also recognize the importance of understanding exactly what he is learning and how to help him.

I'm so thankful we have so many choices for educating our children.  Not every kid learns the same way, but the only way to get the right education for a child is to keep pursuing what works for him or her.  I sometimes feel like a whiner for complaining about school, but I'm not sorry about advocating for what is best for my son, whether that is public, charter or private school.

Let's see what this year brings.

cindy