Get everything you need to plan a family summer camp at home full of fun crafts, activities, and learning with Backyard Summer Camp.
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Remember when you were a kid and summertime seemed to go on forever? You might have gone to summer camp and done kids’ crafts and played sports. Or maybe you spent the summer at home playing in your backyard or riding your bike around the neighborhood.
Those were the best days.
And now you’re a parent and want your kids to have a magical summer experience too. Fortunately, it’s easier than you might think. At Backyard Summer Camp we believe your family can have the best summer ever in your own backyard.
We want to help you do it too!
So we’ve put together a simple process to help you plan out your family summer so the kids can have fun and the parents can have fun right alongside them too.
Here’s what you need to do to get started.
Make a list of essentials
Start by writing down a quick list of the things you already have planned for this summer or that aren’t negotiable. This will help you see how much time you have available for Backyard Summer Camp activities and make sure you’re not overscheduling.
Some things to put on your essentials list include:
- Your work schedule
- Vacation and travel plans
- Playdates, birthdays, and parties
- Sports practice and games
- Doctors’ appointments
- Other camps
These items probably aren’t essential, but you might want to add them to your summer schedule too:
- Kids activities at your library
- Events at local museums
- Memberships to use, like the YMCA or waterpark
- Special admission days at the zoo, etc.
Pick a theme
Next, pick a theme for your summer camp at home. Your summer camp theme will help you choose activities, crafts, and other things to do each day. We put together a list of summer camp theme ideas to help you get started.
Do you want to have a big theme for the whole summer or choose a different one for each week? You can be as general or specific as you like.
One big camp theme
If you want to do one big camp theme, all of your activities will be part of this theme. For example, you could plan an art camp and focus on art projects every week.
One big theme with weekly themes too
For this style, pick a broad theme for camp and break it down into smaller themes for each week. For example, if you decided to plan a science-themed camp, you could have one week for animals, one week for space, and another week that’s all about STEM activities.
Weekly themes
Of course, you don’t have to choose a big theme for your camp. You could pick a different unrelated theme for each week. This is a good choice if your kids are younger or you need to be flexible.
Some fun weekly theme ideas include pirates, dinosaurs, and LEGO.
Choose activities
Once you’ve decided on a theme, make a list of the activities you want to do. We think it’s a good idea to have a mix of activities. This keeps it exciting for the kids and makes it easy for parents to plan several related things.
We recommend picking activities from each category:
If you are looking for even more ideas to go with your themes, you could also include field trips, videos, or music that fits your summer camp theme.
Some other things to consider while choosing summer kids’ activities:
- Ask each person in your family for input. Kids like to feel somewhat in control, so try to include things that are each child’s favorite things to do.
- Balance trying new things – and old ones. Summer is about adventure but also relaxing.
Create a schedule
At this point, you probably have a lot of fun ideas. Now it’s time to put it all together into a schedule that works for your family.
Fill out a monthly calendar starting with the essentials that you wrote down. Then mark the dates that you’re planning to do camp activities.
Create a weekly plan that includes your themes and the activities you want to do each day. Your schedule might be detailed or not, depending on how flexible you want to be.
If you’re doing Backyard Summer Camp activities every day, you might want to put together a daily schedule too. This is handy if you’re sticking to a routine, but if you’re the type of parent who prefers to decide what to do each morning, don’t worry about creating a plan that’s too specific.
Don’t forget to leave empty days at the end of summer for back-to-school planning.
The important part of creating a summer schedule for your family is that you have a plan that fits your lifestyle – whether that’s super organized or just winging it!
Set ground rules
Finally, the last step in planning your summer is to set the ground rules. These will be different, depending on the age of your kids, where you live, and what the regular rules are at your house.
The ground rules might include what time your kids get up and go to bed daily, rules for video games or screen time, and chores.
While it’s important to have rules, as a parent you know you have to pick your battles. Balance in parenting is all about letting go of what isn’t important to make it infinitely easier to focus on what is.
Have fun!
Once you’ve got your plans organized, it’s time to have fun!
Remember that flexibility is key. Don’t plan too much each day and schedule in plenty of cushion time for transitions. You’ll almost certainly have days where things don’t go the way you planned. But each day is a chance to start fresh.
