Dear parents, with summer above us and schools closed for holidays, it’s about time you brainstormed something new, innovative, fun and exciting to keep your little ones productively engaged during the summer-break. Never mind if you haven’t yet enrolled your child into a summer camp. You can still make his summer exciting and a great learning experience by hosting a summer camp in your own or neighbor’s yard, given they too are also game for it. Planning your own DIY summer camp is highly fun and engaging. For one, it not only gives the children some kick to see a summer camp being organized in their neighborhood, but also prepares them for camp outings for the years to follow.
That said, planning a summer camp isn’t a child’s play. From getting other parents and kids in loop to getting volunteers to assist you in the task to chalking out the activities for a summer camp, it really takes arduous planning and execution to host a successful summer camp at home. To make things a tad bit easier for, Camp Navigator team advisors have brainstormed three exciting Summer camp themes that will set the ball rolling for summer fun. Pick your inspiration here.
Adventureland
- You can start by creating unique adventures in different areas of camp, just like Disneyland’s E Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Main Street, and ToonTown.
- Plan an adventure race where teams can run, hike, bike, climb, kayak, sail, perform team challenges, answer trivia questions, swim, perform sports skills, etc.
- Host a treasure hunt of some kind.
- Go whitewater rafting.
Challenge Week
- Ask the campers to decorate their cabins. Add points for cleanliness and decor.
- Give points for best dressed camper. You can also set a dress theme and give points for most innovatively dressed campers
- Plan challenges like Color Wars, Olympics, ropes course and team initiatives, treasure hunts, archery and any activity where cabins can go head to head. Make groups of different ages. At the end of the week, announce the winners.
- Hold shows for crafts, photography, music and drama. Each entry earns points for their teams. You don’t have to announce a winner you can just say that the red team got 354 points based on their 15 entries and the blue team got 287 points based on their 13 entries. Nobody will know who’s craft, photo or skit was “the best” or not. It’s all about the team, not the individual.
Fun and Fitness
- FitDecks are perfect. These are decks of cards that have a different exercise on each one. They even have decks specifically for kids.
- Obstacle courses are fun and boost fitness too. Have cabin groups challenge each other on different obstacle courses like running over dirt mounds, doing 10 seconds of jump-roping, kicking a soccer ball around some cones, throwing a ball through a hanging tire and running back to the start.
- Get campers up for some morning p.t. (physical training) of stretching, calisthenics and cardio (a short run). Campers who get up and do their p.t. get a special treat, earn points for their cabin or eat breakfast first.
- Plan a Sports Buffet where campers get to try different sports like swimming, skating, ultimate Frisbee, competitive jump roping, martial arts, boxing, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, handball, fencing, archery, etc.
