Maybe you don’t have the money for a summer camp, or perhaps the whole set schedule thing doesn’t work for your family (mine, either). But you still want to give your child some cool experiences this summer that are camp-esque. Here are some things that we are doing this summer; feel free to use them for ideas yourself!
Piecemeal Classes: When you can’t commit to a bunch of days in a row, find classes that meet just once per week, or once at all! Some good choices that we are using are Michael’s Passport to Imagination (just two bucks per session), BounceU and gymnastics camp, JoAnn Crafts classes (one at a time), Dierbergs cooking school (one at a time), and whatever else we find that’s just a one-time thing. If they work with our schedule, we may do one a month or a couple a month, but we don’t have to commit (or pay for) a long week of classes.
Home Camp Activities: These really don’t differ from what we already do, but it’s fun to call them camp! I just downloaded all of Education.com’s DIY camp guides and while we won’t be using all of them, there are some really fun crafts, nature activities and other ideas in the booklets. And they’re free!
Scattered Playdates: Wood Sprite has regular playdates with four to six families a week, not counting our park days. Play is much more important than many other things at her age to us, so we make it a big priority. We’re going to try out a themed owl playdate with our friends H and B next week, and if it goes well I have several other cool ideas for summer playdates. Last summer we did an Olympics theme and had a bunch of kids over for water balloons and other fun; we might do that again, too.
How are your summer adventures going? If you’re doing a camp alternative, tell us about it.
Photo of yumminess made during one of Wood Sprite's cooking classes courtesy of Sara S. and Wood Sprite.
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