Family Summer Camp
If you are home with your children, you may be worrying about how to keep them busy and happy all summer long. You might also want to make the summer a little educational or productive. One way is to run your own summer camp or summer school for a few weeks, just for your own children.
During Family Home Evening, tell your children what you have in mind and ask them to help you plan a theme. (Don't ask them if they want to do it unless they really have a choice. They may groan, but are likely to have fun in spite of themselves.) Discuss various theme ideas—Book of Mormon stories, Knights and Princesses, Under the Sea, and so on. Then let each child vote for three ideas. Talley the votes and go with the most popular choice. If a clear winner doesn't emerge, eliminate any idea that got no votes, and only allow the children to choose one theme. Continue narrowing until you have a winner. If there is an unsolvable tie, drop the choices into a hat and draw one out.
Next, let your children brainstorm ideas for fun things to do at camp. Take down all ideas, but reserve the right to make the final decisions. Try to use at least one idea from each child. You can ask for ideas from several categories, reminding the children that everything should fit the theme. Departments can include refreshments, games, field trips, books, crafts and so on. Now have each child choose a department to work in. You can, if you have a large family, or if you are combining with several other families, have two children on each team. They get to help plan ideas for their department.
Make a basic outline for the weeks you are going to hold camp. If you decide, for example, to do the Middle Ages, you might have the first week devoted to knights and princesses, and the second to dragons and other folklore. Now choose a mini-theme for each day, related to the weekly topic. Start a file for each day, with the theme at the top, and a purpose for the day, similar to those in church lesson manuals. "The family will learn how a boy becomes a knight."
Under the purpose, list all the ideas that come to mind. A day on becoming a knight might include reading a book, playing some games played by young boys in training, eating a medieval meal, and beginning preparations for a puppet show. Organize these ideas into an order that varies quiet and educational with fun and silly. Decide on a time schedule for each event. Have your helpers assist in preparing materials for activities, and perhaps taking full charge of one section, perhaps something they thought of themselves in the course of the planning.
Try to include several field trips during the camp that bring the theme to life. Do as many hands-on activities as possible in order to keep this camp from looking like school, even though it really is. (This is similar to what many homeschoolers do on a regular basis.) If you don't include friends every day, do invite them for a few of the highlights, such as a medieval feast.
Take lots of pictures and have your children write a summary each week of what they did to include in their books of remembrance. Have fun learning!
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