If you're considering forgoing expensive camps and planning for summer camp at home, here are some budget friendly activities, tips and easy ideas to get you started!
I know summer is supposed to be fun and fancy free, but don't you ever feel completely overwhelmed at the thought of no schedule and having your kids at home with you 24/7?
I'll be the first to admit it. I do.
Which is why it's good to have a backup plan to the simple declaration, "This will be a great summer!"
And I don't mean the backup plan of sending them away to a three month summer camp. (Although, there's nothing wrong with that! It's just not very budget-friendly.)
I'm talking about a do-it-yourself, at home summer camp!
Lucky for you I've found lots of ways for you to make your own summer camp at home! And best of all, these summer camp ideas leave plenty of time for kids to roam free, catch fireflies, get their toes muddy and run you ragged. (Note: this post contains affiliate links that may earn commission.)
DIY Summer Camp Tips
Below you'll find all the idea but don't forget these very important tips for making the most of your summer with the kids!
Pick a Theme
Do your kids love getting outdoors? Perhaps they love to build things or paint pictures. Choose an overarching theme for your camp. It could be superheroes, science, books... whatever interest your kids.
You have to stick to the theme every day. After all, a little variety goes a long way, but a summer camp theme will help with planning.
Alternatively, pick a different theme for each week or each day!
How Long is Camp?
Will you be away for the summer and only need one week of camp activities? Or do you want to have some form of camp activity every day for the whole summer?
What's the Schedule?
You'll also want to decide how many hours in the day you want to devote to summer camp at home. Is this going to be a morning, afternoon or all-day camp? Write out a rough schedule that includes every day activities like meals and quiet time and decide what times you'll save for camp activities.
Be sure to factor in whether your diy camp will include field trips and how many activities you'll want to schedule per day. You can have as few as one or as many as 5 activities.
Remember: a little flexibility in the schedule goes a long way towards curbing frustration!
Who Will Be Attending?
Is it just your family, or will you coordinate with others? The more people involved, the more complicated scheduling can become so be sure to be thoughtful in how you designate responsibilities and plan the budget.
The age of the children also matters! All of the ideas below can be adapted for mixed age groups. Note: click on the name of the camp to learn more.
Summer Camp at Home Ideas
DIY summer science camp for kids. A fellow blogger and I put together this at home camp. 8 weeks of fun, with 2 easy projects per week so you don't feel you have to do a ton of planned activities to have fun.
Camp KiwiCo. This camp is a little more expensive than the rest on the list, but still totally cheap compared to sleep-away camp! Each day kids put together an amazing STEM-based or craft based educational kit. They'll make impressive projects like bottle rockets, window gardens or a levitating lantern (how cool is that!).
The camp advertises itself as "5 days." However, this could stretch to 5 weeks because each kit includes bonus projects, ideas for further experiments and reading. That makes this at home camp truly budget-friendly!
We've constructed and adored numerous KiwiCo. projects in the past and I highly recommend them.
DIY math camp: 6 weeks of budget friendly learning ideas. Megan of Coffee Cups and Crayons and I put together two mathematics-based activities each week. Ideas range from snack-engineering (and eating) to games to art projects.
Library summer challenge. If you want a library or book-themed summer camp week, this challenge is perfect! It is a relaxed plan for parents and families to learn about all the secrets your local library holds, plus how to get more FUN out of library trips. It even includes a scavenger hunt!
MORE: Check out these summer camp books for kids
STEAM summer camp! This was put together by my co-authors of the STEAM Kids book. Kids will adore the projects like paper helicopters, ice cream lab, electric crowns, lemon volcanoes and more! All of these projects are inexpensive and have a huge WOW! factor. CURRENTLY (May 2023) ON SALE!
Even more ideas:
Low stress summer fun for kids. Don't over plan, but do have a strategy and a list of last minute ideas to try.
Around the world summer camp. Lots of camp lesson plans to fill your kids' summer with multicultural learning.
Mad scientist camp. A science based camp by the blogger at Little Bins for Little Hands.
Secret spy school summer camp. Spend a week solving mysteries with your kids
And OF COURSE, you can develop your own summer camp at home using the enticing books and activities we share in our weekly newsletter. You can subscribe to that little gem right here.
jason says
i would like to refer my readers to your website for additional information. is this ok?