Summer Camp at Home for Kids

Host Your Own Summer Camp at Home this Year

If you are getting ready for school to be out, and not sure exactly what your kids plans are for the summer, think about having a summer camp at home for your kids this year. When our kids were little, I did something similar for them as a fun activity for many years, and they really loved it.

Summer Camp Activities for Kids

Kids will never admit this, but they like structure and like to have something to look forward to each day. During the school year, they have a school schedule and know what to expect and when.

You can give them some idea of what the day will be like at home over the summer by planning ahead. This helps them (and you!) to make the most of the summer vacation and your time together.

There is no set way to create a summer camp. You can implement as much or as little as you like from these ideas. The “Summer Camp at Home” workbook gives you a “menu” of options for you to pick and choose from.

Summer Camp Essentials – Themes for the Week

You could do one of the themes as is or tweak it to better suit your family. You can choose to do all ten weeks – or just a few. Whatever works best for your family is the right thing to do while your kids are out of school.

Your summer camp plan will also depend on how many other obligations are already laid out for your summer. For more on this and how to make the most of your family time, see “Summer Activities for Kids“.

The “Summer Camp at Home” workbook will be especially useful this year. Very few people have a lot of money to spend on actual summer camps that you pay to attend. These summer camps can cost as much as $800 to 2000 per week for “sleep away camps”. It seems they have gotten more expensive, just like everything else.

However, you can have your summer camp at home on the weekends or evenings for the day’s “fun” events if you are not home with them during the day. This plan can give them the structure to know what to do if they are a little older during the day as well – to get to do the fun stuff.

Learning Goals for Kid’s Summer Camp at Home

Our kids always received a summer learning workbook from their school or lessons to be completed from Khan Academy over the summer. You can keep track of that in this workbook as well.

If your school doesn’t give them a workbook or assignments for the summer and you don’t want them to lose their knowledge over the summer (a real thing), you can also get more extensive summer learning workbooks through Amazon. Summer Brain Quest – by school grade

Reading Goals for Your Kids this Summer

If your kids have a reading goal for the summer (as most kids do), you can keep track of that in the “Summer Camp at Home for Kids” workbook. There is a section for reading challenges and other fun things.

I would always take our kids on a weekly trip to the library in our area for them to pick out books to read. We also enrolled them in the summer reading program for kids (and adults – for me).

Our library had fun prizes for milestones you reach throughout the summer as well. They also have a lot of free summer programs to check out that our kids enjoyed.

Fun Summer Activities for Kids

Fun stuff and rewards follow all of that hard work, of course. After talking about the learning aspect, we can’t forget the flip side of making summer fun and that is the majority of what the “Summer Camp” workbook is about.

Giving your kids lots of options for things to do – including screen-free fun is a must today. I don’t think you want your child to remember summer as being the time they spent all day staring at a screen.

This book encourages them to have outside activities, outings, and goals for things to accomplish over the summer. Sometimes all we need is a little nudge in the right direction and ideas for things to do off of our phones.

Your family can make their own summer bucket list or use one of the sample ones included to start thinking about what they really want to do this summer. Make sure everyone gets to add their own idea to the list as well. This way it feels like a real family bucket list. (They can also make their own individual list too – you can print as many as you want).

Summer Camp at Home for Kids – Jobs and Rewards

In case you worry that your child will happily spend the entire summer locked in their room with only the dog and their screen of choice for company (just me?), you can set some boundaries from the beginning. The workbook also includes pages for chore checklists (with some samples to start).

There are also responsibilities to fill out “free form” style. So, things like brushing your teeth and other things that are not chores, but you do everyday fit here.

You can have your kids earn points and rewards for completing different tasks you assign with ideas for this as well. You can make it whatever goals you or they want to track and let them keep track of their progress on the attached sheets as well.

Highlights of the “Sun and Fun for Kids” Workbook

Summer Camp at Home Activity Book includes:

• Summer Plans – 5 months calendar pages
• Summer Fun – 24 pages of activities
• Summer Jobs and Rewards – 11 pages of chore checklists, responsibilities, ways to earn points and rewards for the summer
• Summer Camp Essentials – 14 pages – Weekly themes and other ideas for the summer – 12 weeks worth
• Scavenger Hunts – 7 pages – For rainy days and outside fun
• Summer Road trips – 22 pages – BONUS – activity book for your next road trip
• Summer Reading Fun – 6 pages – BONUS – ways to keep your kids on track with their reading goals for school over the summer
• 115 pages total in the bundle

Use these summer checklists, schedules, and even (gasp) chore lists to keep your kids entertained and productive this summer. The educational portion includes reading trackers to keep them on track with their reading minutes for school.

The book includes fun stuff too like activity worksheets and scavenger hunts. If you are going on a road trip this summer, there is a section to keep them entertained for that too.

If you want your child to have a super fun and productive summer this year, give our workbook a try. For less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks, you can have your summer planned out. So, why wait?