For millions of kids in America each year, summer camp is a cherished part of their childhood. It’s often a young person’s chance to run wild in the great outdoors, play all day and splurge on s’mores around the campfire all night.
Summer camps can also provide critical development opportunities for kids such as communication skills, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.
Some states have given summer camps the green light to move forward with extra precautions put into place, while others are still in limbo.
Even with extra safety precautions in place, some parents may not feel comfortable sending their kids to camp during the pandemic, but still want to provide the experience for their kids.
Travis Perry, CEO of ChordBuddy, has a few tips for parents to help recreate the summer camp experience for kids at home.
Do-It-Yourself Summer Camp for Kids at Home
Get Your Camp Set Up. It’s important to set the scene for your summer camp experience to allow kids to be fully immersed in the experience.
Create a sign with the name of your at-home camp as well as arrows out of construction paper that point to the different areas where activities will be taking place.
If you have room in your backyard, pitch a tent and let kids sleep outside for the night or create your own tent in your living room with sheets and blankets.
Watch some of these shows for inspiration:
Arts & Crafts Time. There are endless arts and craft ideas on Pinterest and video tutorials on YouTube. Use these free resources to jump-start your creativity.
Some of the more popular summer camp crafts are making friendship bracelets, tie-dye shirts and homemade wind chimes, and rain sticks.
Watch some of these shows for inspiration:
- ABSTRACT: THE ART OF DESIGN (RATED TV-14)
- BOB ROSS: BEAUTY IS EVERYWHERE
- CHILL WITH BOB ROSS
- THE CREATIVE BRAIN (RATED TV-14)
- Skin Wars
Neighborhood Hike. Make each child a checklist of items you see in nature like certain animals, flowers and rocks. Have kids check off the items on the list as they find them.
You can also have kids collect these items and do a craft project with them when you get back home such as painting the rocks and pressing flowers to make bookmarks.
Watch some of these shows for inspiration:
- THE MAGIC SCHOOLBUS
- THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS RIDES AGAIN
- BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY
- BILL NYE SAVES THE WORLD
- EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE
- IF I WERE AN ANIMAL
Living Room or Backyard Obstacle Course– Set up an obstacle course in your living room or backyard with stations such as crawling under a sheet or through a tunnel, hopscotch using hula hoops, carrying a ping pong ball on a spoon from one side of the room or yard to the other and rolling up towels to use as a balance beam.
Watch some of these shows for inspiration:
Music Class & Dance Party– Have kids make their own musical instruments like maracas or drums and create their own songs. Take your music lessons up a notch and use your old guitar or purchase a cheap one off of Amazon and teach kids to play.
You can use the ChordBuddy guitar learning system to help kids quickly and easily master playing so that it doesn’t become a frustrating experience.
And since most kids love dancing, crank up some music and let kids create their own dance routines, have dance-off contests or put on classics like the Macarena and the Electric Slide for choreographed fun.
Watch some of these shows for inspiration:
- BEAT BUGS
- LITTLE BABY BUM
- LEARNING SONGS BY LITTLE BABY BUM: NURSERY RHYMES
- JULIE’S GREENROOM
- KAZOOPS
- PUFFIN ROCK
Food & Bug Juice. What’s a camp experience without roasting hot dogs? If you can’t build an actual fire or don’t have a fire pit in your backyard, kids can still use a long stick and a grill to roast their lunch or dinner.
And don’t forget the popular camp drink bug juice, which is simply made from any Kool-Aid mix. Or for a refreshing drink, opt for some homemade lemonade. You can also have kids lend a hand in making any food, snacks and drink to help teach them cooking skills.
Watch some of these shows for inspiration:
Campfire, S’mores, and Sing-Alongs. End the day right with a campfire around a fire pit or if that’s not a possibility, use a bunch of candles in a round, metal tin to create the same effect.
Don’t forget the s’mores fixings! And bust out the guitar to allow kids to show off their new guitar playing skills from their earlier music class.
We've created this Summer Camp at Home Planner to help organize your summer of activities!
About the Summer Camp at Home Planner Contents:
This Summer Camp at Home Planner includes:
- Cover
- Weekly Themes
- Supplies and Resources Checklist
- Weekly Meal Plan
- Weekly Themes and Activities
Weekly Themes
The “Weekly Themes” page includes various themes:
- Space Week
- Disney Week
- Super Hero Week
- Pirates Week
- Under the Sea Week
- Dinosaur Week
- Olympics Week
- Steam Week
- Hawaiian Week
Supplies and Resources Checklist
The “Supplies and Resources Checklist” page includes sections to fill in:
- Craft and Art Supplies
- Baking & Cooking Supplies
- Printable Activities
- Movies
- Podcasts
- Books
- Board Games
- Music
Weekly Meal Plan
The “Weekly Meal Plan” page includes areas to fill in your menus:
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks & Drinks from Monday to Friday
- Grocery List
- Supply List
- Prep List
Weekly Themes and Activities
The “Weekly Themes and Activities” page includes areas to fill in your activities:
- Learn & Explore
- Fun & Creative
- Move
- Watch Movies & Listen
- Podcasts
Click here to download a printable list of activities.
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- 9 Summer Camp Movies on Netflix
- Most Recommended Camping Movies for Kids
- The Best Summer Camp Movies
- 100+ Educational Netflix Titles for Homeschooling (Free Printable List!) - April 26, 2025
- What To Watch This Week - April 25, 2025
- Where to Watch The Grinch - February 3, 2025
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