by Marla Hansen

Created on: April 24, 2010

Putting together a home school summer day camp for kids can seem like an impossible task. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. Recruit a few fellow home schooling parents for an evening of coffee and planning and before you know it, summer camp will be ready for opening day. Here are some simple suggestions for activities to help launch your summer day camp.

MAKE A MEMORY

Purchase a scrapbook for each participant. This is a great opportunity for a parent to teach scrapbooking as an art. Choose someone that understands not only the ins and outs of scrap booking but can also make it a fun project. The children would be able to work on this throughout the entire summer, collecting photos, mementos and their written memories and observations. At the end of the summer, each child will have a wonderful keepsake to share and save.

VISIT ANOTHER COUNTRY

Plan an international picnic. Each family brings a food and game or music to share that represents their ethnic background. Invite others to teach a few phrases in a foreign language. Consider inviting international students from the local college to be a part of this interactive learning experience. This activity is a fun and easy lesson in history, geography and diversity.

GO WILD

Plan a day at the zoo. Give each child a list of things to look for such as species, native lands, habitats and life spans. Ask a zookeeper or docent to explain the importance of conservation and animal husbandry to our planet. As a follow-up, spend an afternoon recycling as a group and donate the money to a wildlife conservation group.

LIFE IN REVIEW

Plan a movie day. Discuss the characters and life situations in the film. Allow each child to find the positive and negative aspects for themselves. Ask how they would improve the film. What would they have the characters do differently if they had written the script? How would that have changed the ending? Then, have the children rewrite a scene and either film it or act it out on stage.

PLANT A GARDEN

Have the children plan, plant and care for a community garden. This will include preparing the ground, planting, weeding, watering and harvesting. The food can then be given to needy families, sold at a farmer’s market or shared among each home school family participating.

TIME TRAVEL

Build a time capsule. Have each child choose something that represents our world to them. They may also write a short note explaining their choice and attach it to their item. Have a ceremony to bury the capsule and set a date to dig it up in the future. Talk about the changes our world has seen in the last hundred years and what possible changes we might see over the next hundred years.

These are just a few ideas for home school summer day camp activities. With a few willing parents and a group of eager children, the sky’s the limit on what you can do and the fun you can have doing it.

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