Summer camps are often the highlight of kids’ summer breaks but they can also come with a hefty price tag. Why not create a backyard summer camp for your kids! Check out our tips, ideas, and themes for at-home summer camp:
Getting Started
The first step in making your own at-home summer camp is deciding how structured you want it to be. If you have the availability, you can pencil in daily activities to give you and your children something to look forward to! You can also forego a full schedule and let your schedule (or your kids’ schedule) dictate how many activities you do a day.
Activities and Games
Mini Olympics
Combine all your favorite backyard games and activities for an at-home Olympics! Pick a country for each team and play backyard games like:
-
Egg-on-a-spoon race
- Cornhole
- Pool relay race
- Slip-in-slide race
- Spikeball or other backyard games
- Paper airplane contest
This can also be a fun culturally educational opportunity! Have your kids do some research on the country they pick for their Olympic team to see what they can learn.
Backyard Camping
Got a tent or some sleeping bags sitting around? Pull them out and set up camp in your backyard! This can also be done indoors (build an indoor fort) if you don’t have yard space.
Go on a nature hunt in your yard and collect an assortment of plants and insects. If you have a craft lover at home, create this grasshopper and dragonfly art activity!
Grasshopper and Dragonfly Craft 
Using basic art supplies, create a paper-based grasshopper and dragonfly! Follow the templates provided in this free activity to create these cute summer bugs.
Include other camping activities such as:
- Nature walks: teach your kids about the environment around them
- Making Smores
- Telling spooky stories
- Stargazing
Build your own Obstacle Course
Gather some outdoors obstacles like boxes, cones, jump ropes, tunnels, hula hoops and anything else you can think of and build a backyard obstacle course! Design it to challenge your kids, or let their creativity take over and have them build it for themselves! Challenge them to beat their best time, complete it while hopping on one leg, or any other twists to make it more fun!
Scavenger Hunt
Set up a scavenger hunt for your kids, either in your backyard, indoors, or in your neighborhood. You can also do a hiking or nature walk scavenger hunt, and take photos of the things on your list instead of collecting them.
Check out this free pirate-themed scavenger hunt from Evan-Moor.
Neighborhood Triathlon
If your kids are active and feeling cooped up, set up a form of triathlon in your neighborhood for them! Walk one section, bike as a family for another, and then either swim (or do something else fun, like hopscotch, wagon rides, or obstacles) for the last section! You can adjust the length or time of each section according to your kids’ capabilities.
Make it more fun by holding an awards ceremony with participation medals, snacks, and celebration treats!
Fun Science Experiments for Kids
Turn summer camp into science camp! Check out these fun and easy science experiments for kids that will be engaging and educational!
- Underwater Fireworks
- Making your own Slime – mix an 8 ounce bottle of Elmer’s glue, 2 Tablespoons of contact or saline solution, 1 tablespoons baking soda and food coloring to get your own slime mixture! Knead the mixture until it holds together.
- Mentos and Soda exploding bottles – using a 2 liter soda bottle of your choice (I’ve heard Diet Coke works best), set it up outside, away from anything you don’t want covered in soda. Have your kids stand back (eruptions can happen fast), then drop about half a roll of Mentos into the bottle. Step back quickly and watch!
- Tips: The goal is to drop all of the Mentos at the same time. One tip is to unwrap the Mentos roll and place an index card at the bottom, then remove the index card when you’re dropping the Mentos to create a kind of funnel.
Arts and Crafts
Tie Dye
A classic and fun summer camp activity, try tie-dying white clothes. You can do t shirts, sweatshirts, socks, or any other clothing that needs some color! There are even tie dye kits to make things easier!
Painting Rocks
Gather rocks from your backyard or outdoor spaces (preferably flat-top ones) and paint fun designs on them! You can paint flowers, initials, patterns, and other colorful designs! Add some mod podge craft finish on top of the paint to preserve it for longer.
DIY Bracelets
Make your own jewelry this summer as a fun and productive activity! You can braid string together to make woven bracelets or use a beading cord and colorful beads! You can also buy lanyard supplies and make friendship lanyards!
Paper Airplanes
The world of paper airplanes is fun and exciting! Challenge your kids to create different planes with different materials. You can create a contest to see who can fly theirs the farthest, or have an airshow and challenge the kids to do tricks with their planes. For a guide on how to create different planes and turn it into a STEM activity, check out this Evan-Moor blog.
If you have the time, you can make each week a theme to make it more like a summer camp! Kids will love these interactive activities that they can do in their very own home! For more summer learning ideas, check out the Evan-Moor resources below:
Daily Summer Activities
: This workbook series prepares your child for their upcoming school year using fun and exciting summer activities. Download a free sampler of lessons here.
Top Student
: With over 300 activities that cover a variety of subjects, this series of activity books will help your child excel.
Skill Sharpeners
Creativity meets academics in this fun activity book! Hands-on STEAM projects integrate science, technology, engineering, art, and math. The Skill Sharpeners series is available in 8 different subject areas. Download a free sampler of STEAM projects here.
Christine Wooler has experience working with children as a youth soccer coach and summer camp counselor. She is currently studying English Literature and journalism in college. She enjoys exploring educational topics that help students have fun while learning.