Backyard Summer Camp for Kids
Summer is coming and for those of us who have been tucked away in quarantine, it may seem like we’ve already been on one continuous break with the kids. But, now that distance learning is taking a break, there may be fewer activities for you to keep the kids active. But you don’t want to let them become couch potatoes and video game zombies.
Here are ways to recreate the summer camp experience in your own backyard.
These activities are guaranteed to help you keep the kids from being bored and help you maintain your sanity this summer.
- Sprinkler Fun — Let’s start with a tried-and-true favorite from everyone’s childhood: playing in the water sprinkler. This is the perfect way to get cool on a hot summer day.
A DIY idea for this is to make your own sprinkler. Get a 2-liter soda bottle (empty) and poke holes in the plastic with a knife or scissors. Then, attach the garden hose to the bottle and affix it with duct tape. Once you crank up the water, it will come shooting out of the holes and your kids can have fun jumping through the stream.
- Soda Bottle Rocket — While you’ve got those empty soda bottles, try this little science project. First, tape pencils to the sides of the bottle so that the bottle can be placed opening down without covering the neck of the bottle.
Then, fill the bottle with vinegar, add baking soda, and then quickly cover the bottle opening with a cork. Flip the rocket upside down so it rests on the pencils and wait for the chemical reaction to shoot the rocket into the air.
- Make a Shaving Cream Painting — This one may sound bizarre but hold on a minute. It’s actually a great way to get artistic expression and fun sensory play combined.
Get several cans of shaving cream from your local dollar store. Then, use food coloring to dye the shaving cream into different colors. Set up a tarp in the backyard and let your kids use the colored shaving cream to create pictures from rainbows to sky scenes to whatever their imagination can conjure up.
It’s messy fun, and the tarp can be easily hosed down and reused later if the kids want to try this again.
- Tightrope Walking — If you want to help your kids train for a career in the circus (or at least work with their motor skills), do a tightrope play area. If you have two sturdy trees, run two soft ropes between them. It doesn’t have to be high—just a couple of inches.
Then place the second rope high enough for your child to use as a handhold as they walk across the lower rope. If you don’t have a pair of trees, you can also use fence posts or poles in a pinch.
This year, we may still be dealing with a quarantine lockdown in our homes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t let your child explore their backyard and turn it into a home summer camp with these activities.
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