This has already been a bit of a crazy summer. With COVID cases on the rise and stir crazy children, not to mention cancelled trips, camps and birthday celebrations, it is hard to find great things to look forward to. I have been impressed with the many resources out there to help parents and kids have a great summer experience with virtual camps and resources. Here are some great FREE options available, along with tips for how to use them.
Unicef Kid Power Summer Camp is one of my favorite new discoveries. This series of short science, art and exercise videos encourages kids to try new things on their own (with the tagline, “You pressed play, now go play!”). I love this concept for a virtual camp. My kids have definitely felt zoomed out, and these 2-3 minute videos provide some fun ideas that can lead to plenty of creative offline play. Unicef also uses donations to provide supplies to communities in need, so participating helps with fundraising, which is really cool.
Camp Tinkergarten weekly resources have been pretty fun and provide me with great ideas to whip out when my kids and I need a break from being stuck at home. This week is all about finding and observing little bug friends, with a recipe for biodegradable homemade playdough they can use to sculpt their own tiny friends. So fun!
Kiwi Co came out with Kiwi Camp, and the lessons are also pretty short and sweet. They have tinkering challenges for the kids to do with materials from home, along with how-to videos and ideas for extra exploration. These videos and camp ideas are free, with the option to buy a week of lesson-themed crates that provide you with all the materials you need upfront. We have had a subscription of Kiwi Crates in the past, as well as their Atlas crates. I love these little idea boxes that provide the materials and lesson plans in an easy ready to go format. The grown-up instructions are straightforward and the booklets for kids are also interesting and well composed.
Mo Willems Lunch Doodles are so fun and only about 20 min long. He recorded 15 lessons, inviting viewers to tour his studio and experience his creative process. This debuted shortly after school was cancelled, but if you missed it you could spend a few fun weeks drawing with Mo this summer.
Varsity Tours has an impressive summer course catalog and includes many free options including a week long Magical Potions Chemistry Camp, or these classes by “Tik Tok star” Phil Cook.
There’s no wrong way to host a summer camp at home. You could pick a couple of camps and do them every day, or once a week at a certain time. You could schedule a whole week of a particular camp and do it every day that week. This would make it more like real camp, and give the kids a sense of anticipation. Or you could keep these resources in mind and whip them out as needed. So far I have been following my kids’ lead as we wander outside, climb trees, ride bikes, and generally take it easy. It’s been so fun to see all the hilarious things they come up with! As the summer goes on I am planning to introduce a little more structure with the help of a few of these resources.
What have you been doing to make this summer special? We can all use more ideas, so please share yours in the comments!