So, our weekend camp-at-home was a great success! I was so impressed how well Jake handled a disappointing situation, and just embraced the activities we came up with. (Of course, now he’s spending the week at day camp, so he made out OK in the end, LOL…) Anyway! I promised photos to show you what we did, so let’s get to it!
Friday night the guys set up the tent and camped outside. In the morning I made the same type of breakfast they have at any of the scout camp out: hard-boiled eggs, pancakes, and sausage. (I added some bacon in for good measure, LOL). We ate outside (something we rarely do in the morning) and we talked about the plan for the day.
Drew came up with a great list of activities, trying to cover the basics of what they do at camp: arts & crafts, nature, water activities, etc. It was insanely hot out, so we did try to keep things low-key.
The first thing the boys did was go on a nature scavenger hunt. I created a list of things to look for and they found just about all of them!
Then it was time for arts & crafts. Of course, we needed a name for the camp, and everyone liked “Camp Stone’s Throw” — a stone’s throw away from home, LOL 🙂 Now, I don’t know about scout camps in other areas, but around here they have a little cheer that goes with the name. For example, the closest camp to us is Camp Nooteeming. “Nooteeming” translates to “men of the woods” so whenever you hear the name of the camp, everyone cheers, “Men of the Woods!” Similarly, at Camp Bullowa the cheer is “Rah! Rah! Bullowa!” Totally goofy fun. Our cheer was “Stone’s Throw, let’s go!”
They did some archery, made neckerchief holders, and played on the slip & slide in the afternoon.
Then they had some down time before preparing a few skits. Skits are a hugely important part of any camp out! We cooked hot dogs over an open fire for dinner.
After dinner, they boys did a show for me, performing their skits and telling jokes.
Then we ended the evening with s’mores, sparklers, glow sticks, catching fireflies, and playing on the swingset until it was too dark to see 🙂
It all ended up working out wonderfully! I’d highly recommend doing something like this with your kids if you have a free weekend. Honestly, it wasn’t that much work — Drew put it all together on the fly — and it was so much fun for everyone. Definitely a great summer memory!
