Last summer, I wrote a post called List of Ways to Create a Summer Camp Experience at Home. It was a great step-by-step post on how to get started creating a summer camp in your own home or backyard. I believe in summer camp as a means to keep children active, stir creativity, interact socially, but if summer camp away from home is not an option because of age, cost, or any other reason, then summer camp at home is the next best thing.  Camp at home can consist of any type of activity that is fun for your family.  Tailor it to the varied interests of each child and yourself.  It can last an hour, all day, a week, a month, or all summer.  The only limitation is the amount of time and preparation that you have available and how much you want to want to put into it.

Members to ListPlanIt will find the lists they need to plan for a summer of fun and learning in Student Planning, including summer camp lists and worksheets.  Not yet a member?  Start your FREE 30-Day trial and get organized for summer camp and beyond.

Here are some great ideas from around the web for your own summer camp experience at home.

• Kids make their own Camp T-Shirts by Family Fun
• Give your kids a place to learn, play, imagine, and rest with their own Tee Pee from Etsy’s blog
• For theme lovers, create a Little House on the Prairie Camp and give kids a taste of life a century ago
• Nature Scavenger Hunt by Michelle’s Charm World
• A Sit Upon for sitting in the grass by Ziggity Zoom
• Build a Fairy House by FairyHouses.com
• Kids love pets?  Create a Mini Worm-Composting Bin for each child by Kuraoka.com
• Gather some bright sheets of tissue paper and let your kids Make Beautiful Suns for your windows by Twig and Toadstool blog
• I love these 5 Nature Activities from Parents.com
• It’s an activity AND a treat.  Rainbow Pudding Pops from Sandy Toes and Popsicles
• Not only does it make a great quiet, reflective activity, but a Summer Journal can be a wonderful record of a great childhood summer.  post from Teach Your Tot

Have you ever had a backyard summer camp?  What fun activities were a hit at your house?