Summer Without Summer Camp

What are parents going to do this summer without summer camps? 

Not everyone sends their kids to camp but for many people, it has been a time-honored rite of passage and a formative part of their childhood–not to mention a sometimes much-needed break for parents. 

Camps began to send out the news in early May that the rumors were true. It was going to be impossible to put adequate measures in place to ensure the safety of children attending sleepaway camp. The official guidance to camps even considering opening was full of measures limiting attendance to local residents, placing barriers between bathroom sinks and between beds, enforcing social distancing, and sending home any campers or staff members with symptoms. Sleepaway camps are listed as the “highest risk” category.

As the news began to sink in, a kind of collective hysteria started to evidence itself in the parent population. Symptoms included panic, anxiety, a sense of helplessness and outright rage. The weeks of planned bliss without children were fading quickly as an elusive memory from previous years.

Time to get Creative!!

So what are we going to do? Get creative and ride it out. Try to see the upsides. 

First of all, let’s get a little perspective. After all, no one is asking these kids to stop eating their favorite dishes, live off the land or god forbid, crack a book. (Well, we might ask them to do that.)

So the kids will have to stay home for the summer and do what they did before summer camps were invented. They will loll around with long periods of boredom which will force them to be creative and actually interact more with each other. They will (hopefully) realize there is only so much Fortnite and X-Box they can engage in before they actually get sick of it and want to play outside. They will play pick up games, swim for hours and lie around doing nothing for a change. They won’t be overscheduled, hyper-supervised and obsessively watched over. 

Not that there aren’t already emerging ideas for other things for the kids to do this break. 

Some parents are banding together and forming makeshift camp arrangements – a sort of a camp co-op. Again this is not so far away from earlier times when groups of parents took turns taking care of giant gangs of kids; the only difference is that those earlier parents barely cared where the kids were or what they ate. 

This year we may see backyard camps with tents and makeshift archery ranges, plywood skate ramps and time actually spent with the dog. We’ll see family cookouts, long bike rides, exploring local sights not previously considered, and telescopes. We will see more time spent on fewer activities, maybe enabling kids to get really good at something instead of trying everything. 

Things to do

There are literally dozens of ways that you can use some creativity and patience to make this summer one to remember in a positive way. 

Here is a great article from the NY Times with a host of suggestions and listed below are some of the headlines:

Brainstorm. Ask your kids what they were most looking forward to about camp — then help them grieve their losses and figure out which parts you can recreate. 

Themes. Could you come up with an easy theme for each week or month? Think music or movies or nature or — if you have this kind of kid — school camp. 

Invest a little time upfront. Your kids will be more independent in the long run if you teach them some basic skills right now. 

Structure the day — or don’t. A schedule, written out on a whiteboard, might be reassuring to some kids and constraining for others. 

Offer a challenge — or don’t. Give your kids an idea or two to shape the day or week. 

Consider lunch a teachable moment. Show them how to make a sandwich, a quesadilla, a package of ramen — and then leave them to it. 

Make friends with screens. From massively multiplayer online games to video tutorials, TikTok and FaceTiming with friends and family, connectivity is a huge boon to the stuck-at-home kid. 

Gather some supplies. Stuff your kids can use to do things on their own. 

Creative supplies. Paper, tape (all varieties), new glue sticks, new pens and markers, pencils and a sharpener, watercolor paints, string and yarn, sewing materials, clay, Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, stickers.

Books – start with the ones you already have.

Open-ended toys: You have these already, don’t worry: building toys, figurines, dress-up, pretend play, dolls, train sets, little cars.

Games: Turn ‘em lose on a game of monopoly and watch their inner tycoon explode out into the world. Oh, and get them a deck of cards.

Indoor active play: an inflatable punching bag, juggling balls, an over-the-door basketball hoop, pull-up bar, balance board, floor mats or interlocking foam tiles, mini-trampoline. Remember these items on rainy days.

Outdoor activities: Frisbees, yard games (such as cornhole, badminton, croquet, tetherball), soap bubbles, a garden hose, water shooters, sidewalk chalk, bug catcher, magnifying glass.

Pick an end time for the “camp day,” then help the kids clean up — not because it’s your job, but because it’s nice to help.

Take care and stay healthy.