Passport to Summer Fun

Last year we did a "craft camp" with a few families from our homeschool group and church.  We had a great time but were limited to the number of people that we could include because we took turns meeting in each other's homes.  This year we decided to try something a little different so that we could invite more friends to join us in our summer fun!

I was inspired by this Simply Homemade post and Heather @ WellCreatedLife's Summer Passport Printable.  I loved the passport to fun idea and I liked the ability to involve more of our friends in our summer activities.  I proceeded to create a facebook group for the purposes of planning our group's summer activities.  Here is the idea:

This group is for the purpose of sharing activities together this summer. People will take turns planning (and posting) events and whoever can come can come.
We will kick things off with a craft day so the kids can make their own "passports" and then us moms can help them put "stamps" in them as we do different activities throughout the summer.
Here are just a few ideas of things that we could do:
hiking, VBS, swimming, zoo day, camping, beach day, road trip, bike ride, blueberry picking, library programs, fishing... and so much more!
Feel free to start planning events when you're ready! I'm looking forward to getting together with you all soon!

If you are looking for something less involved here are a couple of great summer fun printables:

HelloBee's Summer Fun List

Ami's Summer Bucket List Printable

JoyEverAfter's Summer Fun Circles

Many more on Pinterest

Looking forward to lots of good times with our friends this summer!  What fun activities will your summer plans include?

 

Proverbs 17:22 - "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

Craft Camp Week 4

Last week we had our final craft camp.  The theme of the week was "Camping".  Sallie and Mia put together some really cute things for the kids to do!

 There were two tents set up in Sallie's yard and each held a different craft/activity.  The first was beach ball coloring.

Inside the second tent the kids got to make insects from spoons and pipe cleaners.  So cute!

 Then we brought our brood inside for campfire songs with Mia's parents.  Her dad played the ukelele and her mom led the kids in doing the motions for the songs.  It was great fun!

 

I don't know about the rest of the crew but Nate and I were sad to have Craft Camp end!  I am thankful for everyone who participated and I am eager to do more fun things together in the future!

I have not stopped giving thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers.
Ephesians 1:16

Craft Camp Week 3 - Armor of God

This was my week to be in charge of Craft Camp activities.  I came across so many great Medieval crafts and activities it was so hard to choose what to do!  We ended up having a couple of stations and rotating the kids around to do the different activities.

The first station was Paint Stick Swords.  It was pretty simple but a little time consuming since we were letting the kids wrap their own swords.

Then it was on to Goblet Making.  They decorated clear plastic cups with gemstone stickers.  This one was pretty simple but fun.

 

Then each child got to create cardboard Shields with their choice of family crest/coat of arms design on them.  .  I originally was going to explain what each color and shape meant and make it really meaningful but it ended up being a little too busy to get their attention long enough for that.  I also had bible verses about the Armor of God for them to go over but that too was also hard to get their attention for.

With all that energy to burn we took them outside for "Knight Training".  They did sword fighting, jumping jacks, horseback riding (piggy-back), and of course how could we forget: pool noodle jousting! ;-)

Whenever I do something like this I can always find things that I would or could have done differently... but the kids had a great time and that is all that I can ask for!

Craft Camp Week 2 - Patriotic

 We just had our second Craft Camp!  It was another success! The moms in charge this week were self-proclaimed craft-challenged but we all thought they did a great job with their patriotic theme!

 The kids all painted stripes on flower pots and we mod-podged on some shiny stars around the top. 

 After the pots had dried we helped them plant some pretty petunias in their festive hand-painted pots!  How cute!

 

The kids had such a great time playing on the trampoline and tossing the red, white and blue  balloons around!  We only had a few tears when the balloons popped!  ;-)

 

 We had all American hot dogs for lunch and followed it with some yummy patriotic sundaes!

Plus the kids got to take home sparklers and star bubble necklaces!  What fun!

Thanks for another great craft camp ladies!  You have all set the bar high... I am hosting next time and I'm a little nervous!  ;-)

 
 

Craft Camp Week 1 - Summertime!

Yesterday we had our first Craft Camp!  There were a couple of hiccups along the way (we were missing a few people due to illness), but all in all it went pretty well.

 Leah hosted and had the theme of summer/beach which worked out well since she had some fun stuff leftover from a luau that they had a couple years ago.  She sure has gotten her money's worth out of these decorations... I think she said this is the fourth party that they have used them for!

 The kids got to dig for shells in the sand, and play on the trampoline and playground while a couple of us moms ironed on freezer paper stencils to the kids shirts.

Then each kid got to paint their own "craft camp" shirt.  They all did a good job, some better than others.  ;-)

  

 After we finished up our activities we all were ready for lunch!  The moms had all pitched in the different parts of lunch so there was not a lot of responsibility on any one mom.  It felt pretty well

divided up.

Everyone seemed to have a great time and we are all looking forward to our next one in a couple of weeks!

Craft Camp!

A couple of us decided to put together a craft camp for our kids this summer.  While we have not done a craft camp before, we have done similar gatherings for Valentine's Day and Easter. Basically its a play date that includes a craft and a couple of games or activities on a certain subject, theme, etc. We may still have some kinks to iron out but we feel like we have a pretty good handle of how things will go.  I will post updates along the way to show you how it goes!  ;-)

We kept it to just families a small number of families to avoid too much chaos. Also we tried to stick with families who have similar age kids to keep things simple and not have to worry about too many different skill levels or interests. This is the invitation I sent out to a few families that we thought would be interested in joining in the fun:

We will be meeting from 10am - 1pm on Monday mornings through June and July ( June 11th & 25th and July 9th & 23rd).  We will rotate homes and responsibilities. Each time we meet we will plan on doing a craft and activity/games together, then share lunch.

June 11th - Lehi will be hosting - theme  Summer/Beach  - we will be painting shirts for the kids (and adults if you want!) so you will need to bring a blank t-shirt for each kid (does not need to be new, just clean).

June 25th - Beth will host (teamed with Jen) - theme  Patriotic

July 9th - Wani will host - theme Fairytale/Medieval/Dress Up (Nate's birthday is on the 8th so I will have cupcakes  to share)

July 25th - Sallie will host (teamed with Mia) - theme Fair(?)

Whoever is hosting will be primarily in charge of the day's activities and crafts (though still might share that responsibility with someone else if needed).  The other moms would then be responsible for bringing the food for everyone to share for lunch. We will assign different foods each week to help keep things running smoothly.


** Here are some websites that we used as inspiration when getting ideas for this "craft camp".  Feel free to use them or other online resources when planning your share of the camp.

DIY Summer Camp from Parenting - http://www.parenting.com/article/summer-camp-at-home

Mommy & Me Book Club - http://preschoolbookclub.blogspot.com/

Guest post on Brown Paper Packages about DIY Summer Camp - http://www.brownpaper--packages.com/2011/07/guest-blogger-diy-summer-camp.html

Family Fun Summer Camp Crafts - http://familyfun.go.com/summer/summer-crafts/summer-camp-crafts/

Skip to My Lou Craft Camp - http://www.skiptomylou.org/craft-camp/



I am eager to get things started! We enjoy getting together with our friends and of course we love doing craft things too!  Its going to be a fun summer! Feel free to send me any links or suggestions you may have to help our craft camp go smoothly!  Thanks!