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Experience All the Fun of Summer Camp Without Leaving Home

Remember the days when you could hardly wait to get out of school for summer vacation? Summer for kids usually means no homework, no early mornings and time with friends. As fun as it is, sometimes summer boredom can set in with everyone’s different schedule.

This year stop the cycle of the summer blues. Cooper Fitness Center is busy during the summer with youth and sports camps each week. Cooper Fitness Center Youth Programs Director, Meredith Rosson, has chosen a few of her favorite camp games and activities that are easy to duplicate at home for the entire family to enjoy.

Before you start the games, introduce an “I’m Bored Jar.” When your child announces boredom, this is an easy go-to method to get them up and moving. It’s a good idea to have a jar of activities for them to do when they are alone and without friends, and a separate jar for when friends are over and you don’t want another hour wasted in front of the TV. Here are some fun camp ideas to try at home:

Create an herb or veggie garden. This activity is simple. Allow the child to select different veggies and herbs, and start a small garden in the backyard. If you don’t have a backyard use Dixie cups, allow children to decorate the cups and fill them with potting soil to start an indoor herb garden. Once the plats have grown, find a recipe in which you may use your child’s plant and cook together.
Pop the Balloon Relay Race. Blow up balloons and have your kids waddle to a certain point and back with the balloon between their knees. Once they return to their starting point, they will sit on the balloon and make it pop. To make it more difficult, they can’t use their hands to hold the balloon in place beneath them.
Play Wipeout. Kids at camp love being in charge and creating their own obstacle course. Each child takes a turn using specified equipment to develop their own obstacle course for their friends or parents to experience. Time each other and see who is the fastest.
Cup Stacking Competition. This is a great indoor activity for your competitive and non-competitive children to play on hot or rainy days. Use 10 plastic cups per child and have them stack the cups upside down on top of one another into a pyramid formation. Then have the children un-stack the cups for a race. Kids find this game stimulating and fun!
Create a Scavenger Hunt. Scavenger hunts are always a hit with summer campers. They really enjoy making it a competition. Give two teams the same list of items to find or allow them to create lists for the other team.
Free Play. This is Meredith’s personal favorite, where kids have to create their own game and own rules given certain equipment of the parents’ choice. It is a perfect time to put them to work on some chores but make a race out of it.

For two more simple game ideas, watch here.

Don’t let summer be a bummer for your kids. Try these creative and active games to get them away from the television and computer during the long summer days.

For more information about Cooper Fitness Center youth programs or to register your child for camp this summer, click here or call 972.233.4832.