We did not send our kids to any camps last summer. One positive of having been laid off from my full-time job was that I was home to run what we called "Camp Mom." For the sanity of us all, we needed to put some structure around our days.
My kids are much more cooperative when they know what to expect. I put together a loose schedule for each day of "Camp Mom." The over-riding rule was that all plans would be scrapped by any opportunity to see friends. Also, if the weather called for it, Camp Counselor Mommy, could call an audible and spend the entire day at the beach or pool without advance notice. Additionally, at least one day a week was set aside for a special field trip.
My kids are complete opposites. When given the choice between two or more things, it is guaranteed that each kid will choose something different. Therefore, in addition to our daily schedule, we had jars for each activity. Each jar was filled with things to do (to which we all contributed), and the kids took turns blindly selecting the day's activity from the jar. Each completed activity would be removed from the jar, until all were completed, before we would start over. The weekly field trip would be drawn on Monday so I could plan ahead. This eliminated arguments, choice paralysis, and indecisiveness. It also eased my need to come up with ideas all the time.
Another benefit of the jars, is that I was able to slip some activities in that I may have had an ulterior motive for. For example, using up the rest of a slime kit, or performing an experiment from a science kit they had yet to open from their birthday - things I wanted to get out of the house.
Camp Mom Schedule Example (M-F)
Note the day began when they woke up at their own pace. In summer, we throw away the alarm clocks. Everyone was typically up by 9:30am
Breakfast/Dress - 30 min
Indoor Activity Jar - 60 min
Free time - Independent play/read - 60 min
Lunch - 30 min
Outdoor Activity Jar - 120 min - 180 min
Movie and/or Cooking Class Jar - 120 min
Chores/Clean-up - 30 min
Again, this was loose, so if we had an outdoor activity that was going to take more time, an art project they wanted to spend more time on, or went out for lunch, we just adjusted.
Here are examples of what each jar contained:
Indoor Activities (usually accompanied by music)
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Outdoor Activities/Outside the House Activities
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Movies
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See also - Top Movie You and Your Tweens/Teens Will Enjoy
*Use your own parental discretion
Cooking
We had a separate jar for things we could cook together. I often pulled the recipes from Macaroni KID EATS! or our eat2explore family cooking kits. We also had a jar for theme nights, in which case the theme would help determine the meal. Theme nights were based on things we had available to us.
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Field Trips (also see our 2022 Summer Bucket List)
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Have fun all you Parent Camp Counselors out there! I'm always interested in hearing your ideas as well. Join me on Facebook to share your ideas and get event/activity updates in real time.
