Camp Grandma Tips and Ideas
Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am he (Isaiah 41:4 NIV, italics mine).
Well, here it is—the post with Camp Grandma tips, ideas, and photos that I've been promising you. I viewed this adventure as an opportunity to pass on the spiritual legacy God is building within Tom and I. God is calling forth a new generation to impact the world, and we don't want to miss it!
We had a lot of fun for two days. The children went home tired, happy, and full of new memories. Grandma did very well and even got to work on time the following day—though I'm not sure how much work she got done.
In the above photo you see the grandchildren with the camp hats they created for Camp Grandma. Such cute kids! They take after their grandfather. Really. You can see it in their faces.
The hats were easily made from materials purchased from Michaels, or you can find the supplies at Michaels online. Other crafts we did, like bead necklaces and hot coco mugs, can also be purchased online or at a local craft shop.The camp sign is created with cloth, stencils, dowels, ribbon, and fabric markers.
Sunday lunch pails
The pails also doubled as a place to keep the treasures they found on our nature activities.
What would camp be without a tent? This was our room with a view for star gazing.
Five kids slept in the tent on the back lawn with Grandpa, and the youngest (4 years old) slept with Grandma in her "big bed" in the house (nice for Grandma). Stargazing was made possible by leaving the top cover off of the tent. Each child was given a colorful box to use as a "cubby" for all his or her belongings. This kept the tent, yard, and house neat.
Grandpa had buried some special rocks as "treasures" for our Sunday afternoon Treasure Hunt. The kids enjoyed the adventure of searching the field and creek for these treasures. Bags of polished rocks awaited them on their return from the treasure hunt along with books about the rocks.
Chrissy over at The Taylor House has a wonderful free PDF printout for a Kids Nature Scavenger Hunt that we used on Monday morning.
It always helps to have someone in the family who plays guitar and can lead in some songs around the campfire. Our son Daniel offered his skills for the evening. Grandparents—this is the perfect time to pass on your spiritual legacy by sharing a devotional and some fun stories of your life.
Grandpa's magic trick introduced his devotional for our evening campfire.
The older children acted as camp counselors and helped the younger ones with crafts, cuddling, the treasure hunt, the nature scavenger hunt, and organizing our skits and memory verses.
Grab and Go Snack Stash from Real Simple was a great make ahead idea for a Snack Station that saved me lots of time. Homemade ice cream sandwiches were a hit too.
Snack time and skit practice are a good combination.
You can find skits on the Internet, and we found one at Julian's Campfire page. I also used a skit remembered from many summers of attending Camp Natoma as a kid—another memory to share with my grandkids.
The children's parents arrived for a bar-b-que on Monday evening, and all six grandchildren enjoyed having an audience for their skits.
We ended Camp Grandma with the children reciting their memory verses, performing their skits, and the parents putting their feet up to enjoy it all.
Ready to plan your own Camp Grandma? It's easy, and you are probably already doing some of these things when you have your grandchildren over for visits. Feel free to glean some inspiration from the following Camp Grandma planning sheet.
Click on this How to Plan a Camp Grandma link for a printable PDF of a pre-camp planning timeline, menu, and schedule.
Update note: Check out our 2013 version of Camp Grandma! And our 2014 version of Camp Grandma!
Have a lovely weekend, Susan
Now it's your turn: What do you do to create summer memories with your grandchildren and pass on your spiritual legacy?
Related post: How to Make Good Life Stories from Great Traveling Adventures
"Jesus likes it when we share." -Adelaide, age 3: Pass this along to everybody and their brother. OK, maybe not everybody's brother, but you know . . . all of your friends would be nice.