DIY Summer Camp

Calvin balked when it came time to enroll for summer camps. He didn't want to do anything without a friend by his side, so he signed up for two week-long day camps with pal Simon -- a spy academy/science camp, and an air and space camp at the aviation museum.

That left us with six weeks of summer vacation to fill -- with DIY summer camp. The idea: We go a little nutty without any schedule, but overscheduling also leaves us frayed. So I began to design a camp-lite to give us a little structure and keep boredom at bay.

I proposed about several themes, and the boys chose a half-dozen. Then I began compiling potential camp activities (Evernote worked beautifully for this, organizing projects I found online, my own notes, area attractions, educational content, and more). The No. 1 consideration was flexibility: I rounded up options for outings, crafting, cooking, reading, and even TV time, so that we could do as much or as little as we liked, depending on our mood each day. I also focused on using what we already had, pulling together toys, books, stickers, tattoos and the like.

The most ambitious week was the first: Around the World. We tacked up a world map and pulled out the atlas, and each night I set out "plane tickets" and some props for the next day's journey. I put together simple passports for the boys to collect stickers after each day's travels. We sampled food, read stories, made crafts, and, at the end of the day, decorated our passports.

We still had guests visiting the first day, so it was a comfortably soft start. Monday and Tuesday we were in North America, with a convenient focus on California. We made simple cardboard-tube totem poles -- Calvin's told a story about pirates -- and our first field trip was to Gilroy Gardens. The botanical theme -- kids can ride in giant strawberries and garlic, for example -- provided a strong sense of place. The boys pointed out lots of North American/Californian sights: American Indians decorating the train, redwood trees, ferns, California poppies.

I wasn't sure how well all this would go over, but by Day 3 the boys were in the groove and eager for a laid-back trip to South America. We made rain sticks and shook them mightily, but it didn't rain. (Perhaps it did in the Peruvian desert?)

Day 4 was a tremendous success: Africa. Lots of coloring lions and elephants in the morning, then a trip to Egypt in the form of the curious Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. The boys found the themed park "beautiful," but the walk-through tomb inside was utterly thrilling and fascinating. We raced through it a dozen times, taking breaks to gawk at mummified people and animals and pretend to be mummies.

For lunch, we traveled to Ethiopia and met up with Felipe, Diogo, and Anna. I'd never been to an Ethiopian restaurant myself, and was happy to snag seats at one of the mesobs. A restaurant where you eat with your hands? Perfect for kids! The meal was full of surprises: Calvin especially enjoyed lentils, and Finn snuck sips of my coffee and couldn't stop talking about the beef. (A full week later, he was pressing Doug to return with him: "Daddy, you have got to try the beef!") Back home, we found a box waiting for us: Our recent house guest Amy had rushed to us souvenirs from her recent journey to Ethiopia, including money, an ABC book, a camel figurine, and a CD the boys can't get enough of.

Our final day brought us to Asia. Calvin fell in love with incense and fresh herbal tea (lemongrass was a big hit), and Finn amused himself coloring Kai-lan's eyes. Friends joined us for homemade satay. We tabled plans to go to Japantown for fresh tofu in the afternoon, instead enjoying a movie night with Mulan.

We just concluded our second DIY camp week: Dinosaurs! Grandma and cousin Devon provided tons of material: fascinating books, a compilation of dinosaur songs, stickers, coloring books, a model, and more. Supplemented with a few episodes of "Dinosaur Train," it's been a very informational week. (Finn's one-day-a-week preschool also happened to focus on dinosaurs that week, and he was thrilled to come home with a dino collage he made.)

Future camp weeks include Robots & Aliens, World of Water, and Science. I'm happy with how well this caught on with the kids, and how low-pressure it's been for me. Flexibility and setting low expectations have helped greatly. I hope to take a similar approach next year, but perhaps plan a bit further ahead; I dumped all my ideas into Evernote quickly, but am only getting things organized a day or two before each camp week starts. The boys' enthusiasm -- and seeing how much they're learning -- is wonderful motivation!