Are you a parent who wants a way to keep your kids entertained without spending hundreds of dollars on summer camp? Or maybe you’re a broke teen looking for a way to keep busy this summer. Maybe your grandkids live far away, but you still want to share your hobby with the younger generation.
If you’re thinking, “yes, that’s me!” to any of these, you’re in the right place. In this guide to having an at home summer camp, you’ll learn how to set up a fun camp step-by-step AND make money as well.
The idea of a DIY camp is super popular, but I can never find a guide on the Internet that takes you from start to finish in planning one of these camps.
And that’s why I’m here! I am a 15-year-old who spent last summer organizing a summer camp for kids in community, so I know what it’s like.
I’ll give you all my expert tips on picking a theme, planning your activities, advertising the camp, scheduling each day, and so much more!
Without further ado, let’s get started.
Timeline of summer camp planning
- 2-3 months before camp: Plan activities
- 1-2 months before camp: Plan technical details
- 3 weeks-1 month before camp: Advertise
- 2 days-2 weeks before camp: Shop
- 1-3 days before camp: Set up daily schedule
- Day before camp: Prep for the next day
Summer Camp step #1: Plan activities
There are so many directions you can take with a DIY summer camp, so it naturally seems very stressful. Here is everything you need to do, though.
Pick a theme
This is one of the most fun parts of planning the camp, and you can really get creative here. First, ask yourself, “what’s my passion?”
What do you enjoy – is it science, crafts, nature, sports, ballet, space, rainforests, or something completely different? Think about what is exciting to YOU and what you’d enjoying teaching kids.
For example, my passion is travel, so I created an Around the World themed summer camp.
So, make a list of your passions and hobbies. From there, pick a theme that both you and your campers will enjoy.
Or, you don’t even have to have an uber-specific theme if you don’t want to. Instead, you could just do a camp with basic crafts and games.
The beauty of this is that it’s totally up to you!
Think about the age group
Next, you’ll want to think about the ages you’ll open this camp to. This isn’t a final decision, but instead just a rough idea so you know what activities to plan.
In my experience, I welcomed 4-8 year-olds at my camp, but do whatever works for you.
Don’t stress too much about this for now, just get a general idea.
Plan out the the duration of the summer camp
In addition to the age group, also think about how many days and hours each day the camp will be. This doesn’t need to be final, but it’s good to get a pretty realistic idea of the duration of the camp so you know how many activities to plan.
Also, find out if you’ll want a certain theme each day. For example, if you’re doing a space camp, maybe you’ll focus on the moon one day and rockets the next. This will just help you figure out what activities to do each day.
Plan the activities
Now comes the REALLY fun part: planning all the activities.
First, you’ll want to come up with an idea of which activities you want to do in day. In my experience, I did two books, a craft, a game or two, and a snack each day.
I’ll be highlighting all the details for planning these activities below.
But first, I HIGHLY recommend downloading this spreadsheet where you can plan out all the activities. It is SO SO helpful, and you can customize it to fit your needs.
Books
Most of the books I use for my camps come from the library, because it is a super convenient and inexpensive way to get books.
If your library has a website where you can order books online, I highly recommend that.
To make searching as convenient as possible, I usually do this. First, I’ll type in a relevant keyword (such as France). Then, I use the “book” filter to get rid of any e-books or audiobooks. Finally, I’ll select “juvenile” for the audience.
This way, the list of books narrows down A LOT and makes it so much easier for me to find what I need.
Once you get your books, read through each one and see if it would be a good fit. Does it have engaging text? Are the pictures nice? Is the book too short or too long?
After you find a good book, mark it down in the spreadsheet. I usually stick to 2-3 books per day but don’t expect to read all of them.
Crafts
In my experience, I tried to keep crafts to a minimum, mainly because I am not a crafty person at all. Also, my campers were on the younger side and I didn’t want to make it too hard for them.
For crafts, I pretty much exclusively use the good ol’ Internet. It’s not that hard to find easy and fun crafts for every theme, but there are a few certain keywords that are helpful to use.
The main keywords I use while looking for crafts are “theme crafts for kids,” “theme preschool unit,” and “theme preschool activities.” I find that these keywords usually present results that are perfect for kids of all ages.
If you’re working inside or with really tiny kids, I suggest keeping things like paint and glitter to a minimum.
Other than that, the sky’s the limits in terms of crafts, so do whatever floats your boat!
Games
Now comes the fun part…games. I’ve noticed that kids can sometimes get bored of stories and crafts, so it is crucial to have lots of games in your back pocket.
To get some inspiration, you can just search online (such as “rainforest games”). Or, you can just rebrand some well-known games to fit your theme. For example, turn Sharks and Minnows into Jaguars and Monkeys.
However, not all of the games need to be on-theme! Most kids won’t really care if freeze tag is really related to the ocean or not.
Some super easy and no-prep games include tag, freeze tag, chaos tag, Sharks and Minnows, Duck Duck Goose, Red Light Green Light, Four Corners, and What Time is It Mr. Fox.
Snacks
For me, making the snacks was my favorite part of camp because I got a chance to try a bunch of new recipes.
I tried to have two snacks on average: one healthy/savory and one sweet. If your camp is all day, keep in mind that you’ll need to plan lunch as well as a few different snack times. Kids get really hungry!
I would recommend searching for on-theme snacks, but if you can’t find much, just serve “regular” snacks.
I’ve found that parents prefer healthier snack options, so keeping sugar to a minimum isn’t a bad idea. Also, be sure to check if any kids have allergies so you can accommodate that. Finally, be sure the snacks aren’t too outside-the-box, or kids aren’t likely to enjoy them.
Special Activities
If you want (this is totally optional), you can also include a special activity. In my case, I do a piñata at my camp (usually for Mexico), but other ideas are scavenger hunts, obstacle courses, and things like that.
I’m honestly not even sure what constitutes “special project,” so you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. 🙂
Summer camp step #2: Plan technical details
The next step for your at-home summer camp is to plan the technical details – i.e. who, when, where, etc.
Age and number of campers
First, figure out a rough age group, such as preschoolers or middle schoolers. From there, pick a set of ages (I recommend a difference of 3-5 years).
I’ve had a good experience with 4-8 year-olds, because they’re easier to work with than toddlers, but parents still want them out of the house sometimes. 🙂
Then figure out how many kids you’ll cap each session at. Between 10 and 15 seems like a pretty manageable number, but you can make that number bigger or smaller.
When
Then, you’ll want to decide how long your camp will be. Will you make it a solid five days, three days, or even two weeks?
You can also two a few different sessions, each being a few days long. I did 2 sessions that ran from Monday-Friday, which worked very well for me. But again, do what works best for you!
Where
Despite being called an at-home summer camp, this camp does not have to take place at home!
To give kids enough space to play AND to keep your home safe, you might want to look into a local park with lots of space to run around.
Finding helpers
One crucial thing to keep in mind is that you will NEED a helper (or two). Especially if you are somewhere like a park, the more supervision, the better.
If you’re a parent, find another parent or two who’s willing to help out. If you’re a teen, ask a friend or two to help, and also get some adult supervision if you’re under 18.
You’ll then want to decide how much the helpers will do, because that will determine their pay. Will the helpers be doing prep at home, such as making food and gathering craft supplies? Or will helpers simply show up each day, help set up, deal with the kids, clean up, and go home?
From there, judge how much compensation you will give to your helpers. Or, instead of that, you can offer free admission for their kids or little siblings.
Cost of camp
One of the hardest things about organizing a summer camp is calculating how much to charge.
This really depends on how long the camp runs each day, how many days there are, and the amount of activities done each day.
While you want to charge enough to make it worth your while, you also don’t want to charge too much, or no one will want to come.
I recommend starting with $5-10 per hour. Then, multiply that amount by the number of hours your camp will run. For example, for a 10-hour camp at $7 an hour, the fee would be $70.
You might also want to consider adding a sibling discount. For example, charging the first child $70 and the second $60. Sibling discounts are often helpful because it can motivate parents to sign up more than one kid.
Summer Camp step #3: Advertise the camp
Once you’ve gotten the activities and details worked out, it’s time to advertise your camp!
Where to advertise
First, you’ll need to figure out where to advertise. Is there a neighborhood moms’ email group you could advertise it on? Maybe you could post it on social media. Or maybe you could make flyers and put them in your neighbors’ mailboxes.
What to advertise
Be sure to be very clear about all the important details. Include what kind of camp this is; a few details about what you will be doing; the location, duration, and time; cost per person; ages; and how to sign up.
When to advertise
I recommend advertising between 3 weeks and 1 month before the camp. As the camp gets closer, you can always send out reminders if your camp isn’t full yet.
Collecting sign-ups
It’s always really exciting getting those first few sign-ups. To keep track of who’s coming and who has paid, I recommend using a spreadsheet (get your free printable here).
Handling payments
After receiving a sign-up email, I recommend responding promptly thanking the parent for signing their child up as well as explaining payment details.
For types of payment, it is really up to you. You can request cash or check, or you could ask for electronic payment such as PayPal or Venmo. I also recommend informing parents of a payment deadline (a week before camp starts is sufficient); that way, you can ensure you have enough money to pay for supplies.
Finally, I recommend making a log of how much money you have. Every time someone pays or you buy supplies, you can update this log. This way, after the camp is finished, you’ll know what your profit is. You can either do this on paper or in a spreadsheet.
Summer Camp step #4: Buy supplies
A few weeks before your camp starts, you’ll want to start shopping for supplies.
Craft supplies
You’ll want to buy the craft supplies first, because it’s good to buy craft supplies online due to cost and efficiency. Amazon is the best place to buy bulk supplies, but some cheap places where you can buy in-store are Walmart and Dollar Tree.
Food supplies
A few days before your camp starts, you should buy all the food supplies – whether you’re getting pre-packaged snacks or ingredients to make homemade snacks.
Again, some cheap places to buy food are Dollar Tree, Walmart, and WinCo.
Summer Camp step #5: Make a daily schedule
A few days before your life, you should make a preliminary schedule for each day.
Obviously, you should be flexible day-to-day, but it’s a great idea to have an idea of the order of activities each day.
This was my schedule each day, but yours does not have to look like this!
- 10am: kids arrive and do coloring pages
- 10:10: stretching and exercises
- 10:20: read picture books
- 10:40: game
- 11: craft
- 11:30: snack
- 11:50: game
- 12: kids leave
I recommend incorporating lots of time for kids to get up and run around, because sitting can become really boring for them.
And again, don’t be afraid to switch up the schedule if it isn’t working for you!
Summer Camp step #6: Prep for each day
The afternoon/evening before each day, you’ll want to start prepping. Depending on what you’re doing, this may include cooking snacks, gathering craft supplies, or printing out coloring pages.
This is honestly the most exhausting part of doing a camp, but don’t worry, you’ll survive.
Here’s an example of what my prepping schedule looked like:
- 12:10: clean up from the day and go home
- 12:30: unload, eat lunch, and chill
- 2:00: start prepping food for the next day
- 7:00: print coloring pages and other papers
- 7:30: pack craft box
- 9:00: bed
- 5:00: wake up and start cooking
- 8:00: get dressed and finish any other prepping
- 9:15: pack car
- 9:30: leave for camp
As you can see, it’s pretty busy. Also, some of these tasks took much longer than I anticipated, so keep that in mind.
Summer Camp step #7: Camp tips and tricks
Now that all the planning process is done, I thought I’d give you some advice on the actual camp itself. So, let’s get into it!
Disclaimer: if you’re a parent or someone who has worked extensively with kids before, you probably won’t need to read this. I am mainly writing this on behalf of all the clueless teens out there (like I was last year).
Tips for the first day
If you’re meeting a park or some other place, I’d recommend arriving 20-30 minutes early to scout out a good spot, set up, and get ready for the kids to come.
It can be nerve-wracking meeting a lot of new kids (maybe not as much if you’re a parent and not a teen), but remember that the kids are probably more nervous than you. Be friendly and welcoming, and immediately give them something to do (like a coloring page), so they aren’t just standing around awkwardly.
If the all the kids don’t know each other already, go around and have everyone say their name, age, and favorite hobby. If you want to go the extra mile, you can even make name tags for the kids.
Especially if this is your first time running a camp, don’t expect everything to go exactly as planned. Be flexible.
Tips for dealing with kids
Kids with lots of energy
Kids are energetic, and even if they aren’t be naughty, even all the energy can come across as being problematic sometimes.
First of all, keep everyone moving. The younger the kids, the shorter the attention span, and the more they need to be on their feet playing tag.
After every sitting activity, try to have the kids do something active. It doesn’t need to be long or complicated, but even just a 5-minute game of tag will work wonders. Once the kids are all tired out, then you can read them another book.
Kids who get physical
In the course of two weeks, I’ve seen a lot – head ramming, shoving, arguing, you get the idea.
It could sometimes be hard to keep these kids under control, but try out these ideas.
Separate the crazy kids. Put one crazy kid at one table and one at another. What worked really well was to split the kids into two groups and having each helper take a group. Each group would include an equal distribution of the rowdy and calm kids.
Talk to the kids. Since they’re kids, you can’t have a full-on, in-depth conservation about all the problems of hitting someone, but asking them to stop might actually work. If time goes on and they don’t stop, you can of course become a bit more firm.
If the kids are totally out of control, you can always talk to the parent. Of course, you shouldn’t go running to them with every slight problem you come into, but if the child is seriously not complying, it’s best to go to the parent.
Kids who wander off
Some kids just see the playground, and instantly want to drop everything to go play. I mean, they’re kids, what do you expect?
However, this can be a problem, especially if you have kids going in all directions. Plus, you don’t want to ever lose anyone.
It helps to set a physical boundary, such as “Stay inside of this sidewalk and those trees.” For the most part, kids will remember.
If kids do start to wander off, don’t throw a fit. You don’t want to scare them away. Instead, promise them with a fun game or snack, and they will probably immediately follow you.
This is another case where having a helper is crucial, because you can’t exactly leave all the other kids to go bring the other one back.
Kids who are shy
Especially for the really little kids, shyness is a real possibility. After all, it’s scary to spend five straight days with new kids and adults.
My best advice for this is just to give them time. Eventually, they’ll probably start to become less shy. In the meantime, maybe the parents are willing to stay until they get comfortable in this new environment.
Kids who get hurt
Some tripped and fell, one got stung by a bee, others got thorns in their feet – kids get injured all the time, and as a camp counselor, you have to learn how to deal with it.
For scrapes and other minor injuries, have a small first aid kit with band-aids on hand. And even though it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll need to use it, it doesn’t hurt to learn how to do the Heimlich Maneuver.
As much as possible, have kids keep their shoes on, as that greatly reduces the risk of bee stings and the like.
Working with a helper
I am so grateful that I had an amazing, flexible helper who was amazing with kids. Even if you are the best of friends with your helper, however, you still need to work out things like technical details.
I recommend asking your helper to arrive 10-20 minutes early to help you set up. Also, this is the time to brief them for the day’s activities.
When you have too much to do at once, you can always ask your helper to start a game of tag while you set up the craft table (or vice versa).
Common problems and how to fix them
Here is a random list of problems you might run into, but they’re pretty easy to fix.
The kids arrive super early
One day, a few kids arrived 20 minutes early, and on that particular day, we had a lot of setup to do.
If the kids’ parents are still there, gently nudge them to hang out with their parents a bit longer.
Or, if the parents have hit the road, encourage the kids to play by themselves while still keeping an eye on them.
Maybe you’ve finished all the setup already. In that case, you can just talk to the kids or lead them in a game.
If this happens for multiple days, you can always talk to the parents about it. Remember, it is your job to to be the camp counselor, but you are not a daycare.
The kids won’t leave
This is basically a continuation of the above. I would entertain the kids for 5-10, but after that, it is unreasonable to expect you to entertain them any longer.
Of course, you also can’t abandon the kids. So I would start cleaning up (maybe ask them to help) while still keeping an eye on them.
The kids won’t sit still for the book
This is easy – tell them that you are going to quiz them at the end of the book. This was my helper’s idea and it worked like MAGIC.
You can even sweeten the deal by giving kids who answered questions correctly a prize like a sticker.
The kids won’t eat the snack
They don’t have to. It’s that simple.
You forgot something at home
If it’s before the day starts, quickly run back and get it. Or, if it’s in the middle of the day, skip that activity or substitute something else.
If you’re comfortable with this, you could also send your helper to get it OR get it while your helper watches the kids.
You run out of things to do
Incorporate more games, such as tag, Duck Duck Goose, or Red Light Green Light. If you have more craft supplies, have them make another craft. Or, come up with another craft they could make using the supplies you already have.
Paint gets everywhere
Bring a multitude of paper towels for easy cleanup. Also, tell parents beforehand if you’ll be using paint so they can dress their kids accordingly.
It’s insanely sunny and hot
You can’t fix the weather, but there are other things you can do instead.
Have kids bring a hat and wear sunscreen as well as bring their own water. This is so much easier and less messy than serving the kids water in plastic cups. Just have a jug of water on-hand to refill the kids’ bottles.
Schedule “water breaks” after each activity – even if they are just sitting down for a story.
If you’re doing this at home or have an insanely strong cooler (excuse me, may I steal your cooler?), you can also bring a frozen treat such as popsicles.
You have another problem that I have (thankfully) not run into yet
Email me here, and I will get back to you ASAP.
Seriously random tips
I promise this post will be over soon (my longest to date!), but before you go, here are some more random tips that helped me.
- Have each kid wear clothes that can get dirty and sunscreen, and bring water and a hat.
- On the last day, do something special (like root beer floats or a scavenger hunt)
- Having the kids run laps around a basketball court tires them out immensely
- Do not serve too much sugar or else the parents will banish you from Earth
- Have a helper, because I haven’t mentioned it enough 🙂
- Kids will not eat veggies, so don’t serve them
- Bring a clothesline for jump rope or limbo. You can also bring some balls for more games.
- If some kids have allergies too serious for you to work around, ask them to bring their own snacks
- If you want to get an amazing watch tan, run an outdoor summer camp and don’t wear any sunscreen
- Kids will happily play Sharks and Minnows 3x a day, 5 days in a row. Keep that in mind.
- Use spreadsheets and lists for every single little thing
- Don’t stress it too much and remember to have fun!
DIY At-home Summer Camp Conclusion
When I first started writing this post, I had no idea that it would turn out to be over 4,000 words and my longest blog post yet.
I hope that in this plethora of information, you were able to find at least one thing helpful for starting your own summer camp.
As dreadful and plague-like as I’ve made running a summer camp seem, trust me, it’s not that bad. In fact, it’s so much fun. I had a great time running my summer camp last year and look forward to doing another one this summer.
If you have any questions of the sort that I did not cover here, shoot me an email. Or, just comment down below.
Also, I’d love to hear about what YOU do for your summer camp and how it turned out. Let me know!
Enjoy hosting your summer camp and have lots of fun!
