It’s time to get ready for a summer camp as summer is officially here!
A lot of children expect to have adventures at a summer camp with their friends and favorite counselors. At summer camps, children get to experience new things in an enjoyable, secure venue. So make sure you prepare all the equipment they will need for a fun and safe summer camp.
It takes summer camp organizers months to plan and prepare summer camps for children. There is a wide variety of ideas for a summer camp your kids will enjoy whether you are looking for a short game to kill time or you need a long activity that takes hours to complete.
Let’s check out those ideas below.
1. Ninja Warrior Course
Obstacle courses are more popular than ever. Create a fun “Ninja Warrior” course by setting up an obstacle course for kids around an open field or area. Anything can be used here, such as chairs, boxes, pop-up tunnels, orange traffic cones and more.
Kids can wear ninja headbands colored to their teams to make it a team activity or just decorate their own ninja headbands beforehand and wear them while racing through the obstacle course.
2. Water Balloon Dodgeball
It’s going to get hot outside this summer. Water games are a fun way to keep kids cool and busy. Water balloons are easier than ever to inflate, thanks to sets like this that allow you to inflate dozens of water balloons in seconds.
Then, place buckets of water balloons around a designated area, and have kids get in position for a simple dodgeball game! Any kids that are tagged are “out” or you just let them go until all the water balloons are used up.
3. Sumo Suit Wrestling
This activity might be more of an investment, but the payout is well worth it. You can rent or buy inflatable sumo suits for kids to wrestle in a safe, padded area. The suits protect them when they do fall down, too, for a fun game sure to result in loads of laughter. Have kids take turns sumo wrestling to find your sumo winner. Try to keep matches fair by grouping kids by size and strength.
4. Balloon Tennis
Make popular sports accessible for everyone with adaptations like balloon tennis. Use fly swatters or tennis rackets and inflated balloons for a slower, softer, easier version of tennis. Let kids play with their friends or divide them into teams. Since the balloons are less of a safety hazard, you can place all the teams on a large field at the same time.
5. Dr. Seuss STEM Week
A great way to incorporate reading, science, and hands-on learning is to do activities inspired by Dr. Seuss books! You could do just one of the activities or do one a day for a week.
Start by reading the book and then talking through what you would need to do the science experiment in the book. Supply all materials and let kids create their Ooblek or design their apple boats.
6. Cat & Mouse
In this popular game, everyone but two kids form a circle — standing far enough apart so that players can stretch arms to hold hands. The two players will be running through these spaces between players.
One of the two is the cat and the other is the mouse. The cat tries to catch the mouse. They can run between players, but once one of them runs between players, those players close up so there is no space.
As the game proceeds, more spaces will close up. If one of the two players gets trapped inside the circle, the other player wins. If both are trapped inside or outside, the group counts to ten and the cat tries to catch the mouse.
If they do, they win. Otherwise, the mouse wins. Select two new players and play again.
7. Water Sponge Tag
Pick up small sponges at the dollar store or have kids craft little water sponges to use. Fill buckets with water and station them around the tag area. Have kids play tag by tossing their water sponges at each other.
Of course, it’ll become difficult to track who is “it” after a few seconds or minutes, so pretty much everyone is it. Ask kids to try to avoid faces, though, to prevent any possible injuries.
8. Blob Tag
Blob Tag is a fun variation on the classic tag game. Every tagged player holds hands with the rest of the tagged players and they must run together to tag more people to join their blob. The last person to get tagged by the blob wins.
9. Sardines
A fun version of Hide ‘n Seek with a twist, in Sardines only one person hides. Everyone searches for the person and if they find them, they hide with them. The last player to find them is the first person to hide on the next round.
10. Don’t Set Off the Alarm
In a hallway, use strips of paper or tape to create a maze, similar to those scenes in movies where people have to get through a hallway without tripping an alarm. Then, time students as they try to make it through the hallway without touching any of the paper/tape to see who can do it the fastest.
11. Myth Busters
Inspired by the popular show, design activities around myths, such as, “Can you really cook an egg on the sidewalk if it’s hot enough outside?” or “Is yawning really contagious?”
12. Fireman’s Relay
A slightly more organized water game that is still fun, kids will enjoy playing Fireman’s Relay. To start, form a line with the first player 10 feet from a water hose. Every kid has a large plastic cup. A large bucket sits at the end of the line.
The first player uses the hose to fill a cup. Then, they pour their cup into the second person’s cup, who does the same. Kids continue to pour their cup into the next person’s until the end when the last person dumps the water into the bucket.
13. Capture the Flag
Kids love to play this classic game. The goal is to capture the other team’s flag. Divide your group into two and designate a play area. Each team hides their flag on one side of the playing area. Teams work together to find the other team’s flag.
Meanwhile, team members do not want to get tagged by members of the opposing team. If tagged, they must go to “jail” — a designated area on the opposing team’s side.
They can only get out of jail if someone on their team can manage to tag and free them without being tagged by an opposing team member. The game ends when the time is up or when one team captures the other team’s flag.
Takeaway
Summer camp experience would not be complete without fun games and activities. You might make a plan in advance or leave some slots in your timetable to select games that match what your group is looking for, you will be in a great position to experience the best summer camp that you can imagine as the list of games and activities above are ideas for a summer camp that will keep your children active, engaged and happy.