Lifestyle / No Camp? No Problem! Tips To Give Your Kids A Camp Experience At Home

No Camp? No Problem! Tips To Give Your Kids A Camp Experience At Home

Lifestyle Jul 17, 2020

by Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

COVID-19 continues to disrupt all schedules, this time cancelling the time honoured tradition of summer camp. In that spirit, here are are some ways that you can create that cool camp experience right at home!

Summer vacation has kicked off for students and many parents have (ever so gratefully) traded in their ‘teacher’ hats for a more casual ‘camp counsellor’ hat as camp spots are hard to come by.

As a former camp counsellor, I know that it is not easy to dream up ideas to entertain a group of children who would rather stare at a screen for the whole day or simply think they’re ‘too cool.’ Planning fun activities to keep your kids occupied becomes even harder when you’ve got to juggle your camp duties with your work from home arrangement.

If you have been on the precipice of pulling out your hair because you have already exhausted your bank of ideas to keep your child(ren) amused, do not fret! We’ve got your back! Put those gaming consoles aside and check out our list of at-home and outdoor activities (all of which respect social distancing guidelines) that will be sure to keep you sane and your child(ren) out of your hair — oops, I mean, entertained!

Games:

Gilli Danda/Lippa: This game is a great way to get your child(ren) outside and keep them active. Gilli Danda is an old-school game, hailing from India and Pakistan that is inspired by the game of cricket. Many of the same principles of cricket apply to this game as well!

What You’ll Need: *Be mindful of sharp edges and feel free to sub in a similar object to avoid injury.

One large stick (Gilli) *it needs to be long enough to be a bat
One small stick (Danda)
An open field

How To Play:

You’ll need to first split into teams.
Place the Danda in what is decided to be the centre point of the field.
The other team will be spread out in the field to try to catch the Gilli.
The striker will have three attempts to hit the Gilli (three consecutively unsuccessful tries at hitting the Gilli will take the striker out of the game). The point of the game is to hit the Gilli as far as possible away from the ‘centre’ of the field.
According to Parenting, “if a fielder catches the Gilli, the striker is ruled out. Should it fall safely, then the distance between the Gilli and the centre of the circle is measured using the Danda. The length of Danda is equal to one run. So the striker scores as many runs as the number of times it takes to cover the distance with the Danda.”
Whoever gets the most amounts of runs wins!

Antakshari: Talent shows are a key part of going to camp, at least, it has been in my experience. This game is a great way to get your family together so you can each dust off or show off your musical capabilities (or lack of). It would be best to brush up on your knowledge of Bollywood songs as well, you’ll need them for this game!

How To Play:

You’ll need to split into two teams.
Once you’ve decided who will be starting, one team will lead off with a song.
The next team will have to belt out another tune that starts “with the last consonant of the song sung by the first team,” notes Parenting.
If a team cannot come up with a new song, they lose the round.

**No Camp? No Problem! Tips To Give Your Kids A Camp Experience At Home: Bollywood Karaoke anyone? Be sure your phone is well charged to capture *all* the embarrassing videos that you can!** Photo Credit: www.medium.com

Crafts:

Tie-Dye T-Shirts: Tie-dye is a rite of passage for all campers. So, this craft is a must to give your child(ren) the true camp experience. I highly recommend doing this craft outside for less clean-up. Also, is it just me, or do all the exuberant colours give you serious Holi vibes?

What You’ll Need:

Old white t-shirt(s)
String / Rubberbands
Tie-dye kit (includes dye and soda ash)
Bucket
Large Ziploc bag
Water
Apron
Gloves
Garbage bag (Optional)
Scissors (Optional)
Tape (Optional)

What To Do:

Get a bucket, fill it up with warm water, and add the ash. Best practice would be to add as much ash as the instructions that your packaging suggests.
While you’re prepping the water, get your child(ren) to start twisting and tying it off with string (feel free to use rubber bands instead, if that’s what you have on hand).
Soak your t-shirts in the bucket of water and ash for 20 minutes.
Optional: Lay out a garbage bag that you’ve cut open. You may want to tape down the edges so it doesn’t get blown away.
Once your t-shirts are ready to go lay them out on the garbage bag (don’t untie them), and get yourselves gloved up and use an apron to protect your un-dyed clothes.
Now is the time for your little rascals to channel their inner fashionistas and squirt the various colours of all over their t-shirt.
Once the excitement of staining the shirts is over (or your resources are depleted, whichever happens first), take all of the finished masterpieces and place them in Ziploc bags to set for approximately 12 hours.
After 12 hours, rinse the t-shirt(s) well and leave them to air dry. Then, I’d recommend doing a quick wash and dry cycle before they’re ready for their debut.
Finally, have your kid(s) don their t-shirt with pride and work it!

Spice Up Your Paints: This craft is a great way to teach get your child(ren) to be creative, while also teaching them about the unique spices in your spice rack! I’d recommend taping down some garbage bags outside (if you don’t have a painting easel) so that your kid(s) can tap into their inner Picassos.

What You’ll Need:

Tempera paint (variety of colours)
Spices (use some staple South Asian spices like ginger, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, cinnamon)
Paper
Paintbrush
Paint pots for mixing paint
Paint easel (optional)
Apron (optional)

What To Do:

Have your kid(s) help you to pour the paint into the paint pots.
Once you’ve poured the pain, have them add about a dash of each spice per paint pot. Mix it up well.
Let the sensory painting experience begin!

Of course with all the activities, you need something delicious to cool down with!

Recipe:

Frozen Melon Lassi: Whip up a healthy and scrumptious treat to cool down this summer that requires very few ingredients. I promise that neither you or your family will be disappointed!

Ingredients: *Get your kid(s) to help you prep all the ingredients.

Vanilla Greek yogurt (four tablespoons)
Cantaloupe (half a small cantaloupe)
Sugar (two tablespoons)
Crushed ice (use your discretion)
Toasted coconut (optional)

Instructions: *Be sure to wash your hands before getting started!

Blend the yogurt, cantaloupe, and sugar until there are no chunks.
Put some crushed ice into your child’s favourite glass and help them pour the sweet treat over the ice.
Optional: Feel free to sprinkle a little toasted coconut on to of your drink to jazz up your concoction.
Enjoy!

We hope you and your family enjoy these activities and, most importantly, spending some quality time together. Wishing you all a safe and happy summer!

Main Image Photo Credit: www.lyonsgate.ca

Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

Author

Devika (@goberdhan.devika) is an MA graduate who specialized in Political Science at York University. Her passion and research throughout her graduate studies pushed her to learn about and unpack hot button issues. Thus, since starting at ANOKHI in 2016, she has written extensively about many challe...

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No Camp? No Problem! Tips To Give Your Kids A Camp Experience At Home

by Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

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