For the last few weeks, we’ve been having a ton of fun. We’re doing 21 days of DIY Summer Camp at Home, because summer camp is fun, but ex-pen-sive! But we can have the same kind of fun (and more!) right here at home, for much less cost — and no early wake up calls. And we’re finished our second week: All About Animals!
What have we done so far:
Over the last few days, I shared the third week’s schedule of my DIY Summer Camp. Almost every day you could come back and you were able to get the schedule for the day, so you could do summer camp for your kids at home.
I’ve including outdoor and indoor activities, reading suggestions, craft and snack ideas. And I attempted to use activities that could be done with just one child, or with many child, with minimal prep and few special materials. Because like you, I’m a mom, and I don’t have a ton of time or extra money to spend on special things. But DIY Summer Camp at Home means that we can do special things for FREE or cheap!
Recap Day 1:
If you’re just getting started, you’ll want to go back and start here with Day 1 of the 21 Days of DIY Summer Camp. On Day 1, we started camp off with some fun camp things. We made camp t-shirts, name tags, and played with environmentally friendly water games. We had watermelon for snack, and told not-so-scary stories at the end of the day.
It was a ton of fun!
Recap The First Week: Backyard Birds
On Day 2-6 of the 21 Days of DIY Summer Camp, we started with our bird theme of the week. First, we went looking for the birds, with some backyard birdwatching! We made binoculars, created a field guide of all the birds we saw, and we played some fun bird games. Check out All About Backyard Birdwatching here in case you missed it!
Then we fed the birds. Try Feeding the Birds with us by reading the post! Next, we looked at Birds as Pets. Read about our backyard “Angry Birds” game on Day 4 here. On day 5, we tried flying like a bird. Get all the birdy details on Day 5. And day 6 was about what birds actually are. You can grab the games and worksheets from Day 6 here.
Recap The Second Week: Reptilian Fun
On Day 8-13 of the 21 Days of DIY Summer Camp, we moved on to our reptile and amphibian theme of the week. First, we played with slithering snakes, by making our own! We played with bubbles, made bead snakes and paper snakes, and watched some cool videos about snakes. Check out Slithering Snakes here in case you missed it!
Then we navigated with the turtles. Make some baby turtles with us by reading the post! Next we stomped with the dinosaurs. Track down dino fun here. On day 11, we got down and dirty with the alligators and crocodiles. Get the slimy details here. Day 12 let us taste and smell like lizards do, and you can take the temperature of that post here. And finally, we hopped along with froggy fun, because we just couldn’t get enough!
Week 3: All about Animals.
Recap Day 14: Going on Safari
On Day 14 of the 21 Days of DIY Summer Camp, we started with our animal theme of the week. First, we pretended to be lions with our gorgeous lion masks. We picked bugs and peeled bananas with the monkeys too. Race with the elephants with us by clicking here.
Recap Day 15: Down on the farm
So we had to herd some sheep, milk a cow, and dance with the chickens on day 15. We even snorted with the piggies for a hilarious contest. How well do you snort?
Recap Day 16: Playing with Pets
We couldn’t forget our pets on our animal themed camp week. So we went looking for bones, hopped liked bunnies, and even made our own paws. Taste the yummy puppy chow we had for snack!
Recap Day 17: Going Down Under
Australia has so many wonderfully unique animals, we just had to visit. With boxing kangaroos and making koala food, there was so much to see and do. Try growing coral on our Australian Animal day.
Recap Day 18: Amazing South American Animals
Another place with exotic animals is South America. We learned all about how adaptations help animals survive extreme environments. And we made these amazing butterflies! See how pretty they are here.
Recap Day 19: Polar Region Animals
Finally we finished up with a cooling trip to the Poles. Fishing with the penguins and crossing the ice with the polar bears made for a fantastic icy-themed day 19. Wanna know how the animals stay warm? You gotta try our Walrus Warmth experiment!
DIY Summer Camp is all done!
So that completes our final week of 21 days of DIY Summer Camp at Home. So many animals, and so little time. But jungles, deserts, mountains and ice caps are just filled with all kinds of animals. Maybe you’ll need to continue exploring the world of animals on your own?
Don’t forget to finish up the book you’ve been reading all week. Here’s our recommended list of animal books, for your read aloud. We read a chapter or two every night this week.
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