Camping
There was a camping trip planned with our church, and I was five months pregnant and sick…every day!!! So, I decided to not go camping with my daughter and husband. And, although it was almost as much work planning and packing, it was definitely nice to have a little break while they were gone. The few days before they left, I did a short (very simple) camping theme, just to help prepare my daughter for what was to come. We did a few fun activities. By the time we were done, she was so ready to go and had a great time with everyone and bonding with her dad.
We got some books about camping from the library. We tried Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping, but explaining all the jokes was a bit tedious. 🙂 I think a 4 or 5 year old would get it better.
She had a camping bath. I used foam paper to cut out fish and put paper clips on them. Then using a small dowel and string, my husband fashioned a little fishing pole with a magnet at the end so she could fish (got the idea from here). PS: What looks like a cave (according to my husband) is actually the tent. I do not claim to be crafty or spend much time on these things. In fact, I claim the opposite!! 🙂
We talked about camp safety. She did this little Camp Safety booklet. We discussed not leaving the camp area without a grown up. We talked about not touching wild animals like squirrels, snakes, raccoons, and bears. We made bear pancakes and read a couple bear books we had lying around the house.
We also set up her little Hello Kitty tent (which is not an outdoor tent, since there is no bottom) in the den. I gave her some pipe cleaners for “fire,” and she used her blocks as wood.
Sticking with the campfire theme, she cut out some read, yellow and orange squares and glued them to a flame shape I drew. Then she glued some sticks at the bottom. (Got the idea from here.)
Here are some videos she enjoyed:
Stella and Sam: Camping Out Song
Here’s my Pinterest Camping Theme Board (full of great ideas I didn’t have the energy to implement. 😉 )