Camp Mommy | Imamother

amother

Cobalt

Mon, May 30 2016, 4:40 pm

We can't afford camp, and even if we could, my children take a long time to get used to new settings and I am not interested in having to pick up a hysterical child in the middle of a day that is suppose to be fun.

So, three kids home for three whole months. Oldest is 6. Any suggestions on how to structure the day and stimulate the kids and not get burnt out myself?

MamaBear

Mon, May 30 2016, 4:51 pm

The good news is, at that age, if you don't work, they don't really need camp. They still play with toys, love simple activities and often nap. Try googling for nursery school classroom schedules to get ideas. There are so many great websites for ideas. Good luck Smile

mummiedearest

Mon, May 30 2016, 4:59 pm

I do this yearly. make a daily schedule NOW. it won't take long, but it'll keep you relaxed. for example:

7:30 wake up, get dressed, brush teeth.
8:00 breakfast
8:30 clear table, sweep up crumbs
8:45 davening
9:00 go to park/library/play outside
11:00 reading time/quiet time
12:00 lunch
12:30 clear table, sweep up floor, clean up toys from before lunch
1:00 arts and crafts (if you have a backyard or porch, set up a folding table for this. hose the kids and table down after messy stuff)/baking/cooking for the week or freezer
2:00 play outside
3:00 swim (if you have a pool)/sprinkler/hose/waterguns
4:00 snack (they're always hungry after water activities)
4:30 park (if you didn't go in the morning)/play outside with neighbors (who will likely be home after day camp around now-ish)
5:00 supper
5:30 clean up from supper
6:00 start bedtime if your youngest goes to bed at 6:30. free play for the other kids. my kids are older now, so they have the evening to do what they want.

I take my kids on trips once a week. zoo, museums, build-a-bear (they get a budget of $15 each, they can spend their own money on anything more expensive. this is a mommy day camp must, they love it), bryant park, central park, etc. the trips don't have to be expensive to be fun. on a trip day, we aim to leave the house at 9 and get back at 3, but we often leave later and come back later.

note that I specified cleanup after meals: it's part of the schedule so the kids help you with it. give them clean up jobs regularly. you can work some chore time in and assign chores based on age. having them help keep the house clean is a real sanity-saver.

the first week will be rough, they need to get used to the schedule. after that, though, you'll be fine.

may I ask where you live? last year I arranged a weekly meet-up for mommy camp families in marine park. we had an assortment of kids playing together, it was great. see if you can find or organize a similar group in your area.

edited to add: I neglected nap time, your kids are younger than mine. cut out some outdoor activities and put nap time in instead.

rainbow dash

Mon, May 30 2016, 5:02 pm

by similar topics is a lot more ideas

amother

Black

Mon, May 30 2016, 8:26 pm

Mummiedearest, wow! U are so scheduled! It is amazing u can keep such structure! How do u have energy for all that?
. I work full Tim during the year so I am so structured but wen I'm with my kids in mommy camp I find it so hard for me to keep such a tight schedule!!
Can u pls give me details of the trips? Where exactly do u go??
. its amazing that u keep to such a schedule !!!

mummiedearest

Mon, May 30 2016, 8:44 pm

amother wrote:

lol. I DON'T keep a strict schedule. I map out my time to give myself a sense of what I have planned. I'm pretty flexible. if I write down cleanup times, it's to remind myself to make the kids clean up. I can go with the flow and change activities and even start and end times if I see that this is needed, but certain things are standard: swimming is from 3-4. supper is either 5 or 5:30. I try to wake up the kids early so I don't have to go nuts resetting their internal clocks for school, and I try to get them to bed on time. anything else is negotiable, but planning helps.

at this point, 2 out of 3 of my kids are pretty independent in terms of outdoor play. they are allowed to take the youngest outside with them, so if I say it's time to ride bikes/scooters, they do that while I wash dishes, read a book, do some laundry, or go on the computer. it's much harder when you have to do everything with them, though that age usually comes with nap time, which has its perks.

the reason I recommend writing a schedule (a weekly schedule is best) is because running mommy camp with no specific plan is a recipe for disaster. I did that one year. bad choice. have things planned, and if you don't do everything on your list, no big deal. as long as everyone's happy and enjoying family time.

mummiedearest

Mon, May 30 2016, 9:03 pm

regarding the trips, amother, I let the kids suggest trips months ahead of time. some favorites:

build a bear (mentioned already)
MoMath-hands on fun for all ages, even if the kids aren't interested in the math aspect of things.
Staten Island Children's Museum (fun, hands on, cheap admission)
Bryant Park- has a carousel, board games to play for free, juggling workshops, free Broadway concerts, etc. The library set up an outdoor reading section in the park for kids and adults, with tables and chairs sized accordingly. we bring a picnic and browse the books during lunch.
Central Park with or without the zoo.
Any zoo within reasonable distance, NY Aquarium
Hudson River Park is great, awesome playgrounds.
We hope to go to Richmond Town Restoration this summer.
I'd also like to take the kids to see the Eldridge Street Synagogue.
Brooklyn Bridge Park

since we do one trip a week, that should cover this summer. We will likely not get to all of these.

mommy3b2c

Mon, May 30 2016, 9:21 pm

I have done mommy camp in the past. Like Mummiedearest said, a schedule is a must. Swim time, free play, arts and crafts, baking, park, library, etc...
I personally, used to do a trip everyday. Sometimes I did free trips, and sometimes I spent. If you have a car, the ideas are endless. If you don't, there are still a ton of things to do. Let me know of you want ideas.

amother

Black

Mon, May 30 2016, 10:24 pm

thanks for the trip details

summer0808

Tue, May 31 2016, 12:40 pm

Being that it's mommy camp dont forget about Friday & Sunday.

For older kids in NY area there is also Governor's Island.

Any age Staten Island Ferry. It;s free.

amother

Royalblue

Tue, May 31 2016, 1:55 pm

one thing to keep in mind.... just because you are not paying for camp, it does not justify lots of trips to the pizza store, ice cream store. I made that mistake. I kept on spending on those things.... prizes from the dollar store, dvds and before I realized it, I must have spent almost the same as camp would have cost.

thunderstorm

Tue, May 31 2016, 2:09 pm

Ive done a Mommy Camp but my kids were older. One of the activities I did was make play dough from scratch , all different colors and then the kids played with it....that's something your age kids would enjoy for an activity one day.

mummiedearest

Tue, May 31 2016, 2:13 pm

summer0808 wrote:

Being that it's mommy camp dont forget about Friday & Sunday.

For older kids in NY area there is also Governor's Island.

Any age Staten Island Ferry. It;s free.

sunday is family day/errand day in our house. my dh is home from work, so we let him choose what to do after errands are run.

as for friday, I focus the morning on shabbos chores so we can go out in the afternoon (swim and/or park). fridays are also official "screen time" days in our house, even during the school year. if they finish everything they need to do for shabbos, the kids can play video games. you don't need to entertain them every second, just have a solid plan.

MamaBear

Tue, May 31 2016, 2:21 pm

Get a popup tent - my younger kids spent crazy amounts of time in ours. Even snack time is more fun in a tent. Story time etc, they love it. Pretend you're camping outdoors, pretend it's a castle etc They collapse and fit standing up in a corner

http://www.walmart.com/ip/2734.....h=sem