Camping Archives - I Can Teach My Child!

Make Your Own Solar Oven

June 4, 2012 by Jenae — 5 Comments

I’m a little sad that all the fun and fascinating science experiments are coming to an end…this is the very last one! I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as we have!

This last “experiment” will be lots of fun to try this summer…make your own s’mores or even melt cheese on top of individual-sized pizzas!

Here’s what you’ll need: a pizza box, aluminum foil, box cutter (or knife), permanent marker, ruler, Elmer’s glue, plastic cling wrap, black construction paper, and tape.

I took step-by-step photos of the process, but then I decided it would be much easier to share this video with you instead as there are several steps…

My friend Stacie over at Motherhood on a Dime also shares a simpler solar s’mores snack.

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Filed Under: Camping, MAKE IT, School Age, Science Experiment

T is for Tent

February 7, 2012 by Jenae — Leave a Comment

It has been a while since we’ve done an alphabet craft, but since we’re sticking with our camping theme, I thought it would be fun to do a tent craft with the letter “t”. I chose to do the lower-case ‘t’, solely because it fit better in the tent shape than the capital “T”! :)

Here’s what you’ll need: paper, scissors, and a glue stick. I used some decorative scrapbook paper that I already had (since I don’t scrapbook anymore).

1. Cut out a large triangle from one piece of paper.

2. Trace and cut the letter “t” out. The brown paper didn’t show up enough on the leaf background, so I added a green background.

3. Cut a slit in the center of the triangle and then add glue around the edges using a glue stick.

Your child can now open and close the tent…

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Filed Under: 2-3 years, 3-5 years, Alphabet, Alphabet Crafts, Camping, Language Development

Camping Birthday Party

February 3, 2012 by Jenae — 13 Comments

Big Brother experienced his very first camping adventure this last year. In September, he and his Daddy went with several other fathers and sons from our church on a one-night camping trip. I honestly expected them to be home by sundown, but Big Brother totally LOVED it! Even though a certain female member of our family who shall remain unnamed (uh-hum) isn’t all that into camping, I knew it would be a fun theme for Big Brother’s 4th Birthday Party. Plus, this is the first birthday party where we have invited people other than family!

Having a birthday party in the dead of winter sorta stinks. But we decided to bring the outdoors in at our church’s fellowship hall and it was TONS of fun!

Invitations and Decorations

The invitations for Big Brother’s birthday party were designed by my friend Rachel at RV Parties. She simply sent me the file and I printed them off at our local Walgreens as 4×6 photos.

Go here for the invitations

RV Parties also has an amazing camping party printable set that comes with a ‘Happy Birthday’ banner, cupcake wrappers, cupcake toppers, water bottle wrappers, treat bag toppers, Thank You Cards, and food labels.

Go here for the camping party printable pack

We didn’t do a whole lot besides this for decorations, but I did buy several yards of burlap from JoAnn’s to cover the two tables we used. We also brought our tent (Big Brother’s birthday gift from us) and set it up for the kids to enjoy. I took this picture before all the food was set out…so please disregard the empty table space. :)

The lanterns we used were from my sister’s wedding and the pine cones were from our yard.

We also used this campfire from Insect Lore.

We used just white styrofoam plates and green striped napkins I found at Target. I really wanted to get these plates, these dessert plates, and these napkins but I couldn’t justify spending over ($30 with shipping) for something that would inevitably end up in the trash!

Food

The camping theme allowed for some really fun food!

The same lady that made our wedding cake made this cake…for $17! The two pine trees are made of pure chocolate!

This handy-dandy Old Fashioned S’more Maker allowed us to make this camping essential without an open flame!

Activities & Games

Instead of doing group games, I just had several child-size tables set out with various activities on each and let the children go to each table individually. Here are the activities we included:

Digging for Bugs in Chocolate-Scented Playdough

Build a Fort with Tree Branch Blocks

Make a Miniature Bow-and Arrow (free printable labels included)…just make sure to set up a ‘shooting range’ to keep the kids from shooting each other!

Build individual candy campfires!

This might have been the favorite among the kids…and it was the simplest! We just brought some pipe cleaners and beads and let the kids make bracelets and necklaces.

Color your own t-shirts! Little boys undershirts and fabric markers are a great and inexpensive way to let kids design their own t-shirts.

Tree Trunk Stompers!

The kids enjoyed walking around on these. Go here to find out how to make them!

Chop-a-Log (this was a hit)

Read books in a tent! Be sure to check out some of our favorite camping books!

We set out this camping-themed felt board on one of the tables for the kids to play with as well.

For each of the above activities, I covered the child-size tables with brown craft paper and then put the following table stands that I printed out on cardstock, cut out, bent, and trimmed.

“Chop A Log” and “T-shirt Decorating” Table-Top Labels

“Build a Fort” and “Make a Bow & Arrow” Table-Top Labels

“Read in the Tent” and “Digging for Bugs in Mud” Table-Top Label

Party Favors

We chose to give out flashlights for our party favors. Since I had this theme in mind for a few months ahead of time, I found an amazing deal on glow-in-the-dark LED flashlights after Halloween at Lowes. The packaging was Halloween-themed, but I decided to take the flashlights out of their packages anyway. I didn’t end up having enough, so I ordered these LED flashlights from Amazon, which were also great and inexpensive (they just don’t glow in the dark).

I shrunk the treat bag toppers included in the camping pack from RV Parties to make little tags for each flashlight.

What I love about these flashlights is that they turn on with the black button on top, so even the little ones can turn them on and off by themselves.

Happy Trails!!!

*Please note. Some of the links above are my affiliate links. Be sure to read my disclosure policy.

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Filed Under: Birthday, Camping

Tree Trunk Stompers

February 1, 2012 by Jenae — 6 Comments

For Christmas last year, my cousin and his wife gave the boys these awesome stilts that they made (they got the idea from Made by Joel). Not only are these tons of fun, they also work on balance and coordination…therefore an excellent gross motor activity.

We decided to take them along to Big Brother’s camping party to use for tree trunk stompers! They were a hit and it was so fun to watch the kids walk on them!

I really like this version because they can either be used flat with younger kids (like in the picture above) or they can be turned on their ends for older kids wanting to walk ‘taller’ (like in the picture below).

Using my keen observation skills (once again), here’s what I can gather about how to make them. Keep in mind, I myself did not make these. They were an amazing gift and one that we are greatly enjoying!

Here’s what you’ll need:
1 4×4 piece of lumber
saw
drill
strong rope (be sure to double-check that it is lead-free rope)
sandpaper

1. Using a saw, cut two 6-inch blocks of wood from the 4×4 lumber. Sand the edges, if necessary.

2. Drill a hole through the center of the wood block, big enough for the rope to fit through (the holes in ours are about 1/2″ in diameter).

3. Cut two pieces of rope about 52 inches long (or measure on your child to see what the right length might be).

4. Slide the rope through the holes of both wood blocks and tie a strong knot.

And it’s perfectly okay to try them out yourself too! :)

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Filed Under: 2-3 years, 3-5 years, Camping, Gross Motor Development, School Age

Candy Campfire

January 31, 2012 by Jenae — 5 Comments

These little campfires were so fun and SO EASY to make! I planned on having the kids at Big Brother’s birthday party make them, but then I forgot about them until the very end of the party…so we just made them at home!

Here’s what you’ll need: Tootsie Roll Midgees and Airheads (red and orange).

Depending on the size, you’ll probably use about 4 Tootsie Rolls and 2 Airheads (1 orange and 1 red) for each little campfire.

1. Once you’ve unwrapped each piece of candy, you’ll want to put the airheads in the microwave for 10 seconds or less…just to soften them up and make them easier to bend and mold.

2. Tear the airheads and shape them into a flame. Press together.

3. Add a couple Tootsie Rolls and your campfire is ready to rock! If you want it to stick together better, I would suggest putting everything in the microwave for about 5 seconds and then pressing together tightly.

Enjoy!

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