Summer Camp At Home Ideas: How and Why to Host Your Own Family Summer Adventure

Plan the Meals

To help offset expenses and lighten our workload, my husband and I ask each family to host an evening meal. We’ve enjoyed everything from elaborately themed meals to simple pizza by the pool. Some of our favorite dinners have included Mexican Night with a piñata, Hot Dog Night with combinations from around the country, and a Charcuterie Night with various meats, cheeses, and snack items. Other ideas include Breakfast Night, Asian Night, or Barbecue Night. For dessert, consider assembling a sundae bar, a popcorn bar, or a s’mores bar.

At Family Camp, my husband and I make it a point to cater to picky grandkids. It is, after all, a vacation of sorts for our grandchildren, and we want them to feel special and loved. After meals, kids are enlisted to help with cleanup.

Create Teams 

Family teams are one of the keys to strengthening relationships at our Family Camp. Before camp, I secretly divide our family into three teams, which takes some serious consideration since our nine grandchildren range from an athletic teenager to a very girly 5-year-old. I mix up families and distribute grandchildren into teams according to their size, skills, and abilities.

Our teams are given color names, but you can get creative or let teams choose their names. We provide t-shirts―purchased from a craft store and designed by our youngest daughter―as well as colored bandanas that can be worn on ankles, heads, or wrists. The team reveal―held on the first night―is a highlight of Family Camp. As family members discover who’s on their team, there’s a lot of whooping, hollering, and good-humored trash talk.

Teams compete for points by playing an array of games and activities, all planned ahead of time and designed to include as many age levels as possible. It’s heartwarming to watch cousins root for each other, sit together, and help each other vie for points. There’s no question that friendly competition strengthens relationships, provides laughter, and reminds us we’re already a team. 

Keep the Competition Fun

A poster board chart with activities and the number of points awarded for first, second, and third place is displayed in a visible spot for the duration of Family Camp. (The last activity on the chart is awarded more points, so teams with fewer points still have a chance to stage a comeback.) At the end of each day, my husband and I tally each team’s scores, write them on the chart, and then reveal them to a round of applause and hoopla. 

Fair rules are critical for keeping the competition fun. My husband and I learned the hard way to have game rules clearly spelled out and to make sure judging is done with no room for partiality. (For our sandcastle-building competition, we invited nearby sunbathers to act as judges, and they eagerly complied.) Since my husband and I are the official camp hosts, the buck stops with us. In other words, we have the final say in all decisions, which keeps family drama to a minimum. 

On the last night of camp, we hold a closing ceremony where the winning team is revealed and homemade trophies are awarded to each team member. My husband and I marvel each year at how excited both adults and kids are to receive a cardboard trophy. By then, the teams have rooted for and supported each other through four days of competition, and they’re cemented in their affection for one another.

Determine Your Activities 

Activities can be competitive or not—it doesn’t matter as long as they’re fun. Some of our favorite activities over the years include:

• Card games
• Corn hole
• Darts
• Charades
• Sandcastle building contest
• Pool games
• Scavenger hunt
• Hunting for hermit crabs 
• Old-fashioned Drop the Clothespin in the Bottle
• Belly flop contest in the pool
• Tug-of-War
• Movie Night
• Relay races
• Minute-to-Win-It games

Build Your Family’s Faith

During our first Cousin Camp, I made it a point to build a Bible story into our daily calendar. At night, I told my grandchildren stories from my childhood with a life lesson at the end. At Family Camp, I have continued the tradition by sharing stories with the kids at bedtime and talking about the Bible at the breakfast table. When it comes to sharing Scriptures, Family Camp presents a natural opportunity to “talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).

Miscellaneous Tips 

• Encourage everyone to come with flexible attitudes and be ready for fun.
• Pack a first aid kit, and include remedies for sunburns and minor cuts and illnesses.
• Shop for inexpensive plastic cups and add campers’ names with either vinyl or permanent markers. This keeps dishwashing to a minimum and saves on disposable products.
• Schedule family photos. We normally dress for a nice family photo on the day we arrive and then take group photos in our camp shirts first thing each morning before activities begin. Everyone knows ahead of time to be dressed and ready.
• Assign one person to be the final decision-maker for game rules. For instance, we allow this responsibility to fall on my husband.
• Have board games or decks of cards available for ‘downtime’.
• Plan meals and gather groceries ahead of time, and assign one person to pick up cold items before everyone arrives.
• Don’t be afraid to use ‘old-fashioned’ games. They have proven to be some of our favorites.
• Get creative about your camp name. We adopted Camp CeCe―that’s what my grandchildren call me―for cousin camp, and the name stuck. 
• Bring extra toilet paper.

A Family Investment

My daughters and their families gather with my husband and me throughout the year for meals, holiday events, home projects, vacations, and fun times. But none of that togetherness compares to the time we set aside each year for Family Camp. At Family Camp, nothing is allowed to compete with our focus on building relationships and having fun together. No matter where you have it or what kind of activities you plan, Family Camp may be the best thing you can do to strengthen and give new energy to your family relationships.