Camping Week

This week's theme is Camping!  So fun!  

Day One is setting up camp.  I was having a hard time coming up with a way to do a tent in our house, when I reminded myself that the girls are 2.5 and almost 3 and have never camped before...  anything would be fine! : )  I had grand ideas of making a little fake campfire out of tissue and toilet paper rolls, but it is Monday and the house has to be cleaned along with having fun!  The tent alone would have to do.  FL helped me pitch the tent, so to speak, but C was the first to jump in and try it out!  

As you can see, C loves it!

She settled right in and took some time to read and relax with some library books.  Our tent was just an old flat sheet draped over a room partition and a drying rack.  I did put some little white Chinese lanterns on the inside and pugged them in - sets the mood! : )  Pillowcases for sleeping bags (thanks for the idea, Little H and Little K!), our old play mat and some pillow pets finished out the decor.

FL wasn't about to be left out and we just had to include our binoculars from Bird Week!

Then a big bear named Scout crashed our camp by pouncing on little feet in little sleeping bags and chewing on binocular straps!  Relaxing getaway interrupted by a calico bear!

C decided to try and get FL excited about binoculars, but FL is just not buying it.

Snack time in the tent?!  So fun!  it's going to be hard to strike camp the at the end of the week!

Day 2 - S'more Sorting Envelopes

This is also something I saw online, though I changed it a little to make the shapes more like s'mores to fit our camping theme.  We had a white circle for the marshmallow, a brown rectangle for the chocolate and a yellow square for the graham cracker.  I put one shape on each envelope and taped them to the wall on the inside of our "tent."  I cut out several more of each shape and put them in a container for the girls to sort.  I was surprised how much C enjoyed this activity.

It kept her busy for the better part of an hour.  She sorted them then I would ask her to bring me one of each kind so I could put them back in the container.

We mixed them up, which she also enjoyed, and did it again!

She liked doing this independently as well.

Then she presorted all of the shapes and then put them in the envelopes.  She had a great time and I will leave this out in the tent for her to do for the rest of the week.

After our fun time we got back to doing some camp chores, like laundry. : )

C likes to help, so we made a fun game of it by letting her run under the tent to put the dry laundry in the basket.  I tried to have the item folded before she brought the next one.  Got the chore done quickly and in a fun way - she LOVED it!

And, yes, since the drying rack is part of the tent we still made use of it (the girls are growing so much that I can no longer dry their pants!)!

And don't think I forgot about FL.  She just isn't all about the great outdoors, indoors.  She chose a different path today, which is fine. : )

I just wish she would go to the grocery store for me!!!

Day 3 - Campfire Songs and Shakers

Today was a simple craft, shakers and songs around the campfire (or in the tent)!   

I had C add beans to some containers I had saved.   

It was good for helping with her fine motor skills in her left hand.

And, yes, for the first half of the day FL was doing her own thing. : )

But who can resist goldfish crackers for snack and having snack time in the tent?!

She even willingly sorted some s'mores! 

Not the best picture, but it captures the memory of singing campfire songs and using our shakers!  There's not much that's cuter than two little two year old girls belting out "Kumbaya" before bedtime.  : )

Day 4 - "Marshmallows" on a stick!

Ok, a little disclaimer here!  This wasn't a great activity in terms of safety for toddlers/preschoolers.  I don't recommend it even though we had no problems.

I had originally planned for the girls to put styrofoam on a stick, but I didn't have any, so I used construction paper cut into circles.  The girls had to fold them, put them on the stick, push down and not push too far.  It was great for challenging their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Look who enthusiastically decided to join us?!

They were both engrossed by this activity!   Since they were using the sticks (I cut the sharp tip off) I was engrossed in watching them and ensuring their safety!

They put the marshmallows on and off over and over...

It turned out better than expected and nobody got poked or lost an eye!

Day 5 - Camping Trail

Today we went down the trail to hike and hop and have fun!  I had originally planned to do a trail/exploration walk outside, but it didn't get warm enough for me to take the girls out until late afternoon.  I saw this zig-zag tape activity on line and thought it would be great for getting some energy out since we couldn't go outside in the morning.  At first, I put way too many zigs and zags in it and it was too complicated for their level.  I smoothed it out, added some hopping areas in it and made it much longer.

Here's C, testing it out...

She was unsure of what to do at first.  I find with almost every activity I have to model it for them several times and be VERY enthusiastic.  After that, they are usually ready to jump in.

Before long, she was skipping and hopping and running it all by herself and I enjoyed watching her!  Truth be told, all of the hopping was good exercise for me, too!

The trail ended at the tent.  C turned around and did it again from the other direction (pictured above are the dotted hopping lines).

FL was in a different mode again today.  We let her do her puzzles and hope she will join in tomorrow!

This activity was easy to set up and not at all in the way, so I think I will leave it up for a while. : )

Well, that about finishes up Camping Week!  Tomorrow we will strike the tent and head to the grocery store.  It's been fun!  Thanks for camping out with us!