Camp Gigi, Year 2

I’m happy to report that Year 2 of Camp Gigi was a big success! 

This year, the second year that I held a week-long summer “camp” for my grandchildren, our schedule was much more free-flowing than the tight daily schedule I planned last summer for the first Camp Gigi. I realize my approach to camp planning should evolve as my grands get older (they are now 4), their interests change, they can do a wider variety of activities, and have increased stamina.

I organized the week around an overarching topic—rocks—and we did something related to that theme each day. I chose books to read aloud together that helped us think about rocks and ask questions about rocks. We read together every morning and that book became our guide for our day of rocks!

For example, on Day 1 we read Rhoda’s Rock Hunt by Molly Beth Griffin. In the book, Rhoda gathers so many rocks that she must leave most of them behind because they become too heavy to carry home in her backpack. After reading and discussing the book, we went on a walk and just looked for rocks everywhere we thought we might find some. Simple and wonderful.

The next day we read Scribble Stones by Diane Alber and then we painted the rocks we had found. The book has a wonderful message and painting rocks while we discussed the book turned out to be an engrossing art project for my grands.

And, we were scientists one day, putting on our goggles and breaking open geodes (hollow rocks that are lined with colorful crystals) to find the treasures inside!

Another change I made this summer was to be sure to tap into local resources. Many towns offer kid-friendly activities through the local library, museums, community centers, or businesses. 

We went to a story time sponsored by our local library at a beautiful outdoor venue, where we could sit outside and have a picnic lunch afterwards...and look for rocks!

Our local farm stand offers “vegetable scavenger hunts.” We took a tractor ride out to the farm and learned which vegetables were in season and how to pick them. And, we found a few rocks. To prepare for the day, we read The Ugly Vegetables, by Grace Lin (a previous Discovery Museum Speaker Series presenter), and From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons. (You can find all the books we used at your local bookseller or library.)

One rainy day I suggested a “rain walk.”  We put on our raincoats and boots and went outside to jump in the puddles and go for a walk. We wondered whether rocks would look different when wet, and how long they would take to dry. My grands loved it and have asked to go on rain walks again! Rather than bemoaning the weather, we embraced it and found hours of nature fun, investigation, and learning.

We did do a field trip again this summer, this time to Story Land, a theme park in Bartlett, NH.  We did this on the last day of camp, rather than going mid-week as we did last summer, and I liked wrapping up our week with a fun excursion.

Overall, Camp Gigi felt much easier to plan this summer in terms of scheduling, content, and materials. Having an overall schedule is important because it will guide you and help set expectations, but being flexible and going with their interest level as well as their stamina is important. And having a theme helped streamline my book research and supplies gathering.

As it was last summer, my goal for Camp Gigi—to provide my grandchildren bonding time together and create memories of times spent with their grandparents—certainly was met. The time they spent together, with just each other, was truly valuable to build and strengthen their cousin friendship. I am very much looking forward to Camp Gigi, Year 3 next summer!

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What would be helpful to know about how to plan your own camp for your grands? What guidance, tools, or resources do you think would be helpful to jumpstart your planning?

I will write a future blog post about this year’s camp in a “how to” format, including my full “rocks” book list, for those of you who would like to plan a camp for your grands.  Let me know what you’d like me to cover. You can email your questions to me at: gpdiscoveries [at] gmail.com (gpdiscoveries[at]gmail[dot]com). Or, feel free to comment on this blog post—I’d love to hear from you!

PS I must mention a wonderful free event that is coming up next month: "The Art of Storytelling," a live virtual event with Joseph Sarosy and Silke Rose West, authors of How to Tell Stories to Children. I have been fans of theirs for many years, and I am so excited that the Discovery Museum Speaker Series can bring them to us—I can't wait! The event, via free Zoom webinar, will be Wednesday, November 16, from 7:00 to 8:30pm. Learn more and register here.