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Stay Home Summer Camp 2020 Archive: Desert Camp!

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By on Big Kids

Mamas Facing Forward Stay Home Summer Camp was a project I developed during the isolated summer of 2020. For each theme I provide a menu of options to choose from, including: virtual learning resources, easy craft & snack ideas, simple activities, books, and movies/TV.

Trust me, whether you do it for a full week or just for a day, there’s something magical about doing a bunch of activities that all share the same theme. In fact, even though my kids will be traveling and attending regular summer camp this year, they’ve also requested some Stay Home Camp – so stay tuned for a couple of new themes!! I’ve also added “field trip ideas” to themes from past years as well.

I hope these ideas will provide your family with a little fun – while at the same time making summer a bit easier for you!!

Love, Mariah

DESERT CAMP!

Below you’ll find a menu of ideas for learning, crafts, activities, books, and things to watch that all focus on deserts. I’ve tried to keep ideas pretty simple and make use of items you may already have – while also making it fun for the kids! I’ve also included a free printable you can hang up at home while you work on this theme.

Download

NEW! Field Trip Ideas:

  • To local playgrounds with desert features
  • To the local botanic garden
  • To the local garden story to look at cactus
  • To the zoo to look at desert dwelling creatures
  • To the library to get more books about deserts
  • To any local nature area to talk about how it is similar/different from the desert

Things To Learn:

Things To Make:

  • Accordion Snake
    • Recommended materials: construction paper, scissors, tape
  • Cardboard Cactus Construction Set
    • Recommended materials: cardboard, scissors, paint
  • Cardboard Tube Frilled Neck Lizards
    • Recommended materials: paper towel tubes, cupcake wrappers, googly eyes, glue, paint
  • Desert Sunset Silhouette
    • Recommended materials: black construction paper, scissors, glue, colored construction paper or water colors
  • Easy Paper Cactus Craft
    • Recommended materials: cardstock, white and black markers, scissors, stapler
    • Instructions: Our Kid Things

Things To Do:

  • Creating Sand Dunes
    • Recommended materials: sand, drinking straw
  • Playdough Cactus
    • Recommended materials: green playdough, toothpicks, pipe cleaner segments, stones, small containers
  • Sand Foam
    • Recommended materials: 3 cups of sand, shaving foam
Our sand foam didn’t turn out quite right – I think we needed finer sand – but we still had fun with some messy play!
  • Solar S’mores

Time For A Break!

Need more inspiration? Check out the Mamas Facing Forward Stay Home Summer Camp Archives!

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Mariah is a writer, patient advocate, and mom of three living with rheumatoid arthritis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. After learning firsthand how challenging and lonely it can be to face pregnancy and motherhood with chronic illness, Mariah became passionate about supporting women with chronic illness who are or want to become mothers. She launched Mamas Facing Forward in 2015 as a private Facebook support group, followed by this website in 2018.

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