I’m so excited to share all about Camp Sloop! This idea came to be after I was having major buyer’s remorse after overpaying for a local story and craft time. It didn’t hit me how much it was for all three of my kids until after I purchased my tickets and hitting “submit order”. Ouch. I told a friend how mad at myself I was (and how crazy this place was to charge that much!), and she replied, “Your crafts are way better!”. We laughed. But then, I kept thinking about it…and I knew if I could somehow roll an idea like this out in a controlled way, yes, I could have kiddos over to do exactly what I was [over] paying for at another venue.
And it was then, that Camp Sloop was born.
So, here we go. Here are all the details of how I got the ball rolling of Camp Sloop!
About a month before our first day of “camp”, I sent out a text to three mamas that I thought would be up for it. My kids also adore their kids, and I love their moms, so it wasn’t that hard to narrow our selection of friends down here. If we’re being honest, I would have loved to have about ten moms and their kids, but um, children add up quickly, so I had to really be realistic with how many kids I could host at my home…with water activities…and paint. I would love to be that person that is completely free-spirited in situations like this, but I’m not. The Lord is working on me, HA!!!
With these three other families plus my own, this totaled 4 mommies and 9 children ages 1-5.5. I received a unanimous YES back from these mamas saying they would love to come. I committed to 4 days, and each camp day would be two hours. There would be water time, craft time, and snack time. Boom.
I thought through how I wanted the time together to go, and then sent this out on a group text:
I’ll be adding to this post all summer with recaps of our camp days. Enjoy!
Week One of Camp Sloop Recap
A few days before our first day, I sent my friends a text with more specific details about what they would need to bring for our first camp day. You know I dreamed for each week of camp to be thematic. For our first week, the theme was Red, White, and Blue, because the Fourth was just a week later!
I had already communicated what they needed to bring each week (see above for the graphic I texted!). For this week, they also needed to bring a white t-shirt or onesie for their child. I kept the craft a surprise!
I had everything set-up for when everyone arrived, including a proto-type of the craft. I premade my twins’ shirts, so I could 1. test it all out and 2. so I could be hands on to help my mom friends with their own children.
One of the mamas was generous and brought a Mommy snack, so we could nibble and chat while the kids played together. She was a gem and also went along with the theme by preparing a flag-themed cheese and cracker board. (applause!)
After everyone was settled and got to play for a bit, we got to our craft! I have wanted to make these handprint flag shirts literally since I was pregnant with my daughter (six years ago!). I was ecstatic that the time had finally come!
I had everything everyone needed laid out for our campers including baby wipes for messes and clean up and cardboard to stuff in the shirts. It was a good excuse to use some of my festive tablecloths too!
The white t-shirts were less than $3 at Hobby Lobby and the fabric paint was pretty inexpensive too. For our Littles who love a little shimmer in their lives, I also had some glitter fabric paint too to be added on at the end.
Some kids wanted to paint their own stripes and some mamas took on that role for those itching to get back to playing. Look how cute they turned out!
When we had everything from the craft cleaned up, I filled up some buckets of water and brought out these fun foam water guns! The moms knew there would be water play of some sort so everyone was prepared to get wet and had their suits and towels ready!
These water guns allowed for most of the kids to play. My two year old boys caught on quickly how to use them! For our littlest campers, I had the water table out and some other outdoor toys for them too.
After lots of squeals and fun running around playing, it was time for a treat!
I made these ice cream sandwiches the night before with some festive sprinkles to go along with our theme. I simply let the sandwiches sit out for about ten minutes, so they would soften a little, then I dipped all four sides in the sprinkles before putting them back in the freezer.
Everyone loved them, and they were super pretty, too *wink*.
And that’s it! My goal was to keep things SIMPLE and intentional. I didn’t want this idea of camp to be a big ordeal or stressful. I wanted my kids to play, make memories, and enjoy some summer fun!
Now, are you ready to read more? Click here to read my Week Two Recap!
Click here to read my Week Three Recap!
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[…] Our second week of Camp Sloop was another fun morning together with friends, and I’m excited to share with you the details. If you missed how Camp Sloop came to be and how I structured it, you can read all about it here. […]