Summer in the Great Outdoors: For Children of All Ages

Summer is coming and we long to organize and facilitate summer memory making.  We want our children to climb trees, hike, swim, and experience nature.  It is our opportunity to stretch the imagination.  The world becomes our summer classroom!  Camps, libraries, museums, universities, and churches offer summer programs to provide hands-on-learning for youth all over the Northwest.

What can our summer look like?  Here are some ideas and links.

HIKING & CAMPING:  We know that we benefit by walking, but here is a great article about hiking and brain research.

Do enjoy hiking? OutThere Monthly has a scavenger/ treasure hunts for the whole family.

AllTrails 

Washington Trails Association

Club Slow Motion (Found on FB)-This is an all women's hiking group.  The hikes are well-paced.  Most of the hikes range from 3-5 miles distances.

Washington, Idaho State,  Montana, California, and Oregon State Parks: These websites are a great way to find a campsite.  It also can be used to reserve an environmental center, yurt, and small cabin.

Just for Kids

Junior Ranger Program

Summer Camps

Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture- The MAC Museum is offering art, science, and music camps for all ages.  Programs include field trips, campouts, wilderness safety, geocache, kayaking, and more!  ArtFest is also a wonderful opportunity to play and create.

Camp Metamorphosis is a camp for 4th-6th graders.  Whitworth University offers this camp through their Talented and Gifted Department.

Camp Opportunity is for grades 6-9. Camp Opportunity offers three different themes for the week.  "Trek of the Techie, "Farm to Table," and "Explore the Great Outdoors." Students can choose one focus or try a little in all three class offerings.

Camp Spalding-Camp Spalding offers overnight camps for children and families.  Camp Spalding's Family camp offers deluxe cabins and provides linens and amazing food.  The staff takes the time to form relationships with the whole family.  All activities are provided and organized.  This provides a low-stress vacation.

Washington:

Summer Camps or Programs for Children with Special Needs:

Joni and Friends

Camp Goodtimes- Resident camp designed for 7-17-year-old cancer patients and survivors

Montana: Camp Dream

Oregon: Very Special Camps

California: Camps for Kids with Special Needs

Sports:  There are so many opportunities for youth to participate in summer sports camps.  Trying to choose is the most difficult part.

Basketball-NBC Camps

Disc Golf-PGA disc Golf Course Directory Map

Disc Golf Directory

Libraries

Most libraries offer summer programs.  Our local library has hosted educational music, drama, dance, science programs for young children.  Do you have a child that has a library fine?  Some libraries offer a fine forgiveness program.

Twelve Days of Christmas

We love to sing 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' in our house and classrooms.  There are two ways we use this book.  In our home we use the song to remind us of our faith.  We also like to use this book as a triangular number pattern example in the classroom.

Classroom:  The 'Twelve Days of Christmas' provides a wonderful math/music lesson in the classroom.  The gifts really start to grow, assuming that the partridge in a pear tree was given ( 1 x 12 =12) twelve times.   The book demonstrates a triangular number pattern.  

Day 1:  Partridge in a pear tree=1 gifts

Day 2:  Partridge in a pear tree + two turtledoves = 3 gifts

Day 3:  Partridge in a pear tree + two turtledoves + three French hens = 6 gifts

My husband and I love to teach this lesson.  The students predict how many total gifts were given by the twelfth day.  Many of the students guess much too low.  We use Jack Kent's 'Twelve Days of Christmas.'  The main characters overwhelmed expression just adds to the story.  The students start to feel sorry for the main character. 

In the past we have made charts to show patterns, individual posters for each day, and wrote new lyrics.    

You can find our 'Twelve Days of Christmas' lesson at our Liz and Ron Store.

Home:  Here is a quick history review.  Long ago, the Roman Catholics were forbidden to practice their faith openly.   'The Twelve Days of Christmas' was written as a "catechism song" to help children to learn about their Roman Catholic faith.  The song was written somewhere between 1558 to 1829.

2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.
6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed