How to host a Camp Capable

Training our kids instead of being annoyed they don't know what to do ;)

After a few too many moments of getting frustrated with my kids about things they weren’t doing the right way, it kind of hit me:

I haven’t actually taught them how to do this.

Sure, they’ve seen me do it.

They’ve heard me complain about it not being done.

And I may have even told them they needed to learn it.

But I wasn’t actually teaching them some of the life skills I knew would change our daily lives if they did.

I often forget to be intentional in my training of the girls. And maybe you do too. So that’s why a few weeks ago, we pressed pause on the math and English lessons for a week and instead, took time to train the girls in other areas that needed our attention.

I called it Camp Capable because I wanted them to feel confident and strong in knowing how to do things they often waffled on or didn’t feel equipped to do.

This works great for homeschool, of course, but it can also be perfect for anyone to do during the summer! Take one week and focus on changing the status quo. Stop perpetuating that cycle of insanity by doing the same things, expecting different results. Pay attention and get intentional. Training up our kids feels like something we’re always doing, but on some days, we’re just keeping everything moving and not really equipping them to do things on their own.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN CAMP CAPABLE

Decide what needs training.

I’ll share the list of what we did at the end, but it might not apply well to your family, given your needs, family culture, or ages. Think about the pain points in your house currently. Think about the areas where your kids feel insecure or a little flustered doing things. Any areas that could use a little boost of feeling capable!

Make it interactive.

I didn’t want things to feel stale, so I tried mixing in different elements.

• Hands-on challenges - I wanted it not to just be instruction, but for them to do stuff. This truly made them feel CAPABLE by the end of the week.

• PowerPoint Presentations - You can see the ones I made for “How to Plan Meals for the Week” and “The Benefits of Old Books”. I’m new to sharing Canva files, but I think you can make a copy of these and adjust how you like or for different topics. Grab here.

• YouTube videos - There are just some things better taught visually or by an expert. Look at your list of things you want to cover over the week (or whatever time you are giving to it!) and see where a video might be helpful. I’d plan this ahead of time because YouTube can be a crazy place. Watch them and save them to a folder called Camp Capable so you are ready.

• Have different teachers - Some of the girls’ favorite lessons were because we got to learn them from people they love, including both grandmas, an aunt, a neighbor, and a grandpa. Think of your favorite people and ask them what they’d want to teach your kids. It doesn’t have to be intense. My sister taught the girls about skincare, my mom how to load the dishwasher efficiently, and my neighbor how to do a French braid.

Make it fun.

The general air was celebratory and fun. We planned a fun lunch or two. We started a little later than usual. This wasn’t torture, even though there were some lessons that weren’t super exciting. Anywhere you can say “yes” or inject some whimsy, do it! My biggest regret? Not making t-shirts!! I think they would have loved it! I also want them to want to do this again because I do think it could be fun to do annually.

Be prepared.

Map out how long you think each thing will take. I’d just add (45) next to the task to indicate that I think it will take 45 minutes. That way, as things go off the rails—as they do—you can get back on track as you remember how long you had planned for it to take. Also, know what you are going to do before the day starts—things like printouts or supplies—so you aren’t scrambling on the day of.

Be flexible.

Not everything you plan will fit. If you’re overly ambitious like I am, it might be half. ;) At the end of the day, I’d reevaluate what we actually did and move things around for the next day if needed. I also kept a list of things we didn’t finish by the end of the week that we can slowly add to our weeks. Just because Camp Capable is over, doesn’t mean we can’t keep learning these things.

Here’s the Google doc with everything we planned (not finished!). Make a copy and feel free to use as a starting point.

The secret sauce.

The comments sections. I love the idea of Camp Capable and I hope you got a lot from this post but I think the biggest benefits will be in the comments section as other people share their ideas for things they’d incorporate and tips to make it better. So let this be a truly interactive post! Comment your thoughts below!