Easy-Prep Camping Theme Activities That Won't Break the Bank!

As the warmer days come and the end of the school year is within sight, I know a lot of you turn to theme weeks and theme days, with all of the fun activities that go along with them.

 

I've seen some amazing high-energy classroom transformations that go along with these themes. The children love them. More power to the teachers that thrive on big events!!

 

But, seriously, teachers, after a looong and challenging year, know that it is totally possible to bring in a theme without using your last few drops of energy (and without emptying your bank account!)

 

Here are a few options for an easy-to-do camping theme!

 

Let's start off with read-alouds! Read your class a new camping book (or two! or three!) every day during camping week. Then put them into a picnic basket or a backpack for buddy reading. Good books are meant to be enjoyed again and again!

Here are two books for the K-2 crowd. I'm including Amazon links, but I'll bet your school or public library might already have these fun camping books!

Rhyming text, fun artwork, and a cute story by Chris Van Dusen, as Mr. Magee and his dog Dee head out on a camping adventure and meet up with a bear who loves marshmallows! {Keeping It Simple Snack Alert: Marshmallows are a fun snack even if they're not toasted or turned into s'mores!} 

Do you have students who haven't gone camping? They'll empathize with the main character in The Camping Trip by Jennifer K. Mann. Ernestine is pretty sure that she's going to love camping, but discovers that it just might take her out of her comfort zone. This is a great conversation starter for your class, to talk about how trying new things sometimes leads to something wonderful! {Writing Prompt: "What would you like to try on a camping trip that you've never done before, and why?" OR "Are there things about camping that might make you worry a bit? Make a list!"}

Use any books to make a camping adventure! See if you can get families to send in a flashlight or two for camping week. Turn off the classroom lights and encourage your students to stretch out on the floor, or huddle with a reading buddy under a desk for even more fun!

It's camping week - get your class outside!! Encourage your students to be observers of nature by arming them with binoculars. Start saving those paper towel tubes! A quick search on Pinterest will give you lots of ideas for using paper tubes to create fun binoculars. Make your outdoor adventure even more fun (and focused!) by working together to create a list of what to search for. Whether it's a red rock, a piece of tree bark, or a special insect, your students will be more engaged in the hunt when they've worked together to create the list!

Bring camping songs into the mix! Some of my favorites are "The Ants Go Marching", "The Bear Went Over the Mountain", and "The More We Get Together".  I'm a fan of writing song lyrics on charts (more reading practice is always a good thing, right??).  Use your camping song charts during your Morning Meeting every day, searching for and marking new text features, like words that start like ____, words with endings (-ing, -ed, etc), words that rhyme with ____, etc. 

What about math, you ask? Try these!

Create an Estimation Jar with any clear plastic container. Fill it with a variety of rocks. {Engagement Tip: Ask your students to bring small rocks to school. You'll probably want to emphasize the word "small". 🙄  Have your students sort them by size into two or three piles.} Leave the filled jar out as an activity for your students to complete over the course of a few days, with students writing their names and estimates on paper scraps. 

There's so much math learning to be had when the lid is taken off your jar! Have students explain how they arrived at their estimates. Line up the estimate papers from least to greatest. (An easy way to introduce or practice line plots!) Count the rocks. Talk about easier ways to organize the counting ... practice skip counting by twos, fives, and tens! {Mini-marshmallows are super-fun camping items for a second round with your Estimation Jar!} It's a complete math lesson for one day of your camping week!

Science extension! After you complete the estimation jar activity, put some of them on a tray along with some leaves, moss, and other treasures that might be found when camping. Add a few magnifying glasses and some paper with special writing tools (fancy markers and feather pens would be perfect!) for your students to draw and write about their observations. It's an easy peasy instant Science Observation center!

You can find more easy-prep camping-themed math games and activities here for kindergarten and first grade.

Looking for more math and literacy activities for your camping theme?

This set of 24 activities will give you what you need for centers, small group, and whole class lessons! Here's a peek at what's included!

Click to see more!

I hope these ideas will help you and your students enjoy a great camping theme ... without needing you to risk life and limb climbing up on desks to decorate your room and without a lot of extra spending!

Happy Teaching!

Make the Most of Your Classroom Theme

Hi, Teaching Friends!

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase via a link, I'll receive a small remuneration that will not add to the cost of your purchase.

When do thoughts of your new classroom start filling your daydreams (and invading your nighttime dreams, too)? Are you a midsummer planner, or one of those (okay, this one was always me!) who starts planning the next year while the current one is still going on? Are you doing a complete classroom makeover, or tweaking what you already have in place? How are you going to make the most of your classroom theme this year?

Click to see math games for your camping theme!

The first question of all, of course, is whether you'll even use a theme.  In my classrooms over the years, I wasn't a theme girl.  I had trouble getting my head around how I was going to bring seasonal things into a theme like space or penguins. It just seemed easier at the time to use colors as my theme.  
But do I admire people who do cohesive and cute themes well?  I sure do!!  There are some amazing photos on Pinterest of teachers who've used clever and attractive themes, and done them beautifully!

So, in all this pondering that I've been doing about themes, I started wondering about ways that a classroom theme can be integrated into the curriculum throughout the year.  

Here are a few that you might like to try!


One idea is to search TpT for clipart that fits your theme. With so much there, you can probably find a reasonably priced set for whatever theme you've chosen. I'd recommend looking for a set that includes clips in both color and blackline.  Not all color clipart will show up well when printed in black and white, but that's fine, because so many artists have sets that give you the option of both.


How can you use the clipart you purchase?  Even if you don't make any of your own resources, I'll bet you send home a newsletter, or print up an occasional simple something like spelling lists or math sheet of your own. Just copy and paste a little cowboy, or penguin, or bear, or whatever fits your theme at the top of the page to make it a bit more interesting for your kiddos!


Another easy way to integrate your theme with your curriculum is to get a mini-mascot, like a small stuffed animal, that fits your theme. Put your mascot in your writing center and have your students...

• Draw a picture of your mascot and label the picture.
• Write a list of questions you'd like to ask your mascot.
• Write a letter to your mascot to invite... or to thank... or to explain... lots of options!

Another fun activity is to turn your mini-mascot into a Take Home Pet. Put your little guy into a little tote bag, along with a notebook/journal and cute pencil. Your students will love taking him home and working with an adult to write a little about its adventures. Journal entries in my class ranged from "We watched TV" to a detailed saga of every event from the time they went out the classroom door until bedtime.

Are you wondering where you'll find a stuffed animal to be a mascot for your theme?  Put on your creative kids' thinking cap! Here are a few thoughts!  Sports: use a bobblehead, or just draw a face on a ball.  Hollywood/movies: create a movie star by putting sunglasses on a Beanie Baby. Cats: Everybody's favorite, Pete, is available as an 8 inch tall stuffed character, or you might want to take a plain old cat stuffed toy, but send him home in a special Pete tote bag!

Did you notice those cute little pups in the picture above? They're mini-erasers, from Target, of course! If you happen to pass through the Dollar Spot, be sure to look for little treasures like these to coordinate with your theme!

How can you use mini-erasers? Well, that would have to be a whole 'nother blogpost, but for starters...

• As shown in the photo, use them for game playing pieces.
• Use them in sensory bins. Picking up mini-erasers with tweezers is super for fine motor development!
• If you have several kinds of erasers that fit your theme (there were four kinds of dog erasers the day that I bought these!!), mix up a bunch in a bowl or bag. Your students can grab a big handful of erasers and graph them!
• Use them to build numbers. Two ten frames (make them quickly with tape on a desk) plus a handful of your themed erasers is great for working with teen numbers.
• Use mini-erasers as math manipulatives for solving or creating problems.

Can't find the erasers you need at Target? Be sure to check out the mini-erasers at Oriental Trading. I'm not an affiliate, just a fan of the selection. I bought this exact set probably about 15 years ago. Hey, it's got pups in it! And fish for your ocean theme, and balls for your sports theme, and ... :)

As you can see, you don't have to be tremendously creative or spend a lot of time coming up with ways to connect your classroom theme to your curriculum. It's all about thinking of ways to keep learning fun!

If you're interested in math games that will help you make the most of your classroom theme, I have a number of them in my TpT store. Here are a few - just click on any of the pictures to see the details!

                                        

Click here to see more game collections for classroom themes like superheroes, dogs, bees, camping, and the beach, at both kindergarten and first grade levels. If you're interested in a set but don't see your theme, please leave a comment below and I'll put your theme on my to-do list!

Happy Teaching!