Summer at home? Here are some great at-home summer camp ideas for your kids while you work from home! Check out this list of virtual summer camp ideas and summer camp activities for kids for while you are working.
Schools are closed. Some daycares have not reopened. But working moms still have work to do. Many working moms are working remotely for our full-time jobs. Some offices are beginning to reopen, but with child care looking very different for us, the feasibility of continuing to work is becoming difficult.
Working from home with kids is a challenge, but working remotely with kids during a pandemic presents unique and undeniable hardship.
Finding ways to keep our kids busy (and entertained) while we focus on meeting our deadlines is a must this summer. Here is a collection of ideas for summer camp at home as well as virtual summer camp options for working moms and your kids. These summer camp activities ideas will help get you through this summer.
Updated for Summer 2024
Summer Childcare
Finding summer childcare is critical, and hiring someone to care for our child in our own home might be the only option we have with schools and daycares closed. Here are some great options.
If you want to hire your own nanny or babysitter, here are some ideas for sitter or nanny interview questions. Here are tips on what to include in your nanny contract since you will need an agreement for your nanny or sitter.
To search for the perfect sitter you can use a website or service. I used Care.com to find our nanny. You can also use Sittercity.
Summer Learning at Home
As the scorching summer days approach, it’s crucial to highlight the significance of continuous learning to prevent the dreaded summer slide.
While beaches and barbecues may lure us into a state of relaxation, maintaining academic engagement is key to combatting regression in students’ knowledge and skills over the break. With innovative summer learning programs and educational resources readily available, parents have so many options to keep young minds active and thriving during this time.
Summer Solutions
Summer Solutions workbooks are the perfect way to keep our children at grade level and prevent the summer slide. Summer Solutions sent me their 3rd-grade workbooks to help me keep my son’s brain active while he was on summer break. Use my code JulieSummer10 to save 10% off your purchases of $50 or more.
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Summer Screentime
When you are looking for solutions to help reduce your child’s summer screentime, try a “before you get on devices” agreement.
Here’s a checklist to help your child know when it is OK to use their device and what they need to accomplish during the day first. Feel free to grab it!
Summer Camp at Home Activities (Ideas for Mom Summer Camp Activities for Kids)
When kids are stuck at home all summer, it is imperative to have some fun activities they can get involved in and have fun. Here are some great at-home camps for kids!
Homer Learn and Grow
Homer is another wonderful educational app for children 2-8. Combine learning games with fun puzzles and you’ve got a happy kid and some time for mom. Homer offers a 30-day trial and often runs promotions for a 45-day trial!
- HOMER is rethinking learning at home and is an incredible resource to help any child catch up and regain critical skills
- The HOMER Method is based on research, designed by experts, and has over 1,000 learning activities to help kids build skills across subjects – in addition to reading, there are also Math, creativity, and thinking skills.
- Just 15 minutes a day has proven to increase reading scores by 74%
codeSpark
codeSpark is a learning app from the people who made Homer, this one focusing on coding education for kids. What a great way to enrich their minds while playing a game on their tablet! Click the redeem offer to get your trial! Here’s my kid enjoying a codeSpark game.
Little Passports
You already know I love Little Passports monthly activity mail for my son. Their subscriptions are a perfect way to host Summer Camp at home.
Check out Little Passports for Kids 3 and Up!
For school-age kids, you will love their Geography & Science Subscriptions, Activity Kits & Learning Toys for 6 and up.
Introduce kids to the wonders of the world we share through Little Passports’ award-winning science and geography-themed subscriptions, activity kits, and more. Engage their curiosity, build their confidence, and encourage a passion for lifelong learning. Help them become excellent learners and build a global perspective while discovering the wonders of the world we share.
Little Passports also gave me this lovely how-to-draw worksheet to share with you! Download it below.
Grab your drawing supplies and get ready for some art time! This How to Draw a Chimpanzee worksheet from Little Passports lets your child learn about primates while practicing their drawing skills. Swing over to littlepassports.com for more fun learning activities.
Learning Activities
Younger kids can be set up with an activity and play beside you while you work. It isn’t ideal, I know, but little ones require supervision. Lots of supervision. You can try some of these amazing learning activity ideas for one-year-olds up to preschool age from Hands on as we Grow. I love the ideas she shares, and there are always great fresh ideas in her Activity Room Membership.
I also have a bunch of ideas for learning activities for preschoolers and kindergarten readiness.
I have collections of preschool letter learning and math learning activities to help you get your kids busy with a great and fun learning activity, and continue getting ready for kindergarten.
If you’re worried that your school-aged child struggled with learning during this time, perhaps a virtual tutor could help! Check out a virtual tutoring program, like ArgoPrep for K-8 math and ELA. They also offer a great variety of free worksheets to help supplement learning.
You can also get this free at home summer camp printable from Homeschool.com. Connections Academy is a tuition-free public school.
Active Play
Active play is so important for cooped-up kids. If you have the space in your home or yard, active toys and play equipment are a must! These active play ideas must go on your list of summer camp indoor activities!
- Game of movement and skill
- CLASSIC HOPSCOTCH RUG (78.5" x 26.5") : The Melissa & Doug Hop & Count Hopscotch Rug features a classic hopscotch design and 2 colorful beanbags for hours of jumping and counting entertainment.
- DURABLE MATERIALS: Our hopscotch rug is made from high-quality woven materials that can be used indoors or outdoors. The rug is machine-washable for easy cleanup.
- Melissa & Doug Deluxe Activity Road Rug Play Set with 49 Wooden Vehicles and Play Pieces
- GREAT GIFT FOR AGES 3 TO 7: This Melissa & Doug Hop & Count Hopscotch Rug makes an exceptional gift for kids from 3 to 7 years. Add the Melissa & Doug 4-in-1 Game Rug to round out the hands-on, screen-free play experience.
- “THE GOLD STANDARD IN CHILDHOOD PLAY”: For more than 30 years, Melissa & Doug has created beautifully designed imagination- and creativity-sparking products that NBC News called “the gold standard in early childhood play.”
You can also take your kids on a nature walk, which is very educational, and then do some nature crafts.
Interactive Toys
Melissa and Doug toys are great for open-ended play and learning.
They constantly run sales so check out their fun interactive learning toy ideas!
Virtual Summer Camp Ideas for Kids
#LifeSkillsNow by Kids Cook Real Food – free June 24-28
Did you hear about the Kids Cook Real Food Free Virtual Summer Camp? 100% free to attend the Kids Cook Real Food Life Skills Now
What you get from the #LifeSkillsNow Summer Camp:
- FREE access to over 60 workshops for kids ages 5-18
- 100% online with workshops available for 24 hours (replay!)
- Every 24 hours, you get a new batch of workshops to choose from. Make your own schedule for the day!
- Your kids can choose the ones they’re most interested in (plus some for parents!).
- Prizes, freebies, and more!
Give our camp leaders 20 minutes a day to teach a skill, and we’ll give your kids a simple action step that will get them off screens and into their imaginations for the rest of the day!
Cooking Lessons: Whis-Kid
This is great for older kiddos who can read and work in the kitchen alone, or for younger kiddos with parent supervision (you know, when you’re done working for the day). The Whis-Kid Guidebook and lessons help teach your kids to cook, ending battles in the kitchen over meals. Because when kids are in control of the food they are cooking, they will want to eat what they make.
With the help of an adult, Whis-Kid cooking lessons are suitable for children and teens of all ages. The boys in the video lessons range from 7-14 years of age.
Writing Camp: Write the World
Join one or more of Write the World’s virtual writing workshops (great for kids ages 13 – 19). They offer week-long virtual writing camps for a variety of writing styles: poetry, flash fiction, writing for social justice, humor, and more. Their dedicated team of authors and educators facilitates the workshops and mentors the young writers. Register for 2+ workshops and receive 20% off automatically!
Virtual Maths Tutoring: BrainBuilder Maths
BrainBuilder Maths specialists have helped many families who struggled to find the coach to either help their children falling behind in math or know how to stretch and extend their children beyond achieving straight A’s. Their experienced teachers specializing in math and comprehensive programs are geared to teach Math online in an exciting way established in 2017.
Why don’t you try the 1-free trial online class and see the benefits that come with it? BrainBuilder Maths is an internationally proven teaching method and the Curriculum is aligned with the US Common Core book (used in CA and many other parts of the US) Math in Focus that Dr. Fong Ho Kheong wrote. The key approach to help benefit children in developing their:
*Critical thinking
*Higher Order Thinking skills
*Confidence to master maths
For 1 free trial class, contact BrainBuilder Maths directly via email [email protected]
Virtual Music Lessons
Get your kids in the Piano Summer Camp! Piano lessons are available for ages 5-15. Get a free piano class from Pixical. They offer a Flexible week-by-week enrollment format.
Virtual Camp: Outschool
Outschool: Explore any interest over live video chat! Discover fun, social, and safe learning experiences for kids ages 3-18 led by passionate teachers. Classes from $10. From phonics to AP Physics to Minecraft to Piano, Outschool feeds your kid’s curiosity and elevates their learning with a variety of 15,000+ classes.
Free Virtual Camps
- Primrose online with Og – weekly activity ideas and learning ideas
- Camp @ Home with UNICEF Kid Power – free, fun, and engaging videos that get kids up and moving!
- Arree Chung – Free classes on writing, drawing, and storytelling from award-winning author/illustrator Arree Chung
- Virtual museum tours – many famous museums offer virtual tours
- Wide Open School by Common Sense Media
- Reading Rockets -“Start with a Book” program is FREE and is sort of an online book club for kids ages 6 and up.
- PBS Kids for Parents – free age-by-age tips, crafts, games, and activities to get you through summer.
- Khan Academy – a nonprofit with the mission to provide free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.
- WowArt – daily art videos and painting tutorials
- BOND (Body + Mind Together) – An online tool for at-home physical activity and mindfulness skills for kids.
- Kids Gardening – opportunities for kids to learn and grow through gardening, engaging their natural curiosity, and wonder.
- #CampYouTube – summer camp topics like arts, sports, adventure, and STEM
- Camp TFK (TIME for Kids) – virtual daily activities for the month of July
- REI virtual family summer series – teaming up with Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority to share activities and lessons about animals and the outdoors
- Arm & Hammer summer camp – includes STEM, baking, and slime making starts late July.
- Kids coding classes – Free coding classes for kids are a great way to introduce computer programming to students and to help them discover a new passion.
- Happy Camper Live -From sports and arts and crafts to photography and magic, Happy Camper Live will give your kiddo a real camp feel at home with FREE and affordable summer activities—there’s even a virtual campfire!
- The San Diego Zoo– FREE online learning resources for kids and provides even more ways to learn about the world around us!
- Peanuts Virtual Art Camp– Peanuts Worldwide and Paige Braddock launched a series of short, instructional videos, “How to Draw Peanuts Characters,” on the Snoopy YouTube channel.
- Sew a Softie– will have tutorials online to sew a new softie.
- A virtual 4-H camp – activities for children in grades pre-K through 12.
- Maker Camp – science and crafting projects and activities.
- Camp Candlewick – Book publisher Candlewick Press hosts a 12-week summer reading program broken down into “cabins” by grade level.
- Wonderopolis – online camp lets kids explore topics such as weather, food, and technology.
Note: I first curated this list during the summer of 2020; many of the original list have ended their free summer programs, and I am trying to keep the list up to date with new programs.
My friend also shares these summer camp printables with summer at-home themes.
When other distraction methods fail, there’s always screen time! We love ABC Mouse for educational screen time that my child can do completely independently while I’m focused on conference calls.
What are you doing to keep your kids busy this summer? Do share!
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Summer Camps says
Your list of at-home summer camp activities is diverse and engaging, especially with the inclusion of virtual options like coding and music lessons. I’d suggest adding a martial arts component—perhaps a virtual or DIY session focused on basic techniques, discipline, and self-defense. Martial arts not only keep kids active but also teach valuable life skills like focus and resilience, which can complement the other learning activities you’ve shared.
Jennifer says
Good info!
Some are expired or have fees/minimal fees.
Thanks for the info!
Julie says
These items aren’t all free, correct. Can you share what was expired so I can update? Thanks!
Priti says
This is really helpful.