“Fun for all ages” is a wonderful concept. When thinking about imaginative play, and life in general, you know you have
a hit when a wide range of ages can be equally engaged. Last week, our family held the second annual “Cousin’s Camp” for our upcoming generation. We had 15 campers ranging in age from 4 – 13. Ahh, there lies the challenge – how do you keep such a wide range of kids engaged for hours (and days?!) at a time?
For one thing, you have have a flexible structure for them to work within. Setting the parameters, and giving choices within them, goes a long way in keeping everyone actively engaged. Second, you find materials and experiences that are open-ended and usually quite simple. Think natural materials such as water, sand and wooden blocks; and art materials such as finger paints, paper, crayons, markers and clay. Nothing fancy or gimmicky here, and definitely no batteries required. Of course, what a 4 year-old and 13 year-old chose to do with blocks, sand, clay or finger paints will vary. Their methods, attention span and ability to coordinate their play with others will look very different, but isn’t that the beauty of open-ended materials? In these instances, the child is in 
charge of deciding the how and the what; the grown ups are there just to provide the materials, the time and the space.
“Quiet Time” in the afternoons gave us all a chance to relax, take a deep breath 
and entertain ourselves individually. Within the “Quiet Time” framework older campers read novels and wrote in their journals; younger campers read or looked at books and drew pictures; and our youngest campers took their afternoon nap. And singing was something we did daily together – with lots of songs that have become family favorites – including call and response songs which everyone (including the youngest non-readers) can enjoy. Our oldest camper even taught the rest of us a new song – now a favorite – which we will add to our growing songbook.
But there is one more crucial ingredient – interesting adults. This year, we had a rotating list of aunts and uncle who came and shared their interests, time and talents with the kids. One of my brothers, a former art teacher, made paper with the campers. Another brother is a talented musician, and he joined us with his guitar for some of our singing sessions. My sister came one day and shared her talents in the kitchen to help our campers make lunch and snack for that day. Launching rockets, starting a campfire, pitching a tent, telling a funny story, performing a skit…so many interesting grown ups spending time with the campers…sharing laughter and love and making memories.
So, how do you keep kids engaged? Open-ended and simple materials. Flexible structure. Quality time spent with interesting and caring adults. These make for a fantastic summer camp experience. And you know what…pretty great for school, too. I remember times in my second and third grade classroom at Mission Hill School – when things were feeling stressful and unproductive, and our insightful principal Deb Meier would say to me, “What about making the classroom feel more like summer camp?” That question would help me tweak my routine, materials and attitude in a way that could get us back on track – and making it fun for all ages.
See a related post: KEVA planks – creating fun for everyone
