me + you + our kids = summer delight

Marian at her creative work last Sunday. Realizing I sometimes over stretch the originality thing, I printed out some of the small draw pdfs--really an amazing resource; they have fantastic participating artists-- from Small magazine on cardstock and we got out the watercolors and colored pencils.

Hi, friends. I'm trolling for local participants in a summer co-op day camp.

We're heading out for a big roadtrip WEST in mid-July, but want to make the most of our summer here, and figure that the best way to choose the perfect day camp for my precious ones is just to make my own. With you.

The exact nature of this project will depend on the number of participants, but I have this so far (I believe in lots of guidelines to make something like this work, manage expectations, and be balanced/fair/not lame-o on some days, so expect them. But then I like to fully delegate and grant autonomy, too, so don't worry about micromanagement).

*June 21-25th, 9:00-12:00. Grades K-7, or as long as you think they'll still be interested. I plan on forcing Audrey. Any interest in a preschool mini-camp (perhaps the first or last hour)?

*Meet at a park like Southhampton Township Park that has space to accommodate a group with a variety of activities. If we have a big enough group to easily share the cost, and well utilize the space, then we could rent a pavilion, too. Otherwise, I don't expect to have any $ changing hands: if everyone gives/plans, the costs will naturally be shared. You may be cheap and creative, or richy if you feel like it when planning your virtual trips to the moon.

*A mom or a group of parents does an art/science/hands-on whatever camp in the morning, say 9:00-12:00. Drop off for the others! With more participants, we may have rotating classes or age groupings and have both class leaders and adult helpers. You may be asked to invest more time if you have more children participating (ie, you'll be in charge of a craft one day and just show up to help another day to keep our adult:kid ratio workable).

*Everyone (that means "come pick up your kids now") meets together for a bring-your-own-picnic lunch at 12:00.

*Stay for part of the afternoon to play or hike as interested (this time will not be not organized like the morning is).

Feel free to pass this along to friends whom you think would be a great addition. I'll be happy with just a couple of friends to trade and meet with, but think it will organically support itself (with those guidelines), so the more the merrier!

So I can do the aforementioned planning and plotting, please let me know by June 1st if you're interested. If you took a nice long Memorial Day weekend break and are reading this blog post past that day, well, you may beg. I'm a bit of a softy.

Good times?
yes!

Valerie