This year for spring break I wanted to do something to not only keep the kids busy, but also something worthwhile. After reading this blog post about age-by-age skills that kids should know, I knew what I wanted to do: Boot Camp! The boys love anything related to the military, so I knew they would be into it. And Lil’ Miss loves to hang out with the boys, so we were set!
To prepare, I got each of the 3 older kids a uniform (camouflage shirt, traditional green for the boys and pink for the girl) and a dog tag with the words “I Can Do Hard Things” inscribed on them.
The morning of Boot Camp I handed out the uniforms and dog tags and started calling the kids recruits. They ate it up! I then explained that in order to gain a rank, they needed to complete two skills. To keep track of their progress I made a simple chart and gave a star sticker for each completed task.
I’m not a real drill sergeant, though. After they completed tasks they were also allowed to do activities, such as navigating an obstacle course, playing a rousing game of “Sergeant Says,” or shooting targets with their Nerf guns.
I really wanted to encourage their independence, so at breakfast and lunch they were expected to fill their own cereal bowl and make their own sandwiches.
Another fun thing we did, was set up pup tents. I found some $5 tents at Kmart that worked well. We even let them sleep in the tents one night.
We finished the week up with a trip to our local Air Force museum. Unfortunately the day we went was quite snowy and we didn’t brave the weather to check out all the planes they had outside the museum. We’ll definitely have to go again when the weather is nicer!
The highlight of the week for me was hearing the kids recite to themselves, “I can do hard things,” as they tackled their tasks. And if the week only helped them gain a little confidence then I would consider it: Mission Accomplished!
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