Six years ago, when my oldest was only a wee Kindergartener, I decided to put her in Girl Scouts so she could get some social interaction with kids her own age. The Daisy troop already had a leader but needed a co-leader, so I signed up to help and was promptly indoctrinated into the world of squealing, excited-little-girl wrangling.

Trying to handle 10+ girls and lead them through badges and journeys took all of the strength that we had, but it forever cemented my love for the Girl Scouts!

Fast forward to this year, and I now have two girls in separate troops and have been a leader for Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes. At this duty station, I also made the jump to council and love my position as Encampment Director. Taking 150+ girls into the woods, organizing everything from sleeping arrangements to Archery, Scavenger Hunts to Canoeing, Arts and Crafts to meals, is totally my jam. I’m always amazed at the girls that have never camped before—never built a fire, never made a real s’more, and never slept outside in a sleeping bag. I pretty much grew up running wild outside in rural Oregon, and it makes me so dang happy to help girls experience it for the first time!

Awesome, right?

Well, enter COVID-19. Spring camping? Canceled.

Summer camps? Canceled.

Fall Camping? Canceled…

That’s a whole lotta canceled stuff, which makes for a whole lotta unhappy girls. But what can be done?

I bring you… the Camp-In Box! Sit-upons, bracelet making, edible campfires, leaf rubbing, scavenger hunts, DIY handkerchiefs, and more! It’s a box full of fun, with all materials and instructions included, and I was able to do it for around $10 each.

And then I got to thinking, maybe there are other groups out there, bored and disappointed with how their year is going, that could use a little pick me up?

Maybe another scout troop that wants to get together (safely and socially distant, of course), or a family that has no holiday plans, or even a neighborhood “pod” that has been quarantining together so their kids can play safely. These boxes are perfect for you! Here’s how I created them, and you can tweak and adjust them to whatever works for your group.

The Sit-Upons: First off, don’t be embarrassed, I know you’re asking yourself what the heck a sit-upon is. Well, in Scouts, it’s a little seat that the kids can carry around with them while they’re outside and use them to place on the ground to sit on. There are various ways to create one, but for these boxes I purchased a nylon reusable grocery shopping bag like this one, bubble wrap, and plastic lanyard string like this. You want to make sure that everything is plastic—not any type of cotton—because it needs to be waterproof. Punch holes across the top of the bag, then have the kids stuff it with bubble wrap and sew the top together with the string! Sometimes you can find bags with a plain back, and then if you’re doing the camp-in boxes with a group, they can all sign each other’s bags. Just make sure it’s in permanent marker, or it will wash off as soon as it’s wet.

Sit-Upons and the extra fun!

Bracelet Making: Depending on the age of the kids you’re making the boxes for, aim for three or four colorful strands. Younger kids can always do a simple braid, but for the older kids, a candy stripe pattern works great! I found instructions online and printed them off in color (so the kids could see where each thread wraps around the others), and then taped the thread right to the sheets. Here are the instructions I used, in a colorful brochure ready for printing. If you only need a few colors, then I would stick with a craft store like Joann Fabrics, but because I was buying so many, I found a huge pack on Amazon.

Leaf Rubbing: Make sure you buy special paper for this one! Thin, lightweight paper works the best, and I found a 100-sheet pack at—where else?—Joann’s. Strip the paper off of some crayons so they can be rubbed sideways, place the leaves under the paper, and the kids can create colorful artwork pieces!

Campfire ingredients

Edible Campfires: These are perfect for 1.) a camp-in snack, and 2.) to take the place of s’mores if you’re not able to do those at your camp-in. Supplies are easy to grab at any grocery store: large pretzel rods to act as logs, small pretzel rods to act as the kindling, cheerios act as the fire ring, chocolate chips to be charcoal, and of course, candy corn to act as the flames! For fun, I put a couple of mini marshmallows on toothpicks to look like s’mores for roasting. In each box I put a fun plate and colorful napkin, so the kids had everything needed to build their fires. Side note: everything in this is gluten-free except for the pretzels and pretzel rods. Finding GF small rods was easy, and then this treat can be enjoyed by Celiac/GF kiddos.

Scavenger Hunts: There are a lot of different options out there, especially on sites like Pinterest, just make sure you choose one that has things your kiddos can actually find. If there are options like “squirrels” or “pinecones” and you live on the coast, don’t choose that one! I found one on this website that has a special size that can be printed directly onto a small brown paper bag, but I couldn’t do it on my home printer and couldn’t find a printing company that could do it either! Instead, I just printed it like normal, and it was the perfect size to cut and put into the bag so that it was ready to use.

DIY Handkerchiefs: There are lots of different DIY things, like baseball caps, T-shirts, etc., but I picked the one that cost the least because I was creating these boxes for lots of girls. I aimed for plain white so the kids could fill it with their own designs, sign each other’s, essentially do whatever they wanted. Whatever type of fabric you use, make sure the markers are fabric markers and/or permanent ones, so the first time it gets washed it doesn’t get ruined! I got them in bulk from Oriental Trading Company. Here’s the link.

And lastly, the Extra Fun: I had a couple more dollars per box to spend, so I grabbed some camp-themed fake tattoos from Oriental Trading, glowstick lanyards from the Dollar Tree, and a fun patch for their vests! My favorite place to buy patches is Snappylogos.com; they have thousands to choose from.

poor grandma!

Depending on how many boxes you’re trying to build, I highly recommend an assembly line! My poor mom was visiting from Oregon after having two trips canceled because of COVID-19, and I begged her help with promises of Diet Coke and Pizza (works every time!). To make things look fun and colorful, I also purchased big packs of tissue wrapping paper from the Dollar Tree and wrapped a couple of things in each box. Voila—it’s like opening presents!

So there you have it people: Camp-in-a-box! Not as cool as actually going with your friends and staying in cabins, getting grubby on hikes, cooking junk food over a fire, eating gooey s’mores, and singing campfire songs at the top of your lungs before crashing into your sleeping bag way too late, only to rise at the butt-crack of dawn with the obnoxious birds (where’s a slingshot when you need one?), but I’d like to think that I’m giving this amazing group of girls a very close second.

And hey, if even one of these activities helps the kiddos in your life have a fun camp experience, then all that Diet Coke and pizza was worth it!