Quite Possibly the Best Idea I've Ever Had

A couple weeks ago some friends and I were discussing what to do with our kids in the summertime. Someone suggested we do a little Joy School (we had done it before) to keep the kids entertained. Well, that idea blossomed when I sent out a message to our neighborhood Facebook group. We ended up with 9 moms and 15 kids participating in our Summer Camp. We divided the kids into 2 groups, and have two moms teaching each week. The kids meet on Mondays and Wednesdays for 2 hours in the afternoon when all the little siblings are napping.... and the mommies get some time off!
This week was our first try and it was a huge success! My girls are in different groups, so my younger girl went to an activity where they tested out the buoyancy of various objects in a kiddie pool and made cute little boats out of cucumbers! Such a great idea!
My older girl went to a class on Indians where they made headbands, did war paint, and even built a longhouse (ie fort out of blankets) and read Indian legends.
They both had such a great time and I was delighted that they learned something new and that they were kept busy doing something productive. We can't wait for the rest of Summer Camp!
I am especially excited because the girls are going to get to learn from some of the awesome ladies in our neighborhood who have different talents from mine. Up ahead on the schedule are tennis lessons, volcanoes, rocks and minerals, birds, rainforests, music, magnets, sewing.... It's going to be awesome. Each mom teaches the same lesson twice in the week, once to Group 1 and once to Group 2. That way there's less prep work involved for the moms. And less contention between the kids about whose activity was cooler. It's a win-win.
I am not always the mother I want to be, planning out fun activities like this for just me and my kids. But if I know that on Monday 6 kids are showing up at my house to learn about birds, you better believe I'll have some birdhouses ready for us to paint, some seed to make bird feeders with, and hopefully some books to look at. It's the pressure of the motivation that gets me to do it, but I'm grateful for it. It'll be good for everyone this summer.