Love doing classroom transformations but limited due to social distancing guidelines? Guess what?! Classroom transformations are STILL possible during this crazy school year. One of our favorite products here at Team Lucky Little Learners is Camp Read-A-Lot, our Camping in the Classroom bundle. This product has EVERYTHING you will need to have a cozy camping, reading, crafting, fun-filled day! Check out the pictures and ideas below to implement this jam-packed classroom transformation in the classroom this year! Want to see a previous post on Camp Read-a-Lot (pre-Covid, but will give some great ideas!)? Check it out HERE.

Creating Your “Campground”

Before social distancing was a “thing” teachers in our Lucky 2nd Grade Teachers Facebook group were using the Camping in the Classroom bundle with their students year after year. Each year the tents, fake pine trees, and flashlights were hauled into the classrooms, snacks prepared, and a day was spent enjoying “camp” together. Luckily, teachers can have some options for setting up Covid guideline-approved campsites.

Individual Desk Tents

With this option, each student has their OWN tent!

Assembly instructions:

1. Purchase $1 table cloths from the dollar store.
2. Tape a 3-ring binder (rings up) to the desk top.
3. Drape the table cloth over the binder and desk.
4. Students sit under their desks while in their “tents”. (This will be a HUGE hit!)

How to Create the Peak of the Tent

Below you will find a visual of exactly how we create the peak of the tent underneath the tablecloth.

Table Top Tents & Mini Campers

Don’t have the budget, the time, or not allowed to do individual tents? How about tabletop tents with mini campers? How about this origami tent project? Students will have fun making this camping craft using paper and popsicle sticks. Check out the video below for a guide:

They can even create trees (construction paper or card stock) and a campfire (sticks and pipe cleaners) with this fun video guiding them!

For the mini campers, they can draw a little person on paper, color it to look them themselves (if they wish) and cut it out. This will be their “camper” for the day. Anytime they are working on stations, reading independently or crafting, their mini camper can head into their tents and relax (so as not to distract the actual students!).

Lights & Accessories

Flashlights or Finger lights: Having students bring in flashlights from home and keeping the lights off during camp reading time will make this transformation extra fun. Have them read or do their station work in their individual tents” or with their desktop campsite set up. Want to buy finger lights? Check those out below! (I will receive a small commission if you purchase through this Amazon Affiliate Link. This does not affect the price of the item.)

Campfire: This can be homemade (like the one pictured below) OR simply project a YouTube video of a cozy campfire (bonus if it has campfire sound!).

S’mores: Ok, teachers probably can’t cook the real campfire treat, BUT there are a couple of options that are close to the real thing! First option: marshmallow creme between two fudge stripe cookies (or chocolate-covered graham crackers). Second option: hand out s’mores cereal and use the handy dandy label that comes in the Camping in the Classroom product. Kids will devour this cereal! Download the snack note and some other camping in the classroom goodies.

Trees: Ok, this is definitely an OPTIONAL accessory, but how fun!?! By bringing in a few small pines, it creates an “in the woods” ambiance students are sure to love!

Camper’s Itinerary

So what will the Camp Read-a-Lot campers do all day? SO much! Often implemented on Read Across America day, most classrooms spend a huge chunk of their camping day reading. (In their campsites of course!)

If teachers want a whole camping-themed day, Lucky Little Learners has you covered! Our Camping in the Classroom bundle comes with the following:

• Rules & Guidelines
• 7 Reading Camp Site Posters
• Camp Site Checklist
• Camping Warm Ups Printable
• Camp Read-a-Lot Brag Tags
• 3 Reading Bookmarks
• Write the Room Activity w/ task cards and recording sheet
• Camp Trading Post w/ task cards and recording sheet
• S’more Snack Bag Notes & Recipe
• Camping Addition Scoot w/ 24 task cards, recording sheet, and answer key
• Camp Bingo Lingo
• 7 Camp Build-a-Word Activities and recording sheets
• Narrative and How To Writing Templates
• 8 Sets of Reading Buddy Questions (fiction & non-fiction)
• Certificate of Completion (full-color and printer-friendly)
• Camping Time Scoot (nearest 5 minutes) w/ 24 task cards, recording sheet, and answer key

Teachers can implement this resource in any way that works for their classroom. (However, the possibilities are endless with a resource this size!) Due to social distancing guidelines, instead of having kids rotate to each campsite, they can have a camp schedule or camp packet at their campsite when they arrive in the morning that includes all their teacher wants them to accomplish.

More Classroom Transformation Ideas

Are you STOKED to sprinkle classroom transformations into your school year?! Want more ideas like this? Check out our classroom transformation posts below!

Earth Day

Restaurant Day

Two’s Day

Beach Day

Snow Globe Day

Wait! One more thing…

If implementing this classroom transformation in the end of the year, why not start your summer pack-up of the classroom after Camp Read-a-Lot? Perfect time to pack things away! Check out THIS post for ideas on the end-of-year pack-up.

We know this camping classroom transformation will be sure to leave students with fond memories of this crazy school year! Remember, we are better together!

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