We don’t lease a van for the week. Each family is responsible for getting their kids to the activities. We just all meet up if we are at a field trip.

All but one family is local, but the family from out of town stays with us for the week. One night during the week, we have a backyard sleepover for all the kids. Other than that, the local families go home to sleep.

I think the easiest activities we have done have been art projects. Finger painting, modeling clay, homemade play dough or slime — these are all really fun for the kids, but easy for me because every child can work at his or her own pace and skill level. Spraying shave cream on a table (preferably outside) and letting them make pictures in it can be quite a lot of fun. As the kids have gotten older, some of them have wanted to do more involved craft projects, but I take it at their own speed. Two of the girls are learning embroidery work with very simple patterns. The activities, crafts, and field trips you choose will need to be adaptable the particular handicap. For instance, if someone is in a wheelchair, you would want to avoid relay races. If someone has difficulty hearing, you would want to avoid whisper games. Be aware of the specific difficulties and then work around them. Stretch their capabilities so they can learn new skills, but don’t stretch them so much that they become frustrated, angry, or feel incompetent or “less than.”

Barbara, most of my grandchildren are local. Two of them live 8 hours away, so that family comes to stay with us for the week. They coordinate their vacation time around Granny Camp so that it is either the week prior or the week after Granny Camp. That family stays with us at the house, but the other families go back and forth between their homes and ours. One night we have a backyard camp out, and all the kids stay with us. Each family is responsible for transportation to and from field trips. As I said in the article, I could NOT do this without the help and support from my husband and kids.

I have an online friend who is single and has major health problems. She holds a much shorter “Grammie Camp,” and almost all of it is done within the confines of her home. She is the one who gave me the idea for one-on-one interviews with the grandchildren, as she did that when she needed to be in bed. Her grandchildren are into gardening, so she bought a small greenhouse, and they have enjoyed planting things together. She has “guest speakers” come and talk to the children about different things — careers, etc. I would like to try that some time. I couldn’t quite get that one together this year, but maybe next year.

Simple things: Refrigerator magnets, beaded bracelets, friendship bracelets from embroidery thread, story time, computer safety lesson, telling family history stories, making individual homemade pizzas from Pillsbury rolls, tea party, picnic lunch at the local playground, water balloons, making ice cream in a zip lock bag, smores, finger painting, painting self-portraits, inside carnival games, making cornbread muffins together and sticking 1/3 of a hot dog in each muffin for “corn dogs”.

Two of the children are old enough to help with planning, and easy crafts. Getting the older kids to help the younger ones instills a sense of self-worth and responsibility, keeps them from getting bored, and takes some of the pressure off of Granny.

This is my Pinterest board for ideas for grandchildren. It might help inspire some ideas. https://www.pinterest.com/lauriebee2/grandkids/

I also have a Facebook page for Granny Camp ideas: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1392936947441595/

Obviously, I have not tried everything I’ve pinned on Pinterest, nor everything on my Facebook page. These are just places to go for ideas. Now that friends know I do this, they send me ideas all the time.

Feel free to friend me on Facebook (which is under my real name) at https://www.facebook.com/laurie.janes.white

How do you take so many kids on outings? Do you rent a van for a week? Do the kids sleep over?

I am divorced and have a disabled adult daughter living with me. I would like to try (maybe a shorter) Granny Camp, but feel somewhat limited. What are some of the simplest fun things you have done?