I realize this post is late in coming
to be much good for most anyone reading,
but thought I'd share for anyone who might be
camping over Labor Day weekend (like us)!
My fun sister-in-law Kathy put together this "Tree Mail" activity originally for our family camping trip with my in-laws. Then I got my family on board to try it out too! Both times it made for a touch of great fun, specifically for the kids, but also for us adults.
How does Tree Mail work?
1.}Each person in your group has a pocket strung on a rope between two trees somewhere in or near your campsite while camping.
2.}Small gifts or notes are placed inside the pockets by everyone wanting to join the fun throughout your trip!
3.}Each day, or several times a day, you can go check your pocket for a fun suprise!
I sewed a small pouch from a piece of fabric cut 7"x14". Fold, iron and fold again to create a casing on top. Fold the length upwards and then iron the end down a bit. Then sew along the base of the casing and next up both sides. I would think you could even hot glue these if you needed or preferred. To keep it simple and quicker since I needed to create 28 of them, I didn't sew along the hem at the front part of the pocket- just the casing and sides.
Get everyone involved and let them know
that they can bring or create small things to put inside!
"Mail" for us included:
glow sticks, pixie sticks, bubble gum, notepads,
bubbles, stickers, silly string, pencils, erasers, candies,
plastic bugs, window clings, stretchy bracelets, headbands,
soft jacks, licorice, super glue, toothpick dispensers,
pretzels, noise makers, mini slinkies, tissues,
silly putty, small flashlights, scrub sponges, harmonicas,
small wildflower vases, toy cars, army men, crackers and cheese...
obviously anything goes as long as it's inexpensive and smallish!
Kids can write notes or draw pictures-
my niece colored a picture for each person
and put it in the pockets herself (with help from my sister)! :)
I used plain white labels to stick the names on the front of the pockets- masking tape works too.
This was a fun and simple way to add some frosting to our camping trips and now the pockets can be used again for future trips! Hopefully it will be an idea you can use sometime on your own camping adventures, too!
