Week 1 — Fun in the Sun
The first week of camp. Five days to settle in, build the routines that carry all summer, and end with a sandcastle the whole class made together. June 1–5 · Bigs classroom, ages 3.5–5.
This guide pairs with the General Planning Guide — that's where the planning principles, the energy arc, and the full executive-function primer live. This Week 1 guide applies them to Fun in the Sun, built around the Bigs (3.5–5) daily schedule. Week 1 is the highest-stakes week to get right: it's the first week of camp ever for new families, and it's when every routine you'll use for ten weeks gets born. Plan it light. The sand is the vehicle; the real curriculum is the room, the routines, and the relationships.
Week Snapshot
The Week Builds Toward Friday
Five days that build on each other — explore the material, learn its tricks, build together, build big, then showcase it. A gentle arc, which is right for the first week.
The Daily Rhythm
Every day runs the identical clock — and this week each day plan below carries it in full, block by block. Four blocks are fixed by the clock — the two snacks, lunch, and quiet time. Everything else is flex: that's the curriculum.
Five Days, Fully Planned
Each day is the full run-sheet — every block of the Bigs schedule, in order, so you can print a day and run it from the page. Transition and fixed blocks are kept brief; the flex blocks carry the detail.
Combined arrival care. All classrooms together — quiet free play, books, a soft welcome until the Bigs room opens.
Opening Circle — The Very First Circle
Short and warm — twenty minutes is plenty, and you can end early if attention fades. Three goals, nothing more: every child hears their name, the visual schedule gets introduced, and the attention signal is taught.
Name game — pass a shell or beanbag; each child says their name, the group echoes it back. Visual schedule — point to every card: "This is our day." Attention signal — teach it, name it, practice it three times, make it a game.
Handwash / bathroom. In from circle. First morning — walk the handwash routine slowly, step by step; you'll run it many times today.
Outdoor Play · Free Sand Exploration (anchor)
Sunscreen and hats go on at the door — make it a cheerful routine from day one. Then: no project, no product. Just sand — dig, pour, scoop, discover. Thirty minutes is short, so don't over-structure it; your real job is to learn names, narrate warmly, and be available. This block is reconnaissance — learn who's shy, who's bold, who needs you close.
Materials — sandbox, buckets, shovels, scoops, sun hats, sunscreen. Nothing fancy; the sand is enough on Day 1.
Fixed
Morning Snack
In from the sandbox, wash up. Snack is calm and social — a regulation moment, not a race. Chat about the sand: "What did you dig out there?"
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up after snack, settle toward the craft table.
Craft — My Summer Sun
Keep Day 1 light. Each child decorates a paper sun and adds their name — these become a "Fun in the Sun" wall display and double as a first keepsake. The point isn't the sun; it's establishing what Craft looks like: come to the table, share the materials, make something, help clean up.
Music & Movement
Teach two songs you'll use all summer: the cleanup song and one summer movement song. Sing them, model them, make them fun — the repetition is the point, and starting today means they're second nature by Friday.
Centers / Free Choice
Start with a quick room tour: where the blocks live, the book corner, the cozy corner, the bathroom, the cubbies. "This is OUR room now." Then open free-choice centers, including a kinetic-sand table to keep the theme alive indoors. You observe, narrate, connect.
Handwash / bathroom. Tidy the centers, bathroom and wash up before lunch.
Fixed
Lunch
Calm, social, unhurried. Teachers sit with the children. On Day 1, narrate the lunch routine lightly — where cups go, how we clear our spot — you're building it for the summer.
Handwash / bathroom. After lunch, before heading outside.
Outdoor Activity / Play
A second, short outdoor block — but this is the hottest stretch of the day. Day 1, keep it gentle: shaded water-table play or shade games. Watch the children and cut it short if anyone's wilting; on a hot day, this is the block that moves indoors.
Fixed
Quiet Time
Teach the quiet-down ritual today: dim lights, soft music, the same two or three songs you'll use all summer. The first rest is the hardest one of the year. Today's goal is "bodies rest, room is calm," not "everyone sleeps" — sleep comes as trust builds over the week. Keep a consistent adult near the children who struggle most.
Wake-up · handwash / bathroom. Lights up slowly, cots away, bathroom and handwash. A full thirty minutes — no rush.
Fixed
Afternoon Snack
Gentle and low-key — the day is winding down. A calm table, easy conversation.
Manipulative
Introduce the fine-motor materials for the summer — puzzles, beads, sorting trays. Lean beach-themed where you can: shell sorting, sea-creature counters. Quiet, focused, hands-busy work to close the day.
Cleanup & room reset. The children help — cleanup song. Reset the room for tomorrow.
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up before the closing circle.
Closing Circle
End-of-day recall: "What was your favorite thing about the sand today?" That gives each child something specific to tell their grown-up — exactly what makes a parent feel good at the first pickup.
Combined Active Engagement — Departure
The classrooms combine for departure. The first pickup is a conversion moment — give every parent a warm, specific handoff. Not "she had a good day" but "Ask Olivia about the giant hole she dug — she worked on it for almost an hour." A specific handoff tells the parent you actually saw their child.
Combined arrival care. All classrooms together — quiet free play and a soft welcome until the Bigs room opens.
Opening Circle — A Question to Chew On
Smoother than Monday — they've done this once. Let kids help "read" the visual schedule. Practice the attention signal. Bring a cup of wet sand and a cup of dry sand to circle.
Handwash / bathroom. In from circle, before outdoor play.
Outdoor Play · Sand Investigation (anchor)
Open exploration anchored by a question: what does dry sand do? What does wet sand do? What pours, what packs, what holds a shape? Don't lecture the answers — ask, wonder aloud, let kids discover.
Choice — "Do you want to test the wet sand or the dry sand first?" Materials — sandbox, a water source, cups, buckets, simple molds, sun protection on first.
Fixed
Morning Snack
Wash up coming in. At snack, chat about discoveries: "What did the wet sand do that the dry sand couldn't?"
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up after snack, settle toward the craft table.
Craft — Sand Art
Children drizzle glue on paper, sprinkle sand over it, then shake off the extra to reveal their design. Sensory, theme-true, and forgiving — a glue blob that didn't go to plan is fine, there's no wrong way.
Music & Movement
Summer songs plus a movement game: "move like you're walking through deep, heavy sand." Slow, exaggerated, and a little silly.
Centers / Free Choice — the Sand Lab
Set up a "Sand Lab" with kinetic sand: kids practice making sand hold a shape — packing molds, building small mounds. The point isn't a perfect product; it's the problem-solving when a shape collapses.
A sand shape will collapse. It always does — and that collapse is the most valuable teaching moment of the week. When it happens, do not fix it. Ask: "Oh — it fell. What could we try?" Maybe pack tighter, maybe add water, maybe a different mold.
The moment a child tries a second approach after the first one failed, that is cognitive flexibility being built in real time. The most useful thing you can say is "what's another way?" — and then wait. The waiting is the teaching. Watch for: a child who adjusts and tries again instead of giving up or melting down.
Handwash / bathroom. Tidy the centers, wash up before lunch.
Fixed
Lunch
Calm, social, unhurried. Teachers sit with the children.
Handwash / bathroom. After lunch, before heading outside.
Outdoor Activity / Play
Short and shaded — it's the hottest stretch of the day. A light second sand visit or shaded water play; move indoors on a hot day.
Fixed
Quiet Time
Same ritual as Monday — dim lights, soft music, the same two or three songs. That sameness is exactly why today goes a little easier than yesterday.
Wake-up · handwash / bathroom. Lights up slowly, cots away, bathroom and handwash.
Fixed
Afternoon Snack
Gentle and low-key — the day is winding down.
Manipulative
Kinetic-sand trays with molds, or pattern-making with shells: line them up, copy a pattern, extend it.
Cleanup & room reset. The children help — cleanup song. Reset the room for tomorrow.
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up before the closing circle.
Closing Circle
Begin the "castle dreaming" conversation that plants the week's goal: "On Friday we're going to build a big sandcastle together. What should our castle have? Towers? A moat? Flags?" Jot every idea on chart paper — you'll use this list Wednesday.
Combined Active Engagement — Departure
The classrooms combine for departure. Specific handoffs: "Ask Liam what he discovered about wet sand today — he figured something out."
Combined arrival care. All classrooms together — quiet free play and a soft welcome until the Bigs room opens.
Opening Circle — Building With a Friend
Review the schedule, practice the attention signal. Introduce today's idea: "Today we build in teams. Building with a friend means two sets of ideas — what do we do when you want a tower and your friend wants a wall?"
Handwash / bathroom. In from circle, before outdoor play.
Outdoor Play · Partner Builds (anchor)
Children build in pairs or trios in the sandbox — a shared deep hole, a tunnel between two diggers, a small castle for two. The real work isn't the sand; it's combining ideas, taking turns, and adapting your plan to fit a friend's.
Teacher's role — coach the negotiations, don't settle them. When two kids stall, ask "how could you BOTH be right?" Materials — sandbox, buckets, scoops, a few shared tools per pair, sun protection.
Fixed
Morning Snack
Wash up coming in. Chat: "What was it like building with a partner — easy or tricky?"
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up after snack, settle toward the craft table.
Craft — Flags & Signs for the Castle
Make the props for Friday's showcase castle — decorate paper flags on craft sticks, paint an "Our Castle" sign. Real props for a real event two days away; the kids can feel the build-up.
Music & Movement
Summer songs plus a partner movement game — mirror your partner's moves.
Centers / Free Choice — Plan Our Class Castle
Bring out the "castle dreaming" chart from Tuesday. As a group, decide what the Friday castle will be: how many towers, a moat or not, what decorations. Let kids vote on features — a real shared plan they'll build Thursday. Kinetic-sand cooperative builds as a satellite center.
Handwash / bathroom. Tidy the centers, wash up before lunch.
Fixed
Lunch
Calm, social, unhurried. Teachers sit with the children.
Handwash / bathroom. After lunch, before heading outside.
Outdoor Activity / Play
Short, shaded, light — the hottest stretch of the day. Move indoors on a hot day.
Fixed
Quiet Time
Same ritual. By midweek the room settles faster — trust the routine.
Wake-up · handwash / bathroom. Lights up slowly, cots away, bathroom and handwash.
Fixed
Afternoon Snack
Gentle and low-key — the day is winding down.
Manipulative
Cooperative building indoors — blocks or connectors, built in pairs. The same skill as the sandbox, a different material.
Cleanup & room reset. The children help — cleanup song. Reset the room for tomorrow.
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up before the closing circle.
Closing Circle
Castle countdown: "Tomorrow the WHOLE class builds our castle together. Tonight, dream about what your part will be."
Combined Active Engagement — Departure
The classrooms combine for departure. Specific handoffs: "Ask Maya about the tunnel she and her friend connected — they really had to work together."
Combined arrival care. All classrooms together — quiet free play and a soft welcome until the Bigs room opens.
Opening Circle — Today's the Day
Big energy. Review the class castle plan from Wednesday's chart. Assign loose, flexible roles — "we'll need diggers, packers, and decorators" — and make clear kids can move between jobs.
Handwash / bathroom. In from circle, before outdoor play.
Outdoor Play · The Big Build (anchor)
Thirty minutes goes fast, so pre-stage everything before circle — water, buckets, molds, and Wednesday's flags all waiting at the sandbox. That way the whole block is building. The class builds the showcase castle together, following their own plan. You coach and narrate; you help the group solve problems, but you don't build it for them. When the block ends, rope off the castle so it survives to Friday.
Materials — sandbox, plenty of water, buckets, molds, the flags and signs made Wednesday, cones or rope to protect the castle afterward.
Fixed
Morning Snack
Wash up coming in. Let the buzz carry: "What part are you most proud of so far?"
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up after snack, settle toward the craft table.
Craft — Decoration Workshop
Finishing touches for tomorrow — paint more flags, sort shells into "decorating treasure" cups, make any last signs. Everything made here gets carried out to the castle Friday morning.
Music & Movement
Summer songs, high energy — the kids have plenty to burn off.
Centers / Free Choice
A beach dramatic-play corner (towels, sunglasses, a pretend picnic) and kinetic sand. A calmer counterweight to a big-energy morning.
Handwash / bathroom. Tidy the centers, wash up before lunch.
Fixed
Lunch
Calm, social, unhurried. Teachers sit with the children.
Handwash / bathroom. After lunch, before heading outside.
Outdoor Activity / Play
Short, shaded, light — the hottest stretch of the day. Move indoors on a hot day.
Fixed
Quiet Time
Same ritual. Even on a big-build day, the rest holds because the routine is the same.
Wake-up · handwash / bathroom. Lights up slowly, cots away, bathroom and handwash.
Fixed
Afternoon Snack
Gentle and low-key — the day is winding down.
Manipulative
Shell sorting and counting, or finishing small castle decorations.
Cleanup & room reset. The children help — cleanup song. Reset the room for tomorrow.
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up before the closing circle.
Closing Circle
Showcase anticipation: "Tomorrow we decorate our castle and SHOW it. Our families might get to peek at it."
Combined Active Engagement — Departure
The classrooms combine for departure. Specific handoffs: "Ask Theo what the class did when the big tower kept sliding — they figured it out as a team."
Combined arrival care. All classrooms together — quiet free play and a soft welcome until the Bigs room opens.
Opening Circle — Showcase Day
Pure excitement. "Today we finish, decorate, and SHOW our castle." Quick run-through of the plan for the morning.
If the castle didn't survive the night — and sometimes it won't — don't treat it as a disaster. "Our castle needs some repairs! Good thing we're expert builders now. Let's fix it together." A rebuild is the perfect last note for a flexibility week.
Handwash / bathroom. In from circle, before outdoor play.
Outdoor Play · Decorate + Showcase (anchor)
Carry out the flags, signs, and shells. Finishing touches first, then the Sandcastle Showcase: the whole class steps back together, admires what they built, and names the parts ("that's MY tower"). Take the group photo — this is your shot-list moment. Let it feel like an event.
Materials — shells, flags, signs, the camera staged and ready, sun protection.
Fixed
Morning Snack
Wash up coming in. A celebratory snack feel — they earned it.
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up after snack, settle toward the craft table.
Craft — A Summer Week 1 Keepsake
Each child makes something to take home — a shell craft, or a drawing of the class castle. A small, proud artifact of the first week of camp.
Music & Movement
Favorite summer songs of the week — a gentle, celebratory feel.
Centers / Free Choice — Beach Celebration
A low-key celebration to close week one: beach music, sand-themed free play, kinetic sand. Five days in, the class earned it.
Handwash / bathroom. Tidy the centers, wash up before lunch.
Fixed
Lunch
Calm, social, unhurried. Teachers sit with the children.
Handwash / bathroom. After lunch, before heading outside.
Outdoor Activity / Play
Short, shaded, light — the hottest stretch of the day. Move indoors on a hot day.
Fixed
Quiet Time
Five days in, this should run smoothly now — the ritual carries it.
Wake-up · handwash / bathroom. Lights up slowly, cots away, bathroom and handwash.
Fixed
Afternoon Snack
Gentle and low-key — the day, and the week, winding down.
Manipulative
A calm, free choice of materials to end the week gently.
Cleanup & room reset. The children help — cleanup song. Reset the room for the week ahead.
Handwash / bathroom. Wash up before the closing circle.
Closing Circle
Reflect on the week as a group: "What was your favorite day this week?"
Combined Active Engagement — Departure
The biggest handoff moment of the week. Invite parents to peek at the castle if it's still standing; show them photos. Specific, proud handoffs: "Ask Sofia which tower is hers — she'll know exactly." A parent who drives home Friday thinking "that was a real week" is a parent leaning toward staying.
This Week's EF Lens — Cognitive Flexibility
One executive-function skill to plan toward and notice this week. (The full EF primer is in the General Planning Guide.)
Why flexibility, and why sand
Cognitive flexibility is the skill of shifting strategy when the first approach doesn't work — trying another way instead of stalling or melting down. Of all the summer themes, Fun in the Sun is the most natural home for it, because sand is a material that constantly requires adaptation: too dry, add water; too wet, it won't hold; collapsed, rebuild it differently. You don't have to manufacture flexibility moments this week — sand hands them to you all morning long.
Your job isn't to teach flexibility as a lesson. It's to notice it and name it when it happens: the moment a child's tower falls and they reach for water instead of giving up. Resist the urge to fix the collapse — the collapse is the curriculum. Ask "what's another way?" and wait.
What flexibility looks like in the children this week
- A child whose sand shape collapses and tries a different approach — packs tighter, adds water, switches molds
- A child building with a partner who finds a "third idea" that uses both kids' plans
- A child who rolls with a change — the castle needs a rebuild — without falling apart
- A child who offers a new suggestion when the group build hits a problem
Brightwheel This Week
One intentional post a day — a photo and a sentence or two. That's it. One good moment beats six scattered ones; a firehose makes parents tune out. Grab the photo, adapt the caption.
What to Have Ready Before the Week Starts
Week 1 has its own prep — beyond supplies. Have all of this staged the Friday before camp begins.