By Stella Williams

Are you looking for a way to make money this summer? Can you tolerate the screaming and drama of elementary-aged children? Outlined in this article is everything you need to know about creating your own backyard business. 

Example of a craft on Princess Day.

For the past four years, Clarkie Ackerly (‘24) and I have planned and hosted a week-long backyard camp for rising first through fourth-grade girls in July. We host around 15 to 18 girls for one week each year, and many girls have been coming since we first began camp.

The girls arrive by 9:00 a.m. and are fully occupied until pick up at 1:00 p.m. The camp takes place in my backyard, and the week is full of arts and crafts, dancing, games, and an abundance of sugar. If everything goes as planned with the weather, the entire camp is hosted outside. Each day of the week has a different theme, and the activities correspond with those themes. 

Here is a breakdown of what “Stella and Clarkie’s Backyard Camp” entails. When the girls arrive, they create a name tag and indulge in the camp’s most popular activity: bracelet and necklace making. Ackerly and I place a large round table in the middle of my driveway and fill large containers of colorful beads and charms for the girls to use. Every girl wants to make beaded jewelry with their name or popular sayings each summer. Phrases like “SLAY,” “PURR,” and “QUEEN” have continued to be staples on necklaces and bracelets. Toward the end of the week, we often run out of vowel beads, so our campers become creative with their spelling. My favorite has to be “YGG,” the abbreviation for “You go, girl.”  

A baking activity during camp.

Arts and crafts is a space for the campers to unleash their inner artists. We paint basically everything: birdhouses, jewelry boxes, picture frames, and even kindness rocks. We also have dabbled in creating dream catchers, tie-dye clothing, wind chimes, key chains, and stress balls. Many times, the crafts turn out to be a complete success, but there have been instances where they fail miserably. The bath bombs we made in 2022 ended up exploding and leaving a bright neon rainbow on my driveway. We attempted to make cloud dough, and instead of an excellent clay-textured slime we ended up with a chalky mess and many stained hands. Although we have had some hiccups, overall, craft time fosters some of the best memories. 

Dance time is a fan favorite of the campers. Ackerly and I, who do not have any prior dance experience, or sense of rhythm, spend close to three hours one day a week before camp planning intense choreography for the girls to learn. We dedicate 45 minutes of teaching time each day during camp to prepare for our finale performance on Friday. During the last 15 minutes of camp every day, all the campers’ parents are invited to witness their dancing. The campers set out chairs and snacks for their parents to enjoy, and then it is time for the show to begin. Past dances have included “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift, “The Way” by Ariana Grande, and “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. 

One of the campers’ favorite parts of camp is our themed days. Oftentimes, the girls choose to dress up according to the themes of each day. We have a Spa Day, Water Wednesday, and Princess Day, along with a Welcome Day and a Goodbye Day. Each day has its own host of specialized activities. On Spa Day, we do face masks, nails, and hair tensile, and we host a trash bag fashion show, where the girls have to create their own couture gowns out of ribbon, trash bags, tape, and accessories from my costume bin. On Water Wednesday, Ackerly and I wake up early and set out a giant slip-and-slide and blow-up baby pool for the girls to play with. We also have a water balloon toss, drip-drip-drop (a version of duck-duck-goose), and an epic water relay. On our last themed day, Princess Day, we apply temporary tattoos, perform a talent show, and decorate paper crowns.

Fairy hair on spa day.

Each camp is organized by an email sent out five months prior to the week of camp to parents in the Richmond area. Attached to the email are the date, time, location, and schedule for the week of camp. We also include instructions on how to pay and sign up for camp. Each parent must complete a Google Form to solidify a spot for her child. The first year we sent out the email, it took almost four months for the form to reach capacity, but this year, it only took 24 hours. 

Ackerly and I are always looking to upgrade camp and make it new and exciting for our returning campers. We have added movie night, where we host all the girls back at my house after camp on Friday for dinner, dessert, and a movie. This year, we will be hosting a campout in addition to movie night, where the girls, Ackerly, and I will sleep out in tents in my backyard and then have breakfast together the following day. 

By the end of the week, Ackerly and I are completely exhausted, but the experience, and the money, make hosting camp worth it. Ackerly stated that she “slept for almost twelve hours after camp last year,” but “tiredness is a good price to pay, because the girls have so much fun, and the money we earn is so much.” I agree with Ackerly’s comments and have had a couple of twelve-hour sleeps myself, but I always find myself looking forward to the one week of backyard camp in the summer. 

The trash bag fashion show.

For the past three years, “Stella and Clarkie’s Backyard Camp” has been a smashing success, so much so that we have gone on to create “Stella and Clarkie’s Christmas Camp” and have hosted many birthday parties. 

Many of my peers have noted our entrepreneurial success and have gone on to host their own camps. Charles Nolde (‘24) and Randolph Campbell (‘24) have created an all-boys sports camp, which Campbell talked about in his Senior Speech earlier this year. Nolde describes that “camp has taught [me] to be patient and is also a fun summer job.” Campbell agrees and noted, “hosting a summer camp is one of the best summer jobs for a high schooler.” 

As we finish the school year and move into the summer, I can not help but look forward to our last year of Backyard Camp. I will cherish all the memories and the sweet girls I have met during my time as a counselor and take what I have learned from all the innocent chaos into my future summer jobs to come.

All photos by Clarkie Ackerly.