Grandparents are hosting 'cousin camp' and it's the absolute best

Imagine having a house full of kids without their parents or screens, a dozen (or more!) mouths to feed, and long, empty summer days just begging to be filled with activities.

This scenario may sound like a nightmare to some, but a growing number of grandparents are welcoming the challenge of hosting their grandchildren for a "cousin camp."

The idea of cousin camp recently went viral when Clint Fischer of South Dakota shared a sweet snap of a cousin camp hosted by his parents, Wayne and Melanie Fischer. Posted on X on July 20, it has 2.7 million views to date.

"For the past 8 years, they invite all the grandkids age 5+ to spend 4 days on the farm, away from parents, with their cousins," he wrote. "Our girls talk about it, and look forward to it, all year long. And the parents enjoy the weekend respite as well. Just very thankful for them willing to put in the effort so the cousins can create these memories."

Melanie, a former Sunday School teacher, and Wayne, who has spent time as a 4-H judge, live on a farm that feels especially suited for hosting gaggles of grandkids. But that doesn't necessarily make it an easy task, especially because Melanie has suffered from health complications through the years.

"We as her kids are probably most proud and impressed that over the past eight years she has had two separate cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatments," Clint shares with TODAY.com, "and through all that turmoil, she has not missed a beat hosting cousin camp."

Since the goal is "to replicate traditional summer camp experience," these grandparents turn the bedrooms of their large farmhouse into "cabins." The kids are expected to stay in bed until the bell rings in the morning, and then they get dressed and make their beds before attending the flag raising ceremony, which includes the Pledge of Allegiance and a round of stretches. The days are filled with music, crafts and field trips and often end with campfires at night.

After four days and three nights, parents return for pickup and the Sunday "program," which includes a cousin performance of songs, cheers and presentations of what each child liked best about camp. The day culminates with a family picnic and ballgame.

The couple, who has four kids and 11 grandkids (with another on the way!), certainly isn't just winging it. "I keep detailed records of each year, and then we kind of reevaluate and decide what worked, what didn't, and move on to planning for the next year," Melanie says.

The family has been fielding so many questions about cousin camp logistics that they ended up putting together their own Cousin Camp Guide.

In fact, there are a number of resources for grandparents looking to host a camp for their grandchildren, including the "Cousin Camp" book by Susan Alexander Yates.

The author, who hails from Falls Church, Virginia, has five children and 21 grandchildren — and just had her first great grandchild last week. Yates was initially inspired to begin bringing her grandchildren together because many of them lived in different states; she wanted to provide an opportunity for them to know and love one another. She and her husband ran their cousin camp for 11 years, and the last three of those years, they hosted all 21 grandchildren.

"What's been so special has been to see the payoff now that they are teenagers," Yates says. For example, her granddaughter from Nashville went on a road trip with her grandson who attends the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to visit another cousin's house in Memphis.

After years of trial and error, one of the "most powerful things" about camp has been the buddy system. Each year, an older child would be assigned a younger "buddy" (who is not a sibling) to help with tasks like filling their plate at mealtimes, writing in their camp journals and finding their shoes. "When we did it, it was self-preservation, because we couldn't fill that many water bottles," Yates laughs, but then the buddy system became an integral part of camp.

Because of family bonds like this, Ahna Fulmer of Lancaster, Pennsylvania attended her family cousin camp for 30 years.

"We were still coming to cousins camp when the youngest was 21 and the oldest of us was 37," she tells TODAY.com. "Five of us were married with kids of our own. We loved it because my grandparents were so intentional about the time they spent with us."

Jill Savage of Normal, Illinois has been hosting a cousin camp for five years now. To accommodate the age range of her grandchildren, Savage has an older cousin camp and a younger cousin camp. "This allows us to do age appropriate activities with the kids," she says. "During younger cousin camp, we invite the older cousins to be 'camp counselors.'"

Savage chooses a theme each year and plans activities around it. But she also repeats some favorite activities. "One is letting them find a recipe, plan a meal, shop for it and cook it for us. They love doing that. Another is making tie-dye shirts," she says.

If you want to plan a cousin camp for your family but feel overwhelmed, Yates has a number of tips.

First she says, "All families are messy. There are no perfect families." A crying child, a spilled juice or a sibling spat can (and likely will) happen.

But more importantly, camp can be anything you want it to be. You can take the heart of cousin camp idea and transfer it to your own situation, whether you are museum hopping with grandkids in New York City or a single person and hosting nieces and nephews on your farm.

"There are so many grandparents out there right now," says Yates. "We're living longer, we're healthier. We want to make a difference with our grandchildren."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com