How to Be A Person Camp: Our Summer Plan

I stumbled upon the “How to be a Person Camp” a few years ago and thought it was pretty genius - since then, it’s taken off. I believe it started with Emily Ley (but I could be mistaken). In her Substack piece How to Be a Person Camp: 57 Skills, Emily listed everyday life skills she wanted her kids to learn—basic things like shaking hands, mailing a letter, or folding a fitted sheet. Nothing revolutionary, and yet something about it felt deeply grounding.

Her idea planted a seed. It reminded me how much of parenting is really just guiding our kids through the slow art of becoming a person. Not just any person, but someone kind, thoughtful, curious, capable, and grounded in the small but meaningful acts that shape a good life.

So we’re doing it too, in our own way.

This summer our family is running “How to Be a Person” Camp at home. It's not rigid. Just us, some post-its, a dry erase board, and a whole lot of heart. Our hope is to give our kids tools they’ll carry with them long after the season ends.

This isn’t about creating a Pinterest-worthy checklist. It’s about raising good humans, one small moment at a time.

Here's how we’re planning to build it out month-by-month with five simple ideas for June, July, and August.

What’s in today’s post?

• What we plan to do for each month this summer - 5 ideas per month

• A lengthy list of 100 other ideas for kids of all ages - pick and choose to create your own “How to be a Person Camp” at home