60+ Theme Day Ideas

I have written three different lists of themes to be used for themes weeks.

• 100 Summer Camp Themes
• 100 More Summer Camp Themes

Those themes are meant to encompass all of camp, from crafts to special events, games to meals. THIS list, however, is meant to give you ideas for theme days.

Fashion Themes

Many theme days are easy to run because often they are no more than suggestions on what to wear that day. Wacky Hat Wednesday would be an example. It doesn’t involve activities, crafts, meals or events. Sure, you could have a crazy hat runway show and a “Who Can Fill the Crazy Hat with Ping Pong Balls First” competition, but that’s overkill for this particular type of theme. These fun fashion type of themes are simple add-ons to your regular camp program.

Activity Themes

Some themes are not about the costuming, they are about the activities. Top Shot Tuesday is a good example of this. Activities for this theme day revolve around target skills (archery, bb guns, rock throwing, etc.). I suppose you could dress up as an Olympic athlete or a hunter, but that’s not the focus of these types of theme days.

Combination Themes

These are the themes that encompass both fashion and activities. On Fiesta Friday you can wear a serape and sombrero, bust open piñatas, make maracas for a craft, eat Mexican food for lunch and play some mariachi music. You can do as little or as much as you want with a theme like this. Personally, I’m just here for siesta.

If you go with one of these “big” combination themes, make sure you only do one each week. Why? Because it can become overwhelming really quick if you decide to do these types of theme more frequently. On the other hand, if you want to plan a theme day every day, keep your sanity intact and go with the easy fashion theme days like Mustache Monday and Tie Dye Tuesday.

The List

This list includes easy themes and some “bigger” themes. Some themes focus on what to wear, while other themes focus on the activities for the day. It’s all about alliterations in this list. Each day has multiple theme suggestions (Thursday was a bit of a challenge). For theme days that I really like that wouldn’t fit in the alliteration list, I added a separate “Bonus” list afterwards.

1. Movie Character Monday – dress like your favorite movie character
2. Mustache Monday – break out the fake mustaches
3. Maker Monday – all about making things
4. Mystery Monday – everything you do today is a mystery
5. Maritime Monday – dress like a sailor or something from the sea
6. Mission Impossible Monday – dress like a secret agent and accept a mission
7. Music Monday – dress like a rockstar, play disco bingo, sing lots of camp songs
8. Medieval Monday – knights, princess and dragons
9. Mighty Jungle Monday – dress like a jungle animal
10. Mythological Monday – togas and Greek gods
11. Mad Science Monday – lab coats and fun science experiments
12. Monster Monday – Monsters Inc, Monster High
13. Marvel Monday – dress like your favorite Marvel superhero
14. Mardi Gras Monday – beads and blues music
15. Magic Monday – campers learn some magic
16. Tie Dye Tuesday – dress in a tie dye shirt, do some tie dying
17. Twin Tuesday – dress like a friend
18. Travel Tuesday – dress as tourists
19. Tropical Tuesday – wear Hawaiian shirts, hula skirts, and leis
20. Top Shot Tuesday – archery, bb guns, slingshots, paper airplanes into waste baskets, basketball shooting, etc.
21. Tournament Tuesday – competitions and tournaments
22. No Tech Tuesday – cell phones stay at home, no technology today
23. Totally Rad Tuesday – it’s all about the 80s
24. Treasure Hunter Tuesday – dress like Indian Jones and go on a treasure hunt around camp
25. Teddy Bear Tuesday – everyone brings in their teddy bears
26. Time Travel Tuesday – use any time period in history to inspire your fashion choices
27. Wilderness Wednesday – grab your flannel and dress like a lumberjack, or you could dress like woodland creature
28. Wacky Wednesday – dress as crazy as you want
29. Wacky Hat Wednesday – keep the wackiness down to your headwear
30. Walt Disney Wednesday – channel your inner Disney character
31. Wild West Wednesday – cowboy hats and boots
32. Water World Wednesday – lots of water games
33. Wonderful World of Sports Wednesday – wear your favorite team jersey and play some sports
34. When I Grow Up Wednesday – dress the way you would for the career you want when you grow up
35. Wheels Wednesday – if it has wheels, it’s part of camp
36. Wind and Sea Wednesday – it’s time to sail across the seven seas
37. Willy Wonka Wednesday – candy and Oompa Loompas
38. Around the World Wednesday – food, clothing and games from around the globe
39. Wizard Wednesday – grab your wand and throw on a cloak, it’s time to cast a spell or two
40. Throwback Thursday – dress from a time in the past
41. That’s Incredible Thursday – campers show off their incredible talents
42. Thriller Thursday – this can be Michael Jackson’s zombies or extreme sports, your choice
43. Thanksgiving Thursday – focus on ways to give thanks
44. Throwdown Thursday – campers challenge staff to a throwdown in any game or activity
45. Theater Thursday – skits, drama, improv
46. Thunder Thursday – it’s time to go big and bring the thunder
47. Thoroughbred Thursday – horse shoes, stick horse races and more
48. Thoughtfulness Thursday – explore ways everyone can be more thoughtful
49. Thrilled About Game Shows Thursday – wear a wacky costume to be chosen as a contestant for the camp game show
50. Freaky Friday – campers dress like a staff member and staff dress like a camper
51. Flashback Friday – dress like you did at any other time in your past
52. Fairytale Friday – dress like your favorite fairytale character
53. Far, Far Away Friday – celebrate Star Wars or just another part of Earth that is far, far away
54. Future Friday – what do you think we’ll be wearing in the future
55. Fandom Friday – from Harry Potter to One Direction and everything in between
56. Friendship Friday – through ice breaker games let’s make some new friends
57. Famous Artists Friday – different art projects to highlight different artists
58. Fiesta Friday – it’s Cinco de Mayo in July
59. Fear Factor Friday – who’s up for trying some crazy food?
60. Farm Friday – overalls and straw hats

 

BONUS LIST

1. Pajama Day
2. Crazy Hair Day
3. Crazy Socks Day
4. Denim Day
5. Cartoon Character Day
6. Emergency Services Day
7. Celebrity Look-Alike Day
8. Vs. Day – Red vs Blue, Marvel vs DC, Boys vs Girls
9. Birthday Party Day
10. Halloween Day
11. Christmas in July Day
12. Letter Theme Day – dress, hold activities and make things beginning with a specific letter
13. Pirate Day
14. Rockstar Day
15. Pop Culture Day
16. Storybook Day
17. Scottish Highlands Day
18. Down Under Day
19. The Orient Express Day
20. Hollywood Day