Princess Camp: Merida (Brave)

Of all the Disney princesses, Merida might be the one who gives the most Scout-Energy.

Merida, courageous daughter of a Scottish King and Queen, is a skilled archer who wants to carve out her own path in life. She refuses to follow tradition by marrying a Scottish Lord, much to her mother’s great disappointment. Merida seeks help from a kooky witch to change her mother and her fate, and she does change her mother—into a bear! Themes include the bond between mother and daughter, tradition versus freedom, and the true meaning of courage.

All of our activities this week were bear-inspired, of course. Here’s what we got up to during Brave week.

This was my favorite bear activity we did this week—and it was so easy! This bear toast turned out so ridiculously cute, I even ate one.

This was Scout’s first time watching this movie all the way through. Peet and I have been really enjoying family movie nights lately—in general, we’re moving away from screen time involving solo watching insufferable cartoons, and moving toward family movie nights featuring the good stuff. We watched Hercules last week and it was so, so fun.

Loosely inspired by this Pinterest post, I cut some face shapes from felt scraps I had in the craft bin, and made these really cute felt bears. I eventually gave Scout full glue control, which was definitely a mistake, but also very fun for her.

An easy-peasy staple activity at this point! This is one of the best Tonies we’ve bought so far, probably because it’s one of the few with the original voices on the songs.

I love this interactive song, and the Wiggles version is my favorite one online.

• A Den is a Bed for a Bear by Becky Baines

• Books Aren’t for Bears by Mark Barry

• Bears by Sarah Courtauld

• Disney’s Brave: Oh, Brother!

• Disney’s Brave: A Mother’s Love

• Who Would Win?: Polar Bear vs Grizzly Bear by Jerry Pallotta

• Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead

• Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson

• Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson (my favorite!)

  

  We had so much fun this week, all about Princess Merida. This will be my last Princess Camp post. I intended to cover a few more princesses this summer, but we went with the flow and pursued other activities, so 5 princesses is what we covered. It was a great way for me to structure our days—until it wasn’t anymore. I’m glad that we moved on to other fun things instead of sticking to the plan just for a plan’s sake. It was a big summer for Scout. She ditched bottles! She stayed the night with her grandparents! She potty trained! Scout goes back to preschool next week and she can’t wait—and honestly, neither can I. We are both ready to get back into the structure and routine that school provides. I’m excited to get back to writing that centers more on my own interests and whatever silly things I have floating around in my mind.

  Thanks for reading about our Princess Camp adventures this summer! I’m unendingly grateful for my readers.