Summer 2014

Acrostic Poems for Campers

If I get a cabin this summer, I'm totally making these:

HOW TO REALLY LOVE A CHILD

*Be there
*Say yes as often as you can
*Read books out loud with joy (especially at bedtime!)
*Encourage silly
*Giggle a lot
*Remember how small they really are
*Search out the positive
*Keep the gleam in your eye
*Go on a cookie quest in your pajamas
*Teach feelings
*Realize how important it is to be a child
*Plan to build a rocketship
*Stop yelling
*Invent and create together
*Surprise them
*Express your love. A lot.

Introverts and Extroverts

I know camp is an excellent opportunity to be loud, crazy, and energetic, but it's important to remember that introverts may prefer the more mellow activities like arts and crafts, OEE, board games, etc, and may not feel the urge to scream camp songs at the top of their lungs. That's okay. Let your campers' personalities shine through and make sure you appreciate them for who they are. :)

Seven Absolutes of Camp Counseling

Katnip's Introduction Video--That's Me!

Letters During Rest Hour

 

These need some adjustments for camp, but I would love to make a similar draft and print a stack of them for campers to take during rest hour.

Teaching Children about the Natural World

Dinosaur Eggs

The way I envision this activity to work is, have the campers make these early on in the week (it's a great listening/following directions activity, plus it's just plain fun!) and tell them to come back the next day to pick them up. Then, set up a treasure hunt that starts at the arts and craft shack and sends them all over camp to find the eggs before the dinosaur eggs hatch. They would complete the treasure hunt

What You Need:
•   2 and 1/2 cups flour
•   2 and 1/2 cups of dirt
•   1 cup sand
•   1 and 1/2 cups of salt
•   water
•   small plastic toy dinosaurs (available from toys stores)
•   rock
What You Do:
1.   To make the dough, mix all the dry ingredients together (flour, dirt, salt and sand).
2.   Gradually stir in enough water so that the mix holds together.
3.   Shape handfuls of dough around the small plastic dinosaurs in the form of egg shapes.
4.  Cook the "eggs" in the oven on a low setting.
5.   They can open them with a hammer or rock.

Favorite Memories Board

I want to dedicate a bullitin board in the Arts & Crafts Shack to posting favorite memories. I'll have a ziploc with pre-cut slips of paper and a pen pinned to the bottom of the board so campers can easily add a memory. I hope that, eventually, they'll get super overlapped and at the end of the summer, we'll have fun reading all of them and reflect on how many "experiences of a lifetime" we offered the campers over the summer.

Cabin Sticks

Every camper gets to paint/decorate a popsicle stick and they'll be arranged to make a bigger piece of art. It's a great cabin unity project!

Kids with ADHD

Children of Divorce

This is a really great website to look through if you have campers who are struggling with their parents' divorce or separation. It's worth looking through. :)

http://iamachildofdivorce.com/

What Children Need Most

Hallelujah!! As I read this list, I thought of examples from camp for each of these things. Camp offers countless opportunities for children to grow, dream, play, and be loved. That is the real purpose of summer camp.

Strategies for Resolving Conflict (Ignore the misspelled words)

Another "I Am" Project

 

Here's another "I Am" project!! With this one, paint the separate sections with watercolor paints, wait for it to dry, and use a permanent marker to write the descriptive words that your cabin mates gave you. Fun, easy, and confidence-boosting.

Spread Happiness: Make Sunshine Project

Spreading sunshine would be a wonderful craft for a rainy day! Start by cutting circles and orange flames, then gluing them together. Next, write "You brighten my day!" or any message, really. Next, spread happiness to others across camp. I think it would be fun to "sun attack" a cabin.

"I Am..." Posters for Older Campers

I hope that these "I Am" posters will reinforce campers' feelings of self worth and confidence. I have a lot of thick, cardboard mattes that can be used for this project. 

Process:
1. Paint the mattes (optional).
2. Decorate the wet paint with glitter (optional).
3. Decorate with scrapbook paper.
4. Draw picture of face (optional).
5. Choose description words from a pile of pre-printed slips
6. Glue on poster and add stickers//beads/more glitter and any finishing touches.

Personality Bracelets

1. Cut strips of thick cardboard.

2. Tape the entire surface of the band.

3. Use a gluestick to glue a strip of a book page to the inside. (optional.)

4. Lightly paint over both sides with watercolor paint.

5. Tape the ends together so it is a bracelet.

6. Glue a blank piece of paper over part of the front side or a typed word that describes you (brave, fearless, dreamer, kind, etc.)

7. Wear it with pride!

I want to do this with older cabins on the last day of camp. I want to write every camper's name on a blank sheet of paper and pass them around the table. Every camper can write one positive word about their cabin members on the papers and then make the bracelets based on what they said. By the end of camp, hopefully everyone has grown close and had plenty of bonding time. Doing activities like this can be incredibly transforming in a pre-teen's life: I remember during my first candlelight when I was 11, Cricket said that I was the "fun and mature one." Having her say that and label me in a way has really impacted my life. Those three little words. Since then, I have connected with people way beyond my years and really grown as an individual. I hope this activity can do the same for campers this summer!

Camp Counselor Job Description

Summer Staff

I would love to make this poster with watercolor paints for the staff room.

And write Dudley Staff 2014, of course <3

It's a great reminder of why we're here.

Camp and Comfort Zones.

This quote speaks the truth!! At camp, kids step miles out of their comfort zones as they try new things and make amazing friends. In such a supporting environment, campers are able to refine themselves for the better and reach their fullest potential. Camp offers lots of new, exciting activities that may appear scary or crazy at first, but end up opening new worlds and possibilities in the form of the words, "I can." Daring the rock wall or the talent show can lead to inner confidence that will be evident throughout the rest of their lives.

Camp is like a vitamin, but it tastes better

Genius.

X-TREME Week- May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

I'm going to order several copies of this (or make my own), and give them to every cabin for XTreme week and sign it, "Love, Katnip." Did I ever tell you about the year my cabin won XTREME week? We dominated.

Life-Sized Board Games With Chalk

While Monopoly might be too much, I think it would be fun to play Life-sized board games on the basketball court. Maybe everyone could help make a board game for arts and crafts, and then people could play as a session of all camp?

Counselor Characteristic-Driven

A driven individual is committed to excellence and high-quality performance through organization, resourcefulness, and natural optimism. A driven person takes initiative and has a solid work ethic. If something is expected of them, it will get done, and it will be done well. A driven person sees the bigger picture in a cause, and strives to unite the team around that vision. Also, a driven person has the ability to thrive in a fluctuating environment and transform unexpected obstacles into stepping stones for achievements and growth due to a broad range of social circles, interests, and experiences.

Counselor Characteristic-Role Model

Role models are positive influences on the people around them by exercising maturity, good judgment, and optimistic attitudes about life. A role model is a mentor who sincerely cares about others and shows it through actions and words. Positive role models are needed in a summer camp environment to provide campers with influential nurturers who will guide them towards strengthening their character, building confidence, and discovering their individual strengths. From what I’ve seen, the best counselors have that unique combination of a kid’s enthusiasm and an adult’s sense of responsibility, making them easily relatable to campers but also reliable as a staff member.

Counselor Characteristic-Team Player and Leader

A real leader is an influential individual of strong character with vision and direction, who leads by example to express love for others and unite the team. An effective leader takes initiative, solves unexpected obstacles and conflicts with poise, invests in others, and finds great satisfaction in helping others. In a summer camp environment, dedicated leaders with firm teamwork ethics are of utmost importance. Success depends on the team’s dynamics. No single person can do everything on their own, but with a united front, a team can reach great heights. Open communication and a willingness to improvise and be creative are important aspects of achievement. Always having the best interest of the team, a caring leader is dedicated to a cause and puts others’ needs ahead of her own.

Arts & Crafts Shack Project!

Here's what I did over the weekend! Major deep cleaning, organizing, and painting to prep for camp! Can you believe we only have 40 days til' camp?!?

BEFORE

 BEFORE AND AFTER

 AFTER

 

Flying airplanes at camp is not a thing.

Just don't do it.

That's all :)