Log on at 3:30pm EST for fun trivia requiring little or no Wawenock knowledge. Log on at 4:00 if you want a challenge to test your Wawenock history and trivia knowledge! You will need a device with internet capability, in addition to the one you are using for Zoom, in order to participate in the trivia game through Kahoot.
A Camp Activity for Creative Expression
High fashion doesn’t have to be expensive. At Wawenock we’ve been treated to incredible styles made out of nothing more than newspaper, so for today’s activity suggestion we are presenting to you a Newspaper Fashion Show!
Materials Required: Newspapers, scissors, and tape (masking, duct, or invisible tape will all do). If you don’t have newspapers, what do you have access to that your fashions could be made out of…trash bags? Sheets? Towels? Cardboard?
How to Put on a Newspaper Fashion Show: Gather the materials you’ll need into the design area. Depending on the size of your group, you can divide into smaller groups and have participants become either the “designer” or the “model.” If there aren’t enough of you, the designers could be the children and the models are the parents, or vice versa! Give the designers 15-20 minutes to create an outfit for their model. After the time is up, the models walk the runway to show off their looks! Get creative with this fashion show by putting on music for the models to strut their stuff to, have an announcer who indicates which designer is being highlighted and announcing things like: Is it the Spring 2020 line or are we already into summer fashions? Did the designer make any bold choices with accessories, color, or cuts? What stores are hoping to purchase these designs to sell? What kind of detail does each piece have?
*Counselor Hack: Swap roles if you have a small group and do a second round. If you have older children give them a challenge of creating something specific like formal wear, winter wear, or beach wear!
A Camp Activity for Miniature Challenges
Since it’s Thursday we thought of an activity that we have often done for Evening Program on Thursday nights – Minute to Win It Games! Minute to Win It Games are mini challenges in which any number of people can participate. At camp we usually divide into small groups and then the groups choose one player to represent them for each challenge. At home, you may not have enough people for teams but instead have individuals who participate in every challenge.
Materials Required: A cookie per player or group, uncooked spaghetti, cheerios (or uncooked penne, or beads with holes), 2-4 plates, uncooked beans or another small item (like m&ms, mini marshmallows, goldfish), a straw per player or team, cotton balls, petroleum jelly, 5-10 dice, one popsicle stick per team, a balloon per team, plastic cups, as many pennies or coins as you can find
How to Play Minute to Win It Games: These are a series of mini challenges that happen within a minute timeframe. Keep track of which person or group wins each challenge and whoever has the most points at the end wins!
Challenge 1: Cookie Face – This one is simply hilarious. Each player tilts their head back and places a cookie on their forehead. They then have 1 minute to get the cookie into their mouth, without using their hands. If it falls on the floor they can replace it on their forehead and keep going (use a new cookie if it gets dirty). Any player to get the cookie into their mouth gets a point. If no one gets it into their mouth within the timeframe, whoever does it first wins the point.
Challenge 2: Noodling Around – The participating players have to move cheerios (or beads with holes, or uncooked penne pasta) from one plate to the other within the minute timeframe. But that would be too easy, so they have to do it using an uncooked piece of spaghetti that they hold in their mouth, and they cannot use their hands. The player who moves the most pieces wins!
Challenge 3: Bean there, Done that – Similar to Noodling Around but with a twist, this challenge asks players to move beans from one plate to another, using a straw. After 1 minute, the player who has moved the most beans wins. Be careful that the item you are asking players to move doesn’t fit through the straw, because when they use suction to move it, they could accidentally suck it into their mouth. Safety first! If you don’t have beans use: m&ms, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, goldfish crackers, etc.
Challenge 4: Dice Balance – While holding a popsicle stick in their mouth, each player has one minute to see how many dice they can balance on top of each other. The most dice wins.
Challenge 5: Nose Dive – Each participating player puts a dab of petroleum jelly on to the tip of their nose. Using only their nose (no hands), they see how many cotton balls they can move from one plate to another. The player that moves the most cotton balls after 1 minute wins.
Challenge 6: Blow the Cup Down – Within a minute time frame, each player blows up a balloon and then uses the air inside of it to try and knock over a plastic cup. Whoever blows over the most cups wins, and if they make it through all the cups before a minute is up, they can set the cups back up to keep going.
Challenge 7: Penny Challenge – Using only one hand the participants have to try to stack as many coins as they can in 1 minute. The most coins stacked wins.
*Counselor Hack: Help make sure everyone gets to participate fairly by making a rule that a different participant should play each game. Run an uneven number of games if you want there to be a clear winner and no chance of a tie (or vice versa if you’re hoping for the opposite). If you like these types of games, a simple google search will provide you with even more ideas that you can cater to your age groups and what materials you have readily available. Get a camera ready, because these can get silly (especially Cookie Face)!
Challengers, are you ready?
A Camp Activity for Magical Moments
Did you know there are magical beings that inhabit every inch of our world? We can’t see them, but they live among us in the leaves, flowers, trees, rocks, and bushes. To support these creatures, we must construct houses for them, so today’s activity is building Fairy Houses. The origins of this camp activity are as mystical as the creatures themselves. Lodgers have been playing with fairies for years, but recently our Outdoor Living Skills classes have started building fairy houses during the activity hour as a way to explore the natural world.
Materials Required: Outdoor space
How to Build a Fairy House: Take your kids to any outdoor space you have available to you (while still following CDC and local guidelines). Explain to them that the fairies have asked for some help building new houses. It’s more than likely that your children already know about fairies, so it’s best to just let them take the lead on this. Their imaginations will guide them in directions you might not think to consider. All you need to do is plant the seed and tell them to use elements of the natural world around them to build a home for the fairies. Fairy houses can become very intricate with detailed interior design and amazing architectural features.
*Counselor Hack: Use this opportunity to talk to your kids about what at Wawenock we call Love of the Natural World. Respecting nature and its living things is an integral part of a summer at Camp, and it’s an idea we hope translates to life at home for our campers. In this activity that means not hurting things that are alive (ie. no breaking or pulling pieces of nature off of live trees, bushes, or plants). If you want to take the fairy house activity a step further and you are feeling creative, the day after the houses are built the fairies might leave a thank you note…and maybe a back and forth letter system develops!
Enjoy the magic!
A Camp Activity that Children Can Do Independently
Before you think, “Not another Scavenger Hunt!” let us say that this one will give you some time to focus on something you need to get done, or just to take a breath! So although it is another scavenger hunt, hopefully this one gives you a break from facilitating and some time to yourself.
Materials Required: One piece of paper and writing utensil per player, one bag or pillow case per player
How to Play an Alphabet Scavenger Hunt: The player’s goal is to collect a single item from the house that starts with each letter of the alphabet, during a set time frame. We recommend 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the age of your children.
Step 1: Each player creates a piece of paper with the letters of the alphabet written down the left hand side.
Step 2: When the game begins, players look around the house to find an object that starts with the letter “a.” For example, if you have an apple, you could pick that. Players should try to choose something unique, because they only get points if none of the other players choose the same item. Each item that players bring can only stand for one letter. Meaning, if you bring a stuffed bear, it can only be for “s” for stuffed OR “b” for bear, but not both.
Step 2: Write down the item’s name and put it in their bag.
Step 3: Repeat until players have an item for each letter of the alphabet – even “x!”
Step 4: At the designated time, players must stop looking and gather together with their bags of objects.
Step 5: The judge reads each letter out, one at time, asking for each player’s item. The judge will determine which player gets a point for each letter.
*Counselor Hack: If there are rooms or areas of the house where the children shouldn’t go to look for items, make sure to set those restrictions before you start to play. Make bonus points available if players bring an item with a double letter – for example a blue bear could be worth 2 points. Points can be awarded for creativity since some letters will be hard to find items for, so use your discretion as you award creative entries!
Thank you to our peers at Camp Twin Creeks for the inspiration!
A Camp Activity for Outdoor Play
At Wawenock we have many opportunities for tag games. Whether it’s warming up before getting in the lake, or hanging out after a Tribe Meeting, we often play Tag Games to keep children moving and engaged. Below are a few of our favorites that can be played with a small group.
Option 1: Partner Tag
Materials Required: Outdoor space or a room with furniture pushed aside.
How to Play Partner Tag: Each player gets paired with another player. Within each pair, players determine who will be “It.” When the game begins, each pair is only trying to tag or move away from their own partner. So if you have 4 players, there are 2 people who are “It” and 2 people who are not. In order to keep it safe if you have a bigger group, ask players to only speed walk and to put up their “bumpers” (hands up in front of their chest), to avoid running into someone else. If your group is small enough, and you have enough space, you can just run. When the person who is “It” tags their partner, the person who was tagged closes their eyes and counts to 10 before switching roles and becoming “It.” This becomes silly as people run in between, around, and behind each other trying to hide from their partner!
Option 2: Shadow Tag
Materials Required: Outdoor space
How to Play Shadow Tag: In this altered version of the classic game of Tag, there is one player who is “It” and they can only tag people by tagging their shadows! The closer you play to noon, the more difficult it will be!
Option 3: Flashlight Tag
Materials Required: One flashlight or headlight, outdoor space at night or a dark room
How to Play Flashlight Tag: As an alternative to Shadow Tag which needs sunlight, this game is really fun at night (or in a dark room with the lights off). The player who is “It” has a flashlight, and can only get other players out by “tagging” them with the beam of light. This one is extra fun because you can be sneaky by moving around in the dark like a ninja!
*Counselor Hack: Children can sometimes lose interest or patience with tag games if you play the same one for too long. You can make each one last a bit longer by adding in new components like playing a crab walking round, a walking backwards round, or a slow motion running round!
Tag, you’re it!