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Tune in on Facebook or Instagram Live for a livestream of Vespers on the Images tonight, Sunday, March 22nd, at 6:40pm EST.  Click here for the song lyrics to the songs we’ll be singing! 

Sundays at Wawenock are filled with tribe and staff meetings, and tribe meets, followed by dinner and Vespers. Whether it’s a swim meet, tennis meet, or OLS and archery meet, Sunday afternoons contain a healthy dose of competition. In that spirit, our camp activity suggestion for today will be a bit more active and provide some friendly competition. It’s an Indoor Obstacle Course!

Materials Required: Empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls, a bouncy ball, a spoon or ladle, kitchen tongs, a bucket or large bowl, pillows or couch cushions, a sheet or blanket, small toys like dice, marbles, coins, etc., a toy with wheels, a bandanna or scarf, tape or yarn, and a book

How to Set Up and Run an Indoor Obstacle Course:

Step 1: Map out a space for your course, it doesn’t have to be a lot. Place the tape or yarn at the “starting line”.

Step 2: Set up bigger physical obstacles using the materials you gathered. Ideas: drape a sheet between two chairs which players have to crawl or limbo under, pile pillows into a mountain that players have to climb, put a ball on the floor which players have to roll into a “goal” before moving on, place the toy with wheels at one station and have players push it with their nose to the next station. Get creative as you think about your obstacles and challenges!

Step 3: Mix larger physical obstacles with smaller challenges. Ideas: pile dice next to the kitchen tongs so each player must transport the dice, one at a time, into a bucket or bowl, tape a paper towel roll upright to the floor and ask players to toss 3 coins into it before moving on, ask participants to carry marbles in a spoon from one location to another…you get the idea!

Step 4: Pick a silly move the players have to do at the starting line to begin the course (strike a pose, do a dance, do three jumping jacks, spin around three times, pretend to be a monkey, etc.)

Step 5: Brainstorm a few ways that the players can get from obstacle to obstacle, like: crab walk, slither like a snake, walk backwards or sideways, dance, or walk with their eyes closed or while balancing a book on their head. If all you want to do is burn some energy, ditch the small items and just make each station about spinning, crab walking, jumping jacks, or even add in small hand weights if you have them! If you want add in some brain work, have them roll the dice and add up all the numbers, or answer trivia about history or science.

*Counselor Hack: Divide players into teams and use a stopwatch to time each team to see who completes the obstacle course the fastest. Have a second round be an individual round. Make it a relay race and have each member of the team complete a specific section. Encourage players to cheer each other on and – because Sportsmanship is one of the 10 Components of Wawenock Spirit – don’t forget to say “good game” to your opponents when you’re done.

Adapted from mommypoppins.com

On your mark, get set, go!

Join our Program tonight – a Camp Song Singalong at 7:00pm EST on March 21st

We spend a lot of time singing at Camp! Many of the songs we sing are camp songs, songs that have been written by campers and counselors from years past and are saved in our Wawenock Song Books, but we also sing a lot of non-camp songs. Some of our singing is more formal, like in the dining hall after meals, at Song Night, or during Vespers on the Images, and some of it is spontaneous (does anyone else still have the “Silly Silly Bird” song from 2019 stuck in their head?). In preparation for tonight’s Program, a Camp Sing-a-long on Zoom at 7:00pm EST, we thought we’d introduce to you one of our favorite games for rainy day indoor activities, A Sing Down! 

Materials: None

How to Conduct a Sing Down: Divide participants into two groups. Pick a word, for example, “star.” (See below for a list of ideas) and announce it to the groups. Each group then takes turns coming up with a song that has that word in it somewhere, and singing that section of the song. The groups alternate back and forth until one group can no longer think of songs with that word. Camp rules apply so – no technology allowed!

Word Ideas:

• Star
• Dream
• Love (that one can go on for a while..)
• World
• Girl 
• Boy
• Heart
• Together
• Song
• Night
• Day
• Baby

Hope to see you tonight at our Camp Songs Singalong!

At Wawenock campers and counselors alike enjoy having fun and being silly, and for our young adult staff members a summer at Wawenock is a welcome respite from the pressures of school or work life. It’s a time when they can connect with their inner creative child. An activity we do in the Living Units that gets the counselors in on the fun is called Dress Your Counselor, but since counselors aren’t at home with you, parents…it’s your turn to join in!

Materials Required: Slips of paper, a bowl, and the clothes and accessories you have at home

How to Play Dress Your Counselor: Think of this as a somewhat structured version of dress-up. The children draw from a bowl a slip of paper that has a theme for a costume idea (see below for a list of ideas) and have 10 minutes to gather items for the costume, using the clothes, items, and accessories you have in your home, to fit that theme. Consider putting out a few supplies like tape, cardboard, and string so the designers can get creative in making props or accessories. When the time is up, they then have 15-20 minutes to dress up their parent! If there is more than one adult in the house, divide the children into teams and have them each dress an adult. When everyone is in costume, put on some music and create a catwalk where the adults strut their stuff (fitting the costume theme they are dressed as, of course). After the fashion show, switch it up and have the parents dress up the children!

Costume Idea List:

• Rockstar
• 80’s fitness instructor
• Astronaut
• “Pink Lady” or “T-Bird” from Grease
• Construction worker
• Disney Princess or Prince
• Police officer 
• Soccer/tennis/volleyball player
• A hippie
• Super Hero (Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman)
• French Chef
• Cheerleader
• Where’s Waldo
• Mermaid/Merman
• Person going on Safari
• The Cat in the Hat
  

*Counselor Hack: Extend the fun by having a photo shoot to fit the theme – are you dressed as a rockstar? Make an album cover. Are you dressed as an astronaut? Depict your mission to space. Also, this activity can get a bit messy as things get pulled out of where they are stored, so to encourage tidying up afterward whoever returns things to where they belong in the most organized way chooses the game for the next family game night! 

Now get out there and strike a pose! Share your photos with us on Instagram or Facebook so we can see your creativity!

At Wawenock we don’t just limit the dramatics to the stage in the Ussher Lodge, sometimes we take it to the Units! Below is a description of how to create quick and entertaining performances by playing Paper Bag Theater! Though simple, this game can cause some good belly laughs. Players receive prompts for scenes that they then creatively perform, but with the caveat of having to incorporate some odd objects into their performance!

Materials Required: A bowl, slips of paper, 15-20 random household objects (see below for ideas), a pillowcase for each person or small group

How to Play Paper Bag Theater: Write different scenes down on small slips of paper (see below for our suggestions) and put them into a bowl. Place 4-5 of the random household objects into a pillowcase, these will become props for the actors. Each player, pair, or small group picks a slip of paper, randomly, to determine what they will be performing, and also is given one of the pillowcases filled with props. Those props must be incorporated into the performance. Then each player or group has 15-20  minutes to plan and rehearse their skit before they perform it for the rest of the group!

Scene Ideas:

• Going on vacation to Disney World
  
• Being in Maine in the winter
• Camping in a National Park
• Deserted on a tropical island
• Astronauts on a mission
• Archaeologists on a dig
• A Wawenock Banquet
• On a hike up a mountain
• A road trip to the Grand Canyon
• Actors choice – make up your own scene!
  

Household Items Ideas:

• A spoon
• Mittens or gloves
• A banana or other fruit
• A toothbrush
• Sunglasses
• A book
• Ice cube tray
• Lotion
• A pencil
• A balloon
• A face cloth
• A water glass
• Car keys
• Socks
• A clothes hanger
• TV Remote
• Spatula
• Wallet
• Salt or pepper
• Stuffed Animal
• Screwdriver
• A toothpick
• Bandaids
• Dustpan
• Batteries
• Peanut Butter

*Counselor Hack: If kids are working a group, they may argue in the process of creating their skit. You can set some ground rules in the beginning, such as: only one person talks at a time and you must incorporate an idea from every group member, etc. Remember that activities like this help teach children teamwork and cooperation, so it’s okay to let them work through it. Ultimately, they all want to have a great skit!

If you want to share your household’s skits – post a video of it and tag @campwawenock1910 on Instagram or tag Camp Wawenock’s Facebook Page and we’ll share it on our social media. Break a leg!

At Wawenock we often take time to pause and appreciate each other and the natural world around us. One way we do this is at our weekly campfire, which happens on Wednesday nights. As we sit together around the fire, Catriona often invites us to be still and listen to the birdsong, or admire how the colors are shifting during the sunset. At the end of campfire, we ask our camp family to raise their hands if there is someone they’d like to thank for something helpful, kind, or thoughtful they did for them that week. Examples include, “I’d like to thank my tennis counselor, Andy, who spent extra time with me after class to help me practice my serve.” We ask everyone to be as specific as possible. The result is powerful; not only the person being thanked, but also the person showing appreciation, feels good. As is true with all acts of kindness, the feeling is infectious and spreads to everyone in the campfire circle. In that vein, our suggested activity for today is one that reflects this idea of appreciation and gratitude, it’s The Compliment Game! We also invite you to join us for a live stream of a Wednesday Campfire tonight, 3/18,  at 6:30 on Instagram and Facebook. Prepare a “Thank You” (for anyone, camp friend or other!) and we’ll share them with our Camp family at the end of our Campfire. 

Materials Required: A piece of paper for each person participating and a writing utensil

How to Play the Compliment Game: Each player writes their name at the top of a piece of paper. Everyone passes their paper to the left, and with the person whose name is at the top of the page in mind, takes a moment to think of a couple of reasons why they appreciate that person, what qualities in them that they admire, or thank them for something they recently did. The more specific, the better! Then each person writes those words at the bottom of the paper. When finished writing, fold the paper up, so that sentiment isn’t visible. When everyone is finished writing and folding up their compliment they pass the paper to the left. The next person can only see the name at the top, and so the process is repeated. Sometimes counselors ask campers to sign their name, and sometimes it’s anonymous – that’s up to you. When the papers get back to their original owners, campers keep the page. Whether they read it immediately or save it for a moment when they need a lift, each person now has a collection of kind words from loved ones to read about themselves!

*Counselor Hack: Decorate your name at the top with bubble letters, fun handwriting, and doodles. Cover the page with stickers and designs. Encourage your players to keep their page in a special place! (Shout out to Cabin 2, 2003 and my counselor Susanna P., I still have mine. – Kristy)

We hope this gives you some warm and fuzzy feelings!

At Wawenock we encourage staff to have fun with their cabin groups by planning and organizing ways that their campers can connect with each other. One of the most fun and laugh-out-loud games we’ve played during cabin time in recent years is Pictionary Telephone! The game, as you may have guessed, is a combination of Pictionary and Telephone. 

Materials Required: Paper and pencils or colored pencils

How to Play Pictionary Telephone: Each person needs a stack of papers equal to the number of players in the group (for a group of 5 people, each player needs 5 sheets of paper, or half-sheets of paper). Label the papers with page numbers. The first round is a writing round. Each player writes one sentence, about anything they’d like, on the first blank piece of paper (page #1). For example, Catriona writes, “The giraffe ate a big leaf.” After each player has written one sentence, they pass their whole stack of papers to the left. Each player then reads the sentence that was passed to them and attempts to draw a depiction of that sentence on the next blank piece of paper (page #2). In the example above, Kristy, who is sitting to the left of Catriona, would draw a giraffe eating a big leaf. After everyone is finished their drawing, they shuffle page #1 with the sentence to the back of the stack, making sure only page #2, the drawing, is on top. They then pass the whole stack to the left. Now Andy, who is to the left of Kristy, has to write a sentence, based off the drawing he sees, onto the next blank piece of paper (page #3). This is where things can get silly – because Kristy’s depiction of a giraffe eating a big leaf might not be quite as clear as she hoped, and Andy might see something completely different! Players continue this drawing, writing, and passing process until each player has their original stack back with them. After the papers have made their way around the circle, the group can enjoy the hilarity of viewing the papers to see how garbled the original sentences have become!

*Counselor Hack: Post these storyboards somewhere in your house so whenever you walk by you get a chuckle.

Good luck!