How’s Everyone Doing Out There?

We know it’s been tough, so we asked readers to share how they fared through the pandemic and beyond. Here are some responses from those who were graciously willing to share. If you would like to add your thoughts to the conversation, feel free to drop us a line at editor@northstarpubs.com.

Best Trip Ever

Last year, I planned a peach-picking trip at a local orchard for nearly 200 Middletown Summer Rec Program participants, never thinking it would go over as well as it did. The kids were so excited to learn about the farm that is in their town, and to be picking peaches that they could bring home to their families. They also enjoyed the wagon ride through the farm, observing the fruits and vegetables that were growing (“I see apples!” “I see peppers!”) and observing and learning about the beehives in the fields and how important they are to the farm.

The orchard also had an open space with picnic tables where we gathered and brought our own sports equipment to entertain the group, as we could not all go on the wagon ride to the orchard all at once. (Parachute, Wiffle ball, Gator balls, Frisbees, mini footballs, a kick ball, Kan Jam, and cornhole.) The orchard also provided a craft for each participant which was a simple flowerpot-decorating craft where they got a live plant to put in it as well. After the trip last year, not only were kids saying it was the “best trip ever” but long-time counselors did as well. I was truly shocked. It was so back to basics, but so loved that we did it again.

The kids loved telling me what they did with their peaches when they got home. They were shocked at how delicious fresh-picked peaches were as compared to the ones they purchase at the store. The second time we went, the craft included a sunflower seed to plant in the pot of soil instead of an already-flowering plant and the kids were happy to report that theirs was beginning to grow at home. While they were filling their pots with soil, the kids found a surprise of a baby frog that they all wanted to gently pet with their finger.

It just goes to show that kids today do not require expensive trips to be entertained (This cost $8 per child and counselors were free). Going back to basics sometimes works in teaching kids about how to have fun in nature.

Joanne Morelli
Program Specialist
Middletown Township
Bucks County, Penn.

Flup-a-Flar

At Cub Creek Science and Animal Camp in Rolla, Mo., Rachel Martin, the niece of the owners Scott and Lori, developed a fun way for the campers to burn energy and stay cool during the balmy summer evenings. Flup-a-Flar is an obstacle course relay game where the campers put on blindfolds. It provides a fun sensory experience with good, old-fashioned water fun!

Flup-a-Flar is played in Fox Field, a flat grassy area with plenty of room to set up obstacles for campers to navigate. Campers divide into teams and one by one, play a relay race navigating through a course of obstacles. All the while, they are blindfolded. Counselors and staff members arm themselves with water to ensure no single camper escapes without getting soaked.

Equipment

Water blasters
Super Soakers
Buckets
Water balloons
Shaving cream.

Setup

Make an obstacle course with 5-gallon buckets lined with rope to create an easy maze. Place a rope across the maze to create a “limbo” in which the campers must crouch to pass through.

How To Play

Blindfold the campers and form a single line. When the game begins, campers must navigate the course by following the maze until they cross the finish line. Along the way, other counselors lie in wait and drench the campers with various splashes and soaks. When one camper crosses the finish line, they can remove their blindfold and cheer for their team. One by one, the campers move through the course. The first team to complete should win a reward, but in the end, water is its own reward.

Sidenotes

A fun way to begin the game is to fill a kiddie pool with shaving cream and have campers army crawl through the foam. This provides incentive to get a little soaked—if not to cool off—to wash away the shaving cream. Campers who do not wish to participate can help by squirting generous amounts of foam on their fellow campers’ heads and shoulders as they begin the race.

Before the event, have campers change into clothes that can get wet (no white T-shirts), along with appropriate shoes (Crocs work well).

Be mindful not to place any trip hazards along the path, as campers will be blindfolded.

Flup-a-Flar contains the necessary components of a game—challenge with variety of setbacks, potential for teamwork advantage or sabotage, the ability to create a dynamic setting year after year and of course, the submission to getting soaked. After 20 years, it remains the best way to cool off in the summer heat.

Jonathan Hardin
Cub Creek Science and Animal Camp
Rolla, Mo.

Learn To Juggle

Learn to juggle in 45 minutes! Sounds impossible? It is as simple as 1, 2, 3.

We have all experienced “drops” in our lives. Learning to juggle creates an excellent metaphor for resilience and emotional grit. Juggling demonstrates how “failures” create opportunity for further development. Very few people completely succeed on their first attempt—it requires a cycle of failures and successes until the skill becomes more comfortable. Like many skills, juggling requires practice and is a process of continuous improvement.

Juggling is fun and it helps us to achieve a better understanding of how we learn and acquire new skills. We all receive vast amounts of information at any one time. It is helpful to consider how we are able to manage, arrange, and prioritize all that information using various brain processes.

Learning Outcomes:

Acquire new skills/resiliency to learn new things
Investigate what contributes to overall performance
Consider elements of multi-tasking and prioritization
Understand the value of reflection and self-evaluation
Synchronize physical, mental, and emotional balance.

This activity works great either first thing in the morning or immediately after lunch. It is a highly active and engaging session that not only gets participants out of their seats, but also provides an excellent takeaway for leaders to use with their own teams.

Brian “BK” Koehler, CPRP, CPSI
Director, Park Maintenance Institute
State College, Pa.

Dance Recital & Art Show

Our summer camp, Radnor Day Camp (RDC), has been operating in Radnor, Penn. since 1941. For the past 15+ years, one of our most beloved annual traditions has been our RDC Dance Performance & Art Show which parents/guardians and family members are invited to attend. During the six weeks of RDC, campers participate in various specialty activities, two of which are in Performing Arts (PA) and Creative Crafts. PA is a compilation of dance, theater, and creative/artistic expression. The time campers spend in PA is all in preparation for the annual dance performance. Each summer, the PA coordinator picks a theme for the show based on a Disney movie. Each group then chooses a character from the movie that they are representing in the show. The coordinator works with each group to plan and choreograph a dance that reflects each character and they perform on stage at the end of the summer. In addition to the dance performance, campers display artwork, crafts, and creations from their time in Creative Crafts over the summer. The artwork is displayed throughout the hallways and lobby of the building for parents to peruse before and after the performance. The result is a professional production with music, stage lighting, and special effects (i.e., bubble/fog/snow machines, etc.), and art display. It is one of the most memorable experiences for campers and their families!

Heather DiCanzio
Recreation Program Supervisor
Radnor Township, Penn.

Grapes Game

Provide a paper plate for each camper. Place five grapes on each plate and bury them in whipped cream. Players lock their hands behind their backs and attempt to eat all of the grapes on their plates. If you have a lot of campers, have six to eight of them play at once and then have a winners’ playoff.

--From Icebreakerideas.com

This-N-That