Archive for the 'Program Ideas' Category

Set up a message board in a central location for everyone to use. You can still have the private boxes for the staff in the staff room for more important and private massages. The public message board is for the campers to leave messages for other campers, campers to leave messages for the staff, the staff to leave massages for the campers, or for staff to leave a fun note for other staff. It can be an encouragement/fun note board for everyone to use. I would encourage all the counselors to leave at least one note per week for everyone in their cabin saying something encouraging. This board would also give the campers that are to shy but want to say something or ask something an opportunity to do it in a non-threatening way.

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Have a cabin activity time during the day, two good times are either during tuck time when tuck is between 1.5-2 hours long or if tuck time is shorter, schedule a time in, usually right before supper is a good time then everyone is together and is easy to get to supper and start on time

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Three options for making teams that come with pros and cons:

1. 1 cabin is one team
Pros: The cabin grows in unity as they work as a team
It is easy to keep track of points and team members
Less paper work
Cons: Campers do not meet as many people
If there is tension between campers in the cabin there is no escape from it

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To make a 4 way bungee:
Take piece of 1 inch tubular climbing webbing and tie a water knot (google search: water knot) in it. Then tie it so that there are 4 loops going in all 4 directions with a big knot in the middle. That is the center structure. Then take some 1/4 inch bungee (6 times the length you want so 15-20 feet per bungee works good) and loop it back on it’s self 6 times, going through the webbing loop. Put the two ends together and tie a triple fisherman knot (google search: Fisherman knot, then put three loops instead of one) in the bungee. Tie a figure eight knot (google search: Figure 8 knot) in the end of the webbing that is closest to the webbing. After that tie another figure eight knot in the opposite end of the bungee. Repeat on all four sides. If have the budget you can make a entire structure where there is a net in the middle with the webbing and the campers get balls and they need to drop them in the bag in the middle. If you do not have the budget for that, get one camper to get the ball and hand it off to the other camper that is on the opposite side and then the second camper need to put it in a pail that is way out of the way. Put the campers in climbing harnesses and clip them to the back and let them go wild and play tug of war with bungee.

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This is a way to have a quiet meal. You tell the campers that they get normal utensils for the meal. If they talk or make a noise they lose their small utensils in exchange for one out of the kitchen and they need to finish their meal with whatever they get (soup with a wisk is always fun to watch). If they make a second noise they lose everything and have to use their hands. If they talk again they lose their hands and they get tied behind their back and all they get is their mouth. Usually they do not make a fourth noise. If so, be creative.

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