My Camp Resources

Game: Gallumphing

admin — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:43:33 +0000

Set out a race course - starting at point ‘a’ and race to point ‘b’ and back. Put one camper in a canoe without a paddle, sitting at the front or bow of the canoe. Line up all the canoes on the starting line. Upon GO, the racers get up from their seat and go to the back of the canoe. Next they climb up onto the stern gunwales and start to bounce on the gunwales, propelling the canoe forward to point ‘b.’ At point ‘b’ they get back into the canoe, use their hands to turn the canoe around and head back to point ‘a,’ by continuing to bounce on the gunwales. The first canoe to cross the finish line wins.

Game: Stowaway

admin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:43:31 +0000

Divide campers into teams of three. Two people are paddlers and one person gets a small pail. Put the two paddlers in a canoe, but put the third team member (with the pail) in another canoe, with two paddlers from another team. Each canoe has two paddlers and a person from another team, with a pail. Upon GO, the race begins and the person with the pail tries to fill up the canoe, in which they are a stowaway, slowing it down with the water weight. The first canoe over the finish line wins.

Ice Blocking

admin — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 17:43:26 +0000

If you have a smooth, grassy hill, you have the perfect setting for ice blocking.

This is something I learned from our friends to the south…way south. In California where they are lacking snow, they still like sliding down hills. They just do it a little different.

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Homemade Flag Football Flags

admin — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:43:24 +0000

A very good investment for a camp is to make flags. I would suggest making them 1.5 inches, using colored webbing. How many flags will you need to make? Use 6 colors with 1 color equal to about 1/4 the number of campers. If your camp has 100-120 campers, then you would want to start off with 40 of each of the 6 colors. Each flag should be about 10 to 12 inches long.
If you want move your game to the next level, you can also make belts for the flags. To do this you will need:
1. Blue and white marine rope, or any small, easy-to-tie rope cut into pieces long enough to tie around a person’s waist. (Remember: campers come in all sizes.)
2. Tabs made from neutral colored webbing, the same width as your flags. Finished size of tabs will be about 2 inches.
3. 1 inch velcro squares

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Game: Hand Races

admin — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:44:32 +0000

Get 3 or 4 campers to get into a canoe and then all they get is their hands and they need to race from one point to another point and back. The first team to finish wins.

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Fire Marshal

admin — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 16:18:01 +0000

Sometimes at a camp fire you get campers and staff that want to play in the fire. This can get very dangerous nothing is done. A good solution that I have found to fix this is to assign someone at the fire as a fire marshal for the night. This position means that out of the staff and the campers the fire marshal is the only one that can put wood on the fire. It is a very easy line to see and follow, so if a camper starts to play with the fire ask them if they are the fire marshal and when they say “no”, ask them why they are playing with the fire. Mix up the people that are the fire marshals so that different staff get a chance.

Game: Broom Stick Challege

admin — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 21:31:00 +0000

Instead of having the campers race from point A to point B with normal canoe paddles, give them brooms instead and see what happens.

Ice Cream Holders

admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:33:13 +0000

This is not a recipe but it is a great idea. If you want to offer the campers ice cream cones and making them as the campers want them is to slow, then this is an idea that will save time. Get some of that puck board, that 1/8 inchish plastic board. Cut the board so that it will fit on those food/try carts. Take a drill and drill holes that are just big enough to fit the bottom half of the cones in. Make sure the holes are far enough apart that the cones do not touch. Then when it is time for ice cream the kitchen staff can take a 2 inch cookie sheet, rest this on top and make the cones ahead of time (the cookie sheet is to provide air space under the puck board for the cones to rest in). When the tray is full lift it off the cookie sheet and slide it onto the cart. After all the cones are done put the cart in the freezer and give the campers at the appropriate time

Making Teams

admin — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 14:37:18 +0000

A good way of making teams that does not show any favoritism and surprises the campers is to get every camper to take their left (or right) shoe off. After that get them to throw it into the middle or off to the side (Note: all to the same place). Make a pile of all the shoes and then just start throwing them into smaller piles making the teams. After all the shoes are thrown, tell the campers to go to their shoes and that is their team.

Headlamps Are Great

admin — Mon, 28 May 2007 02:34:11 +0000

One thing that I have found very useful at camp is the usage of a headlamp. I had a Petzl Zoom and loved it. You could focus the light for your current situation. If you were going through the woods you could have it tightly focused for a long shot of light and if you were building a fire for that night you could have a wide focus so that a lot was lit up close. I would not recommend getting a solely LED headlamp, they are great for doing things up close but LED’s do not throw their light very far or are as intense. I am looking into upgrading to the Petzl Myo 3. This is a headlamp that has both the focusable halogen and the LED’s. It is like the best of both worlds. Once I get it I will give an update on how I like it.