Around the World
Fill your passport exploring the different cultures that make our world so interesting. Be sure to bring an appetite! We will create our own passports, then “travel” through world activities. Countries visited include Mexico, Italy, Russia, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, and Pakistan.
One summer included a field trip to the Toledo Zoo. Other all-camp and group games were tininkling, Ounch/Reech, European Dodgeball, Ga-Ga, and Wan, Tu, Zum. In 2011, Jon and Seoul Street offered a Korean cooking presentation. Campers swim daily, except when on a field trip. Please see the table, below, for sample age-grouped activities for Around the World:
| K-1 | 2-3 | 4-8 |
| Create wind socks | Play with castanets | Learn about bocce ball |
| Make Italian Ice & tortillas | Learn about flags | Learn about world structures |
| Metal tooling/wind mills | African Elephant walk | Experiment with henna |
| Stuck in the mud | Japanese fans | Easy empanadas |
| Ojos du Deu | Mexican flowers | |
| Russian Prui | Stuck in the mud | |
| Russian Prui |
Sportin' Around
Get ready for an intense week of sports. Grab your gear and head out to the field! Campers will immerse themselves in sports activities, with the opportunity to play a wide variety of games, including (ultimate) frisbee, lacrosse, soccer, flag rugby, mini-golf, field or noodle hockey, kickball, basketball, and a range of racket sports. Throughout the camp days, campers will play both in their age-groups (see below) and in all-camp group games.
We have had the opportunity to take a field trip to the High Velocity indoor sports complex and to go to a Tigers game! One summer, the culminating activity was the thrilling Honey Creek Olympics, an all-day games extravaganza. Campers swim daily, except when on a field trip. Please see the table, below, for sample age-grouped activities for Sportin’ Around:
| K-1 | 2-3 | 4-8 |
| Frisbee toss / disc golf | Lacrosse / scoop & throw | Soccer |
| Soccer | Make frisbees / soccer | Flag rugby |
| Mini-golf | Field hockey / hockey puck snack | Mini-golf |
| Noodle hockey | Kickball | Kickball |
| Basketball | Basketball | Ultimate frisbee |
| Racket sports | Racket sports | Racket sports |
Campers Ahoy!
Water, pirates, treasure, and high seas fun! Yo ho! Yo ho! A camper’s life for me!
Pirate Campers have made boats and maps and they have buried treasure. All-camp group games have included a sponge relay, shipwreck, the Raingutter Regatta, sharks and minnows, and an all-out water balloon splash. There have been field trips to Turtle Cove, Rolling Hills Water Park and Independence Lake. Campers swam daily. Please see the table, below, for sample age-grouped activities for Campers Ahoy!
| K-1 | 2-3 | 4-8 |
| Ice cube necklace | Pirate hats | Treasure hunt |
| Pirate hats (time permitting) |
Mystical Adventures
Experience the magical worlds of Narnia, Middle Earth, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Accio Campers!
Daily activities have included Giants/Elves/Wizards, Smaug’s Jewels, Madam Pomfrey, Woosh-Woah, and Crookshanks & Scabbers. Campers have had a Sorting each day. Then, they have had the opportunity to build their worlds, constructing wands and robes, folding origami owls, and making brooms and parchment. Campers have played Wizard & Goblin Tag and Defend the Castle; but the big activity of the week is always Quidditch. Campers play Quidditch several times during the week, culminating in the Quidditch and House Cups. There is a Mystical Adventures field trip to the Cavern Club. Campers swim daily. For this special week, there are no age-grouped activities.
Fine Arts Fest
Just how many ways can you make an image? This week we’ll find that’s not such an easy question to answer. Campers will explore visual, musical, and kinesthetic art.
Visual art activities vary by age group (see table, below); but all campers have had the opportunity to do Street Art with Pat (an artist from Kalamazoo), a large-scale chalk mural, and a general study of art. Musical art activities have previously included constructing African instruments, performing in a recording studio, participating in a sing-along and STOMP. Campers have also enjoyed kinesthetic, all-camp group games/experiences: Night at the Wax Museum, color tag, marshmallow structures, Capture the Paintings, Found Art, musical chairs, Creationary, and yoga. There is always a daily swim.
| K-1 | 2-3 | 4-8 |
| Make African instruments | Make African instruments | Recording studio |
| Sing-along | Geometrical Wheels | Make African instruments |
| African Arts | Recording studio | Clay-making & -building |
| Knotted bracelets | African Arts | STOMP |
| Street Art with Pat | Street Art wit Pat | African Arts |
| Crayon scratchings /clay | Pablo Picasso | Street Art with Pat |
Weird Science
Explore, experiment, and experience science… With a twist. Campers will have a hands-on, gooey, explosive, constructive week, learning and experimenting with things that go “boom” and things that go ooze.
See the table, below, for the experiments that each group of campers have conducted in the past. Around these experiments, all-camp group games have included Amoeba Tag, Birds of a Feather, Shrink Ray Tag, Droids and Clones, and a Star Wars Game. These fabulous activities at camp have been matched by an exciting field trip to the Impression 5 Science Center, Michigan Science Center or the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum. The week often culminates in a Science Fair and/or a Star Wars Extravaganza. Campers swim daily, except when on the field trip.
| K-1 | 2-3 | 4-8 |
| Chalk | Fizzing bath soaps | Soap souffle’ |
| Lava lamps | Oobleck | Fire-proof balloon |
| Dancing raisins | Wave in a bottle | Candy chromotography |
| Alka-seltzer rockets | Milk star explosion | Sharpie art |
| Play-doh | Periscopes | Earth, air, fire, & water |
| Lightning in your Mouth | Egg strength test | Glow in the dark |
| Silly putty, goo, & slime | Making lightsabers | Baby diaper secret |
| Tea bag rockets | CD spaceships | |
| Life saver sparks |
Greek Mythology
Heroes, Monsters, and Legends! Capture the spirit of the Ancient Greeks, with Olympic challenges for mind and body. Campers will solve riddles of the Oracle, climb rock walls, learn archery, go on quests, and race chariots.
Younger campers have been challenged to garb themselves with self-created apparel of the ages, while older campers have unraveled the secrets of Arachne, the Labyrinth, Achilles, and Icarus. All campers have had the opportunity to create their own monster. Physical challenges have included Medusa Tag, Gladiators, Capture the Flag, Escape from Monster Island, Dragon Race, Guarding the Golden Apples, Who’s Your Greek God, and Medusa Freeze Tag. The field trip for this week has been to Planet Rock, Xtreme Bounce Zone and Liberty Athletic Club. There have been special exhibitions of “Hero Training: Archery & Sword Fighting.” Campers swim daily, except when on the field trip. Please see the table, below, for sample age-grouped activities for Greek Mythology:
| K-1 | 2-3 | 4-8 |
| Greek vases | Make a monster | Create a monster |
| Cyclops | Greek pottery | Achilles’ heel |
| Olive leaf crown | Shields | Icarus flies |
| Build a monster | Ancient Greek scrolls | Arachne’s weaving |
| Medusa headbands | Togas | The Labyrinth |
| Hoplite shields | Greek medallions | Half-blood training camp |
| Ambrosia |
Time Warp
Quantum foam makes us roam! We’ll travel through wormholes each day to visit the bizarre, the amazing, and the amusing throughout time.
As a group, campers have traveled to prehistoric ages, for Mammoth Hunting, Dinosaur Tag, and Potato and Spoon Race. Then, they’ve jumped forward several thousand years for Roman Ball, Sensei Says, catapults, and Duck on the Rock. They have had a grand Exploration, with Wild West Tag and Master Samurai. The last day of camp has previously featured a full-day Gold Rush, with a bonus Fistful of Dollars game. There has been a field trip to Tantre’ Farms, and the Knights of the Round Table have demonstrated their quantum skills. Campers swim daily, except when on the field trip. Please see the table, below, for sample age-grouped Time Warp activities:
| K-1 | 2-3 | 4-8 |
| Cave paintings | Edible amber fossils | Cave art |
| Dream catchers | Into the future: robot building | Mosaic |
| Robots | Build fossils | Deviled eggs |
| Runic messages | ||
| Viking wrist bands |
Carnival Daze
This week every camper is the star attraction! Showcase your talents (and discover new ones) during carnival daze.
We have had a fabulous series of all-camp and group games, including a human game of trouble, a t. p. toss, group juggling, a puppet show, balloon and hula hoop relays, a giant game of bowling, a big bold balloon battle, and a menagerie’ of circus animals. We have had the Detroit Fly House come to camp and have also traveled to their location for an exciting field trip. We have also had a balloon animal expert visit us! At the end of the week, campers always put on a Camp Carnival Extravaganza, during which they have a chance to show off everything they’ve accomplished. Campers swim daily. Please see the table, below, for sample age-grouped activities for Carnival Daze:
| K-1 | 2-3 | 4-8 |
| Face painting/ dice making | Candy toss board | Photo cut outs |
| Bean bag toss | Caramel apples/ puppets | Minute to win it |
| Clown snack | Coin drop board | Carnival cooking |
| Balloon pop | ||
| Tie dye |
The Great Outdoors
Smell that fresh air! We’re heading outdoors to experience nature in its purest form. No, it’s not virtual reality!
Group games have traditionally been highly experiential, including an ABC Hike, two different scavenger hunts (outdoor and nature), hunter/hunted tag and evolution tag, interpretive cloud gazing, Marco Polo Blindfold Dodgeball, and an exercise in environmental improvement (trash pick-up). The Great Outdoors field trip has included exploring and swimming at Independence Lake and The Great Lakes Zoological Society. We have also included the Leslie Science and Nature Center as a special guest at camp and, on one occasion, as a field trip. Campers swim daily. Please see the table, below, for sample age-grouped activities for The Great Outdoors:
| K-1 | 2-3 | 4-8 |
| Bird feeder and compass 101 | Beetle making | Un-nature hike |
| Nature prints | (2s) Beetle Painting | Beat a leaf / spitter spatter |
| Egg carton walk | Recycled twig birdhouse | Eagle eye |
| Compass making & exploration |
