Escape with the winter blues...
Just returned from yet another awesome week at winter escape! There was soooooo much that happened during the week that there might be a few postings so stay in tune for more to come.
The best thing by far, well ok i might be exaggerating a bit, was NOT getting sick like i did last year. That meant i was able to interact with the kids heaps and enjoy every activity we did together. The kids were great. I thought they were better behaved than last years group, some may think otherwise but hey we all have our own opinions.
Sunday and Monday were the longest days, most likely cos we crammed so much stuff in. By Tuesday i already felt like i had been there a week and was a little ready to be coming home. Still that could have just been me feeling very tired.
The sun was just going down when we pulled into the campsite where we'd be living for the week with 39 kids from yrs 4 to 6 and 12 brave leaders. Off the bus we jumped and played energetic games in the semi darkness.
No matter how many times you try and explain "Fresh" to kids some of them just dont get it. Hence there was lots of confusion throughout the game from a few.
Next game was giants wizards and elves. It was hilarious because while one group was supposed to be doing elves actions, half of them were doing something else... obviously there was a break down in communication. BUt at the same time the other team (my team) should have been doing wizards actions which we did but ran away from the other team even though we should have been chasing them...... ahhh it was mayhem i tell you!
To make matters worse the grass was slippery and the amount of slips and slides we did its a wonder no one sprained anything.
Oh well theyre mostly kids, like Dan says "they bounce!"
Monday was a crazy day so many different activities and to top it off it started to rain in the early avo so kids were in and out while leaders were deciding whether or not some activities could still go ahead.
Before all of that happened though there was some serious stuff going on. Our theme for the week was looking at slavery and ultimately discussing what it means to be a slave of sin and a slave of God. A challenging topic for some kids but some benefitted from the learning.
We had divided the kids into slave groups which were then given a master, as in one of the leaders. Each kid had a tag which identified the house they belonged to. For example a kid may have belonged to the house of Master Iasabrain, Master Filixstuff, Master Yvearite, Master Ohno, Master Robo or Master Markenfly. And if ive left anyone out excuse my mental block.
Each master was to demand their slaves do certain activities in which the slaves could earn 'money'. This money was called 'Evils' and with their evils slaves could then slowly buy back their freedom over the week or spend it at little shops. These Shops ranged from ping-pong in a bucket where they could win prizes or lolly tokens, magnetic darts, hair wrapping, tattoos and stickers, nail art, nintendo and lastly pegging balls at stacked cups, again able to win lolly tokens in exchange for lollies at avo tea. The kids had a blast and it was even amusing watching the boys get their nails done and their hair wrapped! Don't worry we havent scarred them for life, it was all part of the game! :P
Then of course there was the bible discussions and talks and singing. KIds got so into the singing it was fantastic!!
In the avo kids rotated in groups playing beach ball soccer... hmm that actually didnt last too long as we popped the ball by kicking too hard. A second beach ball wasnt much better either, in the end we just played normal soccer. There was also the chocolate game, nintendo, find the snake in the flour game... ok if you like to be covered in flour. See you had to find the snake in the flour using only your mouth. And yes you guessed it flour went everywhere!! In teh hair, in the eyes, mouth, even down some kiddies shirts. Porr Verity though, i dont think she went home with an item of clothing that wasnt covered in flour!
And the game i was manning was find the lolly in the baked beans. I had never done this before so wasnt sure how it would go. Basically there was a bucket two thirds filled with baked beans and a few lollies tossed in and stirred well. Next kids had to battle it out to fish the lolly out using nothing else but one of their foot! It was extremely messy to say the least. It ended up looking a little like vomit at some stage :P
The night was by far the best activity we did though. While the kids were locked outside of the hall the leaders ran around inside setting up chairs creating the ultimate maze. I was the leader at the end and if they managed to avoid being spotted by leaders they were rewarded with a lolly. THe catch was they needed to know the password!
Off flicked the lights and the kids came in, crawling on their hands and knees they tried mercilessly to fight their way through the maze trying in vain to avoid being spotted by nasty leaders with torches going on and off at a constant rate. We weren't about to make the game easy!
There were so many Kodak moments when after an hour kids finally managed to find their way to me and i asked the question "What's the password?" I was met with a blank stare and a "what?!?! there's a password????" Priceless! Extremely priceless!! I then had to give a clue which would lead them to another leader who when asked would give them the password and THEN they could come back and find me. Oh did i also forget to mention they had to start at the beginning again after having found me?!?! TEEHEE! Evil leaders we are!
Despite the game lasting a while the kids really really enjoyed it so much so that they even asked if we could play it again! IT sure was a real encouragement to us leaders at the start of the week! We were on a role, at least it seemed that way, and the week could only have gotten better!!
Anyways that just about covers the first day, stay in tuned for the rest of the week!
The best thing by far, well ok i might be exaggerating a bit, was NOT getting sick like i did last year. That meant i was able to interact with the kids heaps and enjoy every activity we did together. The kids were great. I thought they were better behaved than last years group, some may think otherwise but hey we all have our own opinions.
Sunday and Monday were the longest days, most likely cos we crammed so much stuff in. By Tuesday i already felt like i had been there a week and was a little ready to be coming home. Still that could have just been me feeling very tired.
The sun was just going down when we pulled into the campsite where we'd be living for the week with 39 kids from yrs 4 to 6 and 12 brave leaders. Off the bus we jumped and played energetic games in the semi darkness.
No matter how many times you try and explain "Fresh" to kids some of them just dont get it. Hence there was lots of confusion throughout the game from a few.
Next game was giants wizards and elves. It was hilarious because while one group was supposed to be doing elves actions, half of them were doing something else... obviously there was a break down in communication. BUt at the same time the other team (my team) should have been doing wizards actions which we did but ran away from the other team even though we should have been chasing them...... ahhh it was mayhem i tell you!
To make matters worse the grass was slippery and the amount of slips and slides we did its a wonder no one sprained anything.
Oh well theyre mostly kids, like Dan says "they bounce!"
Monday was a crazy day so many different activities and to top it off it started to rain in the early avo so kids were in and out while leaders were deciding whether or not some activities could still go ahead.
Before all of that happened though there was some serious stuff going on. Our theme for the week was looking at slavery and ultimately discussing what it means to be a slave of sin and a slave of God. A challenging topic for some kids but some benefitted from the learning.
We had divided the kids into slave groups which were then given a master, as in one of the leaders. Each kid had a tag which identified the house they belonged to. For example a kid may have belonged to the house of Master Iasabrain, Master Filixstuff, Master Yvearite, Master Ohno, Master Robo or Master Markenfly. And if ive left anyone out excuse my mental block.
Each master was to demand their slaves do certain activities in which the slaves could earn 'money'. This money was called 'Evils' and with their evils slaves could then slowly buy back their freedom over the week or spend it at little shops. These Shops ranged from ping-pong in a bucket where they could win prizes or lolly tokens, magnetic darts, hair wrapping, tattoos and stickers, nail art, nintendo and lastly pegging balls at stacked cups, again able to win lolly tokens in exchange for lollies at avo tea. The kids had a blast and it was even amusing watching the boys get their nails done and their hair wrapped! Don't worry we havent scarred them for life, it was all part of the game! :P
Then of course there was the bible discussions and talks and singing. KIds got so into the singing it was fantastic!!
In the avo kids rotated in groups playing beach ball soccer... hmm that actually didnt last too long as we popped the ball by kicking too hard. A second beach ball wasnt much better either, in the end we just played normal soccer. There was also the chocolate game, nintendo, find the snake in the flour game... ok if you like to be covered in flour. See you had to find the snake in the flour using only your mouth. And yes you guessed it flour went everywhere!! In teh hair, in the eyes, mouth, even down some kiddies shirts. Porr Verity though, i dont think she went home with an item of clothing that wasnt covered in flour!
And the game i was manning was find the lolly in the baked beans. I had never done this before so wasnt sure how it would go. Basically there was a bucket two thirds filled with baked beans and a few lollies tossed in and stirred well. Next kids had to battle it out to fish the lolly out using nothing else but one of their foot! It was extremely messy to say the least. It ended up looking a little like vomit at some stage :P
The night was by far the best activity we did though. While the kids were locked outside of the hall the leaders ran around inside setting up chairs creating the ultimate maze. I was the leader at the end and if they managed to avoid being spotted by leaders they were rewarded with a lolly. THe catch was they needed to know the password!
Off flicked the lights and the kids came in, crawling on their hands and knees they tried mercilessly to fight their way through the maze trying in vain to avoid being spotted by nasty leaders with torches going on and off at a constant rate. We weren't about to make the game easy!
There were so many Kodak moments when after an hour kids finally managed to find their way to me and i asked the question "What's the password?" I was met with a blank stare and a "what?!?! there's a password????" Priceless! Extremely priceless!! I then had to give a clue which would lead them to another leader who when asked would give them the password and THEN they could come back and find me. Oh did i also forget to mention they had to start at the beginning again after having found me?!?! TEEHEE! Evil leaders we are!
Despite the game lasting a while the kids really really enjoyed it so much so that they even asked if we could play it again! IT sure was a real encouragement to us leaders at the start of the week! We were on a role, at least it seemed that way, and the week could only have gotten better!!
Anyways that just about covers the first day, stay in tuned for the rest of the week!
posted by Jenay at
7:33 PM
2 Comments:
Camp was AWESOME!
It really was a great time - and reading your recap makes me miss camp even more! I misss u Jenaay
By
mayz, at 10:29 PM
Awwwwwwwwwwwww i feel the love! I miss u too mayz! And guess who i saw at Eastwood when teh bus arrived?!?! STEEVE!! Twas a hilarious reunion :P
By
Anonymous, at 10:44 PM
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