Puzzle Answers

Here they are! It’s the answers to the crossword puzzle published in the last newsletter. Trivia and names from around Rockbrook. How’d you do?

Tetherball Games Strategies

Do you have this in common with Napoleon Dynamite— being a tetherball champ? Sure you’ve played before at camp, and you know how to play tetherball, but maybe you need a few more strategies to really pump up your game. Here’s a couple of things to practice.

The most important strategy is mastering an extreme angle when serving. By hitting the ball sharply down, it can swing high over your opponent’s head. This is always a good tactic.

It’s also important to use both hands when playing tetherball. You can hit the ball more powerfully, but also add unexpected spins and hits by changing which hand hits the ball. You can surprise and confuse the other player with different fast/slow, open/closed, left/right hand maneuvers.

Equally important to mastering tetherball is being quick on your feet. Moving forward and backward quickly, and knowing when to move sideways. This not only makes it difficult for the other player to decide how to serve or hit the ball, it gives you a better chance to make defensive hits.

Of course, being a tetherball sports champ takes practice, but that’s what camp is for!

OK, do you have any other tetherball tips, strategies or tactics?

Crazy Games and Fun!

Whoa, what’s going on here!?

Is it a craft project gone horribly wrong? The results of a crazy painting game?  A strange spa treatment of some sort?  A super intense outdoor food fight?

Nope.  It’s actually a glimpse into one of our all-camp afternoon games we played last summer.  This one was a camp Olympics.  We divided all the girls into four countries (teams) and gave each a different color: red, green, glue and yellow.  As you can see, red was China.  All the teams then competed in all sorts of field games and races.  We had the crab walk, an obstacle course, an egg toss, a 3-legged race, a hopping race, and so many more.  Lots of running!  Cheering! Excitement!  Crazy Camp Fun!

These three girls showed a little too much enthusiasm, it seems, with their team colors.  Everyone painted themselves a little bit, but this might be a little over the top!

How to Play Tetherball

Lately we’ve been getting a few questions about how to play the game tetherball. The main goal is for each player (there are only two kids, one against the other) to hit the ball in a direction that will wrap the cord up around the center pole. Each opponent is hitting the ball in an opposite direction, so that’s the contest— you hit it one way and she hits it the other way. The trick is to hit the ball so that it’s hard for your opponent to reach the ball and hit it back. One strategy is to hit the ball downward so that it goes high (and hopefully out of reach) when it wraps around to your opponent’s side. You win when you wrap the cord completely around in your direction and the ball hits the pole.

After you play a while kids can add rules that make the game more challenging and fun. Maybe you can allow only certain kinds of hits, or require that the ball wrap around high on the pole, or create funny penalties for “carrying” the ball or grabbing the string.  Like all great games, there are loads of options!

Tetherball is one of those amazing outdoor games kids love to play at camp. Got a free minute? Let’s play!

P.S. Want to learn more about tetherball? Check out this article.

A gym game we love

It looks like a crazy, intense game of Dodge Ball! All the balls, the teams, the people zooming around grabbing, ducking, weaving, jumping and of course laughing the whole time. Games and other activities like this are always fun down at the gym, and with a little creativity, it’s easy to think up variations (like these). Got your arm warmed up and ready for a game?

Rockbrook Fun

Here’s something fun. We made these two graphics over at TypoGenerator.net. It’s a cool site where you type in your name (or any other text!) and it automatically generates random colorful “typo posters” like these. Go check it out and see what your name looks like!

What Outdoor Game is the Most Fun?

Shaving Cream Fight!!!

It’s true; there’s really nothing quite like a summer game of 50 kids and teens running around tryng the cover each other in shaving cream. Not really many rules to the game, but it won’t be long, and you’ll be laughing your head off. Spraying, sculpting, smearing— your hair will be a work of art. And it doesn’t matter how old you are. It’s an outdoor game for little kids, teens, and college-aged counselors alike. Everybody has just the best time.

Camp Girls on the Run

Rockbrook has its own “Girls on the Run” program in the summer. If you’re not familiar with it, Girls on the Run is a national program (with individual local chapters) that helps girls “develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running.” Did you know that Charlotte, one of Rockbrook’s former directors, is one of the coaches for the Brevard GOTR program? Here’s an article about it. The article does an excellent job describing the program and the benefits it provides the girls who participate. You’ll see it’s a great thing to do!