Giraffes, Penguins and Alligators, Oh My!

Hey, it’s Lexie reporting to you directly from the Middler line… and beyond!

Many girls held their breath this morning as they nervously climbed the steps of the Dining Hall. The cast list for our play, The Wizard of Oz, had just gone up and everyone was anxious to see. The initial craze of shouts and laughter has died down since breakfast and the girls picked up their scripts at dinner from our director, Elise. Now all they have to do is memorize their lines and attend a few rehearsals, and we’ll have our play ready on Saturday, July 21st, for any and all parents who wish to attend. Good luck, girls!

Apart from the excitement of the play, we all dressed up in our hairiest costumes for Animal Dinner! We had everything from elephants to bears to flamingos dining together in harmony. I think I saw a lion stalking a zebra, but there are no fatalities to report. Stay tuned for more intense eyewitness accounts brought to you from Rockbrook Camp!

Outdoors Camps

And speaking of relay races… here’s another classic summer camp activity. It’s the greased watermelon! There are several versions of this, but basically you take a good sized watermelon, coat it with shortening, toss it in the water (yep, it floats) and then you try to push it through the water as a relay. You can also set up two teams and play a little “soccer” with two goals. Lots of outdoor summer action in the cool water of the lake.

Girls Sleep Away Camps

We’re back from the American Camp Association national conference in Austin, Texas where we enjoyed hearing Dr. David Elkind talk about the power of play (free and unstructured play) in children’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. He was invited to address the conference because he understands traditional summer camps as excellent contexts where this kind of play is encouraged. Dr. Elkind explains in his new book entitled, The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier and Healthier Children.

Here’s a quote that jumped out at me. He writes,

Not only does summer camp provide children relief from the pressures to achieve, it reacquaints children with the natural world, with the importance of friendship, cooperation, and the fragility of the environment in which we live.

The book, of course, goes into lots more detail and provides specific advice about how to encourage this kind of beneficial play, but here are a couple of the main points.

• Cut TV time to allow for playtime.
• Get children together so they can initiate play.
• Avoid providing too many toys too often.
• Keep free time on the schedule.
• Spend time outside.

There is much to say about each of these, but it’s neat to see how summer camp, and particularly a sleep away camp like Rockbrook, can really encourage them.  Camp is just one of those places where kids can be kids.

Noncompetitive Activities for Kids – Drama

Drama has always been a popular activity at Rockbrook. Throughout the week, the drama activity periods involve improv situations, puppet shows, charades, and other games, but during each main session the campers and drama instructors also produce a full-blown play. Costumes, scenery, music, choreography, and of course characters presenting a story— it’s an elaborate production performed for the whole camp at the end of the session.

The camp play brings together so many different campers and staff members, all in a cooperative and noncompetitive spirit.  It’s a wonderful example of our kids camp philosophy, a great opportunity to create something together, and for all of us to marvel at the results.

P.S. This photo is from last summer’s production of Alice in Wonderland.

Games for Girls

An article in the New York Times this weekend about recess in school made me think how the “unstructured time outside with other children” that camp provides is so important. The article is by Debra Nussbaum and is here. It reports that many American elementary schools are reducing the time devoted to recess. With an emphasis on academics and required standardized testing, the school day is busier and unfortunately recess has been one of the first things to be cut. For many parents, this is an alarming trend.

Recess is important because it provides kids freedom to play as they (and not adults) choose. It’s physical, outdoor time for exploring and growing.

“It’s a time for children to relate to their friends. Society has taken away a lot of children’s childhood. Play is children’s work.”

One of the great things about camp is its ability to provide a safe context for girls to interact in this way. Between our organized activities and meals, campers can play in the creek, sit around and talk, play tetherball, read under a tree, or just run around together— all within the bounds of camp and close by a helpful staff member. As time for recess shrinks at school, time at camp seems even more important.

P.S. Of course, the value of recess as play incudes the value of being outdoors.