Posts Tagged ‘Boulder summer camps’
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
The Canyon was looking and smelling particularly wonderful this morning after a good night’s rain. After unloading the bus and organizing our belongings we gathered to sing morning songs. Staff member Leah sang “3 Short-Necked Buzzards,” Camille sang “the Alligator Song,” Derek sang an exciting version of “Little Red Wagon,” and Kaela sang “La Touche” to get everyone feeling goofy. The groups checked in and applied their sunscreen and filled their water bottles. We were then in for a special treat – Jen explained Scooby Doo, a mystery game involving teamwork and searching. The game: there are several ghosts and campers have to find clues to discover who the head ghost is. Campers had a great time exploring the canyon looking for clues, running and/or trapping ghosts, and working as a whole team to solve the mystery. This game took us all the way to lunch and campers were more than happy to eat after they had used so much energy!
The Purple Water Diamond Thundercats spent their afternoon playing and creating Pet Rocks. The Camping Animals finished working on lanyards and made cool Pet Rocks as well. The Electric Pine Cone Throwing Bunnies mixed GORP, created crazy sunglasses, and went bug catching. To create the Electric Bunny GORP the group had to come up with a funny story for each ingredient (we had bunny eyeballs, lightning bolts, bunny teeth, and even giant’s toenails). To mix the GORP the group stood on an ever-shrinking tarp where every camper had to be included in the mixing process (or they would be electrocuted!). They did a wonderful job and the camp enjoyed the GORP very much. To finish the afternoon the group sang songs on the bus (to avoid the fast approaching storm) and announced their favorite colors. We had a wonderful teambuilding day and are looking forward to the Meadow tomorrow! Don’t forget those long pants and hats!
Tags: boulder day camps, Boulder summer camps, Eldo, Gorp, mountain day camp, songs, teambuilding
Posted in Eldorado Canyon 2010 | Comments Off
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Campers arrived ready and excited for the pool this morning. We sang some of our favorite Pool Day songs, including “Swimming, Swimming” and “Baby Shark.” We headed inside to order GORP. Campers were shown what many of the ingredients look like and each got a turn to vote for what they wanted in the GORP. The campers practiced good consensus building and named their GORP Red Tree Monster Food Tornado Chex. We can’t wait to make it tomorrow! Campers then got a chance to use their art skills and we made trees out of craft sticks. Campers named their trees and even created a story about them. After sharing about the trees and making sure campers were all set for the pool we headed out. We made a pit stop at the mini meadow to eat lunch and we arrived at the pool around 11. We applied even more sunscreen and the campers showed the staff their swim skills (so we made sure everyone stayed in a skill-appropriate area). It was a perfect day for the pool. We stayed in the whole time except for when we took a break to drink water. The walk back from the pool was akin to ascending Everest; slow and arduous (but hot instead of cold). Waiting for us when we finally reached out destination was air conditioning and stories. To finish the day we ate yummy watermelon and discussed what we were looking forward to for tomorrow. What a great pool day!
Tags: Boulder summer camps, Mountain Day Camp Jr., Spruce Pool
Posted in MDC Junior 2010 | Comments Off
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Today marked the first day of our Tall Tree week in Mountain Day Camp, Jr. (And we need those trees with how hot the week is supposed to get). As campers arrived in the morning they placed their belongings off to the side while we handed out name tags and waited for everyone to arrive. We introduced ourselves by saying our name and something we did over the weekend. It was then time for songs. In honor of our theme we sang the Tree “Hokey Pokey” and “the Bear Song.” During our rule orientation returning campers helped the staff to demonstrate the correct and incorrect way to stay safe at camp. Our game of the morning was Tree Tag, where trees ran from a tree cutter and trees had to help other trees that had become frozen. We finished out the morning by decorating our own water bottles. Afterward each camper shared about what made their bottle unique.
For our excursion the group walked over to Canyon Park and ate lunch under a giant tree. During lunch we guessed which facts about one another were true or false. After lunch we used up some energy playing in the park. When we returned to Base Camp we had a great rest time. Staff read stories while campers cooled off and listened. Rest time was followed with an activity where new campers got their MDC t-shirts. For play time we all headed outside to throw frisbees and play Hide & Seek. The group then created their name, and we are now the Red Tree Explorer Monsters. The Explorer Monsters finished their day eating snack, discussing their favorite parts of the day, and singing “Peace Like a River” and “On Top of Spaghetti.” What a nice first day!
Tags: Boulder summer camps, Mountain Day Camp Jr., On top of spaghetti
Posted in MDC Junior 2010 | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
Today was a big day for hikes as all four groups set out to hike this morning after songs and a game of Eggs, Chickens & Dinos. The Completely Random Oranges and the 3 Cs hiked down to the Bastille and watched local climbers get started for the morning. At the same time, the Liquefied Snow and the Extreme Danger Lions hiked up the Fowler trail and gathered materials for animal houses later.
During the day, the 3 Cs made ferocious animal masks and completed a spiderweb team challenge. The Liquefied Snow made a large shelter with toobeez and created animal houses with stick solar panels! The Completely Random Oranges made refrigerator magnets and dissected owl pellets. The Extreme Danger Lions made a great fort out of toobeez as well and checked out some owl pellets, too!
Tomorrow is pool day, so make sure to bring your towels, pool shoes and water bottles!
Tags: boulder county camps, Boulder summer camps, camp games, ECSP camps, hiking trails, MDC
Posted in Eldorado Canyon Camp Days 08 | Comments Off
Monday, July 28th, 2008
Welcome Campers! We’re excited to kick off session 5 this summer! Our counselors, Jen, Kristen, Keanan & Michelle started the day off with a canyon introduction, followed by songs and an all-camp game. After the camp game, campers sort into cabin groups and separate into cabin activities for the day.
Cabin groups played get to know you games and a few different name games to acquaint everyone with the new group. Other activities today include creating a cabin code & name, designing water bottles and cabin boxes, and scheduling activities for the next day.
We gathered as a group at the end of the day to play an afternoon game entitled Sitting Bunnies. It’s usually known as sleeping bunnies, but given the dry canyon and dusty floor, the counselors decided on sitting bunnies. Campers stay as still as possible while a “fox” goes around and finds bunnies that are stirring in their sleep. It’s a fun, relaxing game to end the day all together.
And now, the cabin group names are:
The Three C’s (with counselor Jen)
The Liquefied Snow (with counselor Michelle)
The Extreme Danger Lions (with counselor Keanan)
The Completely Random Oranges (with counselor Kristen)
Tags: boulder county camps, Boulder summer camps, Camp activities, camp games, eldorado canyon camps, MDC, year-round camps
Posted in Eldorado Canyon Camp Days 08 | Comments Off
Friday, July 25th, 2008
The last day of session 4 ended with a bang! In the morning, the campers gathered as per usual to sing songs and play morning games. In particular, we played a “pirate” version of a MDC classic, Ship/Island. The campers enjoyed the new hooks and argh matey thrown in to the mix.
Throughout the day, cabin groups prepared their skits for the afternoon skit production. In addition to skit prep, campers made book pages and puzzle pieces to recapture memories of camp throughout this session.
The Nature Blazers played their favorite game, Camouflage, one last time over by the ranger station – and they also went creek stomping. Another group that went creek stomping, The Taffy Eaters, enjoyed book pages, puzzle pieces, and card making. The SRMDDs went on a lunch hike to the cave with the Extremely Lucky Clovers. The SRMDDs also practiced their skit, creating pure play perfection! In addition to the hike, the Clovers solidified their camp experience by tying on p-cord bracelets at the end of the day before skits. And last but certainly not least, the Pink Fire Panthers worked diligently on their skit, entitled “The Lost Pet Pals.” In addition to skit practice, the Panthers made beautiful puzzle pieces and book pages.
It was a great 4th session and we will miss you all. We hope to see all of the campers back next summer!
Tags: boulder county camps, Boulder summer camps, camp skits, MDC
Posted in Eldorado Canyon Camp Days 08 | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Although the rain settled in during the afternoon, the campers managed to get some fun pool time before our rainy day activities. We played a camp favorite game, Ship/Island, in the shallow end of the pool. It was so fun to play a morning camp game in the water!
After lunch, campers learned and refined some craft skills by working on lanyards, friendship bracelets and yarn stars. With the rain pouring down, the counselors engaged the whole camp in a few team building activities. The campers lined up and had to pass a small bottle from the front to the back of the line without using hands, articles of clothing, and lastly using only feet. Camp finished with a very special Counselor Charades in which campers came up with movies/books/songs and then the counselors had to act them out. Songs sung and bus loaded, the campers headed off from a sunny/rainy pool day!
Tags: boulder county camps, Boulder summer camps, camp crafts, kid crafts, MDC, pool activities, Rainy Day Activities
Posted in Eldorado Canyon Camp Days 08 | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
Climbing day in the canyon is a great way to challenge the campers on the support techniques they’ve learned throughout camp and individually challenges campers to make his/her own personal goal. Returning campers made great progress as they encouraged group members and climbed new climbs. New campers made great strides, choosing how high they wanted to climb (if they chose to climb today) and trusting the rope and harness on the way down from the climb. It’s a great team-building and individually challenging activity in the canyon!
After snacking on apples in the afternoon, campers gathered together for an afternoon game entitled, Poisonous Frog. The group chooses which camper will be the poisonous frog while the “detective” attempts to figure out the camper who is the poisonous frog. The poisonous frog ~poisons~ campers by making eye contact and sticking his/her tongue out at another camper. It’s a fun, low energy activity to play at the end of a camp day. Tomorrow is pool day – we’ve got lanyards, yarn stars and lots of swimming planned!
Tags: boulder camps, Boulder summer camps, Camp activities, camp games, kid climbing, MDC
Posted in Eldorado Canyon Camp Days 08 | Comments Off
Monday, July 21st, 2008
The campers were introduced to the lovely, shady and slightly cooler canyon site in Eldorado Canyon State Park. Counselors gave a brief orientation of the new site (and site rules) to the campers, followed by songs and an activity.
The Super Rockstar Mountain Doggy Dinos played with costumes, made popsicle houses, and discovered a few new things about CO weather. The Happy Refrigerated Taffy Eaters went on a hike around the canyon area, made some journals, and learned how to read some USGS topo maps. The Nature Blazers made yarn stars, went bouldering and tested the water quality of the canyon river. The Pink Fire Panthers made some colorful dream catchers and popsicle houses as well. The 7 Extremely Luck Clovers went bouldering and had some play time with the costume box. It’s climbing day tomorrow!
Tags: boulder county camps, Boulder summer camps, MDC
Posted in Eldorado Canyon Camp Days 08 | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
Mountain Day Camp started off this toasty Tuesday at the mesa trailhead. We sang some traditional MDC songs – Little Spaceship, Chiquita Banana & Tarzan and played ship/island. Campers separated into their cabin groups and started the day’s activities.
The Super Rockstar Mountain Doggy Dinos went on a hike and had some great playtime. The Dinos engaged other cabin groups to play their new favorite play game Tiger tag as well. The Happy Refrigerated Taffy Eaters went on a long hike and had some playtime with the costume box. The Nature Blazers went on a hike with the Dinos and dressed up in costumes with the Taffy Eaters. The Pink Fire Panthers went on an insect exploration hike with the 7 Extremely Lucky Clovers, designing animal masks when they returned! The 7 Extremely Lucky Clovers also played a rousing game of pictionary/fictionary.
Tomorrow is pool day, so remember your towels, water bottles & bathing suits!
Tags: Boulder summer camps, camp songs, MDC, mesa trailhead, Outdoor Activities
Posted in Eldorado Canyon Camp Days 08 | Comments Off