Hobbies And Interests
Team Games
Team games help to build teamwork and camaraderie between the campers. When selecting players for team games, it is important to make sure that no player is picked last. An easy way to divide up the players is by counting. If your game needs three teams, have the kids count off one-two-three and assign all the ones together, all the twos together, and so on. A classic team game is Red Rover, in which the kids form two teams on either side of an open area. All of the kids in the team link hands. One of the players calls out the name of a player on the opposite team. The opposite team player leaves the chain and tries to run through the first team's line. If the player manages to break the line, he goes back to their team, along with the players whose hands he broke through.
Swimming Games
If the camp has a pool or is near a lake or ocean, kids can have fun in the water as long as trained lifeguards are present to supervise. Swimming is a valuable survival tool, and water games help to strengthen swimming skills and make kids more comfortable in the water. One of the classic swimming games is Marco Polo, where the kid who is "it" closes her eyes and shouts "Marco!" and the rest of the players must respond with "Polo!" The player who is "it" must use her hearing to locate one of the other players. Once the "it" player tags someone, that child becomes "it."
Parachute Games
Games using a round parachute are perfect for summer camp, where there are large open areas like fields. Kids love to whoosh the parachute over their heads and make a giant dome. There are many variations on the basic game, but they all involve some or all of the kids standing around the edge of the parachute and holding it in their hands. Have the kids holding the parachute flap their arms up and down in unison, and then hurry under the parachute and sit on the edge. The center of the parachute will stay up for a few minutes, allowing some of the kids to run around underneath. You can also have some of the kids remove their shoes and run around on top of the parachute while the ones on the edges flap the parachute up and down.
Chase Games
Chase games center on a player or players who are "it" and try to catch other players. The player that is caught then becomes "it." Depending on the game, the original "it" player may or may not lose her "it" status. An example of this type of game is amoeba tag. It starts with two players who are "it' " known as the amoeba. They link hands and chase down other players, who are alone. When the amoebas catch a player, that player has to join hands with the amoeba players. When the amoeba becomes four players, it splits into two groups of two, until all the players are caught.