Hello Dear Families!

What a fun filled day today! We started the day with hot cocoa and games at the kitchen. The staff had such a great time meeting kids that they didn't know and greeting those who we have missed. I love the first morning of Camp! I got up early to hang out with our community and met so many of your amazing kids! We made up stories about the trees, told jokes in the cocoa line and practiced meeting people we didn't know. Over the next couple of days kids will sleep in later, we will be playing all day and into the evening so they'll be more tired!

This morning we completed falling class and then had a first period of classes. We had clowning and aerials and unicycle and gymnastics and poetry and art and magic cafe and juggling and tight rope and hip hop and stilt walking and song writing. Session A is so short but we pack a lot in!

This evening was Teacher Tornado of Talent!! Wavy says, "if you can see it you can be it!" During this show the teachers perform what they are going to teach this week and invite kids to come to class. We have 3 more days of classes and then our mini show on Saturday!

The lake was super popular today! We walk or ride bikes in groups on the first full day of Camp so we can all know the path to the lake. We are engaged in regular upkeep and maintenance of the slide which causes occasional closures. Thursday and Friday we will be able to frolic in sun and water while riding the slide. It will not be open Saturday unfortunately. You'll have to ask your camper if they had so much fun on the slide!

Silver, our photographer, took lots of photos today. I will ask him to download them tomorrow so I can post.

Good night dear parents! Sweet dreams and I'll post more tomorrow for sure!

yatiel

Lake and First Night Pictures - Orientation Tours...

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First Night Session A 2016!

Hello Families! What an amazing first day. We packed so much into this day! This being a 1 week session we want to make sure that your Campers get to classes ASAP. Tonight, after a dinner of homemade pizza and garden greens, the tipi communities met and created a skit where each of them would be able to be on stage and say their name with what Wavy calls "Projection!". They also took tours of Camp, stopping off at all of the skill sites so the teachers could orient them to the safety rules and guidelines as well as where the equipment is and the etiquette of their class. Tour guides were staff dressed in silly costumes.

I was just down in the tipi circle and they were all headed to their tipi's after Wavy told his famous story which begins, "I was a teenage beatnik..." This is where Wavy describes brushing his teeth with a snickers bar and black cherry soda and then demonstrates the horror of losing all your teeth by removing his rainbow bridge and then yelling "Brush 'em if you got 'em!" It's a beloved camp tradition for SURE!

On the first night of every session counselors help the tipi begin to build a cohesive tipi family by playing games and creating tipi agreements. What we want is for every tipi to have a “home base” in Camp with people who they have gotten to know and who have made common agreements about living together and supporting each other.  A long standing tradition at Camp Winnarainbow is to use “AN ARC” – which is an acronym for Attentive listening, No put downs, Appreciation, Right to pass, and Confidentiality. These are the basis for each tipi’s promise to each other while they are at camp. For younger campers these ideas are described in simple ways such as, “We promise not to call each other names”. For older campers many counselors have the tipi members suggest agreements they would like, making sure that the basics are covered but helping the tipi come up with their own unique thoughts and requests. Throughout the next week the counselors will help support the agreements through different team building activities, fun games, “tipi time”, and if there is any conflict addressing it right away.

What we have found is that building agreements in the smaller tipi communities translates into the entire camp community – where we encourage mutual respect, responsibility, friendship building, acceptance, and having fun! 

Well dear families, I'm going to say goodnight. There are some pictures and I will post them in a separate blog entry. More to come tomorrow! Thanks for sending your amazing children to Camp Winnarainbow!

yatiel owens, msw
director