My memories of "summer camp" are limited; I went to camp twice as a kid and both were sleepover camps, no day camps. (Best darn 2 weeks of my entire life were at Camp Kemur in Guelph, a horse riding camp). The mystique of day camp always created a little green envy imagining those great summer adventures other kids got to have.
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The mystery is finally solved for me. Though it's a little different being on the other side of the camp experience, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. July 4th began the first week of Creative Summer Camp for Dopey Kid Originals at the Nottawasaga Community Centre in Duntroon. We put on an extremely busy week and by the end, everyone was extraordinarily exhausted! (In a good way)
This week's theme: The 5 Elements.
Generally, we think of only 4 elements, but we included Spirit as the 5th. Lots of reasons for this, but mainly, we talked about the 5th element being the human element and what makes us each unique is our human spirit. From an artistic and creative perspective, we really wanted the kids to start thinking and associating the elements in terms of colour, ideas, symbols, etc and keeping the main ideas in mind for their projects.
To really get those ideas and creative juices flowing, we started by creating our own t-shirts. There were 5 colours of shirt to choose from and the leaders worked the room to help kids generate ideas and imagery that captured the element associated to the colour of their shirt. Using a variety of brush on paints, fabric markers, scribblers, gems and more, the kids showed us their vision of their element. Part of our camp is a week's end art gallery and [dance] performance for the parents: the shirts we created were our "costume".
FIRE: Fire is Red, Orange and sometimes even blue (thanks Emily!). Fire cleanses as well as destroys. It is angry and it is passionate, it can warm you but get too close and it will burn. Fire is like a double-edged sword. Thinking of all of these ideas, our project for fire: Chinese lanterns! Using simple paper mache technique, the kids created globe lanterns and painted, mod-podged and tissued their final touches. This project took a considerable amount of time due to the drying required between layers of mache. The unfortunate thing about that is the energy to finish the project had disappeared by the time we were ready to decorate. It had been a jam packed week of activities. It was Friday before the third layer of mache was applied and dried to allow us to decorate and the "FIRE" to finish had cooled to embers. The results were a mixed bag of effort (hehehe), and overall, a learning experience for us as leaders about the need to see immediate results if you want to keep their interest!
WATER: Water is Blue, all shades. Water is fluid and free flowing. Water washes us clean, hydrates us, soothes us, relieves the burden of a hot day, it can fill us or surround us: our bodies are more than 75% water: it is essential to our very survival! But Water is hard to hold onto. Our project for water: Clay Water Bowl. Using terracotta air dry clay, we created vessels to hold water. The kids got pretty creative here! Younger campers used ornamental glass bowls covered in plastic wrap to model their clay over. Impressions from the decorative bowls created additional points of interest. Older campers created an ancient aboriginal bowl from scratch, using a simple winding and smoothing technique to create a base and sides. When they were done and dried, the kids decorated with paints. We also experimented with watercolour painting. Watercolours are available in paint, crayon or pencil form. The trick is to use a very thick (preferably specifically watercolour) paper so the excessive water doesn't ruin the finished project.
Air: Air is yellow, like sunshine. Air surrounds us and fills us, it is essential to our survival. A gentle breeze cools while a gale force wind can destroy. Air is flying, it is blowing, it is a deep breath and a clear head. Air carries music to our ears and our dreams and wishes to the heavens. It is in the air we see the new hope of a rainbow. To represent Air, our project was Bamboo Wind Chimes. After the holes were drilled into our bamboo lengths, younger campers used a rainbow of pipe cleaners to attach the chimes to their chime bar. Older campers used hemp cording. The results were quite musical!
To round out our air experience, we experimented with flying objects. Parachutes, kites, frisbees, twirlies, and more. Matt lead a scientific exploration of the air element and how currents and aerodynamics of air impact us every day.
EARTH: Earth is green. All the shades of the greens of grass, leaves, frogs and moss. Earth is our home, it is the rock we survive on, the place we get our food, it grows and nurtures, it is massive and it is ancient, and it is our mother. Earth is represented by the animals and trees and all that lives on this planet. Reconnecting with our planet, with mother nature, is an inspiring event in itself. To inspire earth in all of us, we went on nature walks and collected natural materials (only reclaimed, or discarded material was allowed to be collected) to use in an earth inspired wreath project. Unfortunately, our local forest was COVERED in poison ivy... the field we were left to explore didn't yield the kind of results we hoped for. Instead of the beautiful grapevine wreaths we hoped to create, we worked on capturing our impressions of mother nature on paper.
SPIRIT: Spirit is represented by White. White is the culmination of all colours, just as the human Spirit is a culmination of all experiences. Spirit is pure and free. It touches our hearts, minds and imaginations and allows us to 'touch' others. Spirit gives us our appreciation for beauty, our ability to create and inspire, to choose and to connect. Spirit is what makes us each unique. To reinforce the ideas and concepts of Spirit, we created mixed-media self portraits. Using a 5" x 7" black and white photo, a canvas and a plethora of crafty materials, the kids all let their ideas flow freely to create a visual and personal impression of themselves. We literally put a table full of a crazy assortment of supplies (wood and plastic beads, feathers, paints, glues, decorative sand, glitter, ribbons, buttons, gems, stamps and ink, markers, beeswax crayons, yarns, mosaic tiles, hemp cord, and so much more) on a central table and said: "GO!". The results were OUTSTANDING and this was my personal favourite project by far.
It was a supremely busy week! The 5 major art projects (above) were just the beginning. Each day campers also participated in performing art exercises. At the end of the week, they performed an interpretive dance they learned to visualize the 5 elements. My little helpers helped to prepare nutritious meals for the group and a few not-so nutritious snacks. (yummy home made ice cream sandwiches!) The kids really enjoyed being in the kitchen and I loved sharing my fire for cooking.
I have never felt so elated as when I overheard a couple of the campers at the end of the week excitedly discussing how this was "the best day camp EVER" and how they wished they could come here every week!
My sincerest thanks to everyone who made it "the best day camp EVER!": our camp counselors Matt, Skylar and Taylor, to Michelle for running the store while we had a blast, to the families and kids who participated and to the folks who run the Duntroon Community Centre.
WE HAD A BLAST in week one! I'm looking forward to what the other 3 weeks will bring. The next week of camp is July 25 to 29 and our theme is: SPACE, the final frontier.
Until next time: Inspire...Imagine...Invent!
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