Week 1: Imagination, Cooperation, Fascination, & Appreciation

Camp season started this week with a sweet bang and a zany spirit of fun! Our campers were kept very busy as our theme this week was Willy Wonka Chef Challenge, which focused our activities around "food", the source of our energy and fun. As Willy Wonka said, "So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it."

There were lots of smiles, laughs, and excitement from our campers who truly enjoyed a great first week of camp. The campers even got to play a life-size game of Candy Land.

The Candy Land game was turned into a life-size race where the campers were the game pieces and they had to explore the hills and valleys of the Candy Land world.

Snow cones and cotton candy tasted so yummy during our Special Event!

Campers had a lot of fun playing Candy Land Bingo and wearing tattoos at the Candy Land Tattoo Station.

Campers got a creative spin on traditional s'mores by making them with color-changing marshmallows.

The campers were challenged to use "Pure Imagination" in making a camp version of Gingerbread Candy Land houses by using graham crackers. Their creations were magical!

We had some Tasty Challenges this week such as the Apple Juice Taste Test. Campers had to discern the differences in various apple juices.

During our Coaching Character session, we delved into Andy Andrew's "The Boy Who Changed the World", learning how our actions can make a significant impact. In our Religion segment, we drew inspiration from "Daniel in the Lion's Den", discussing how faith gives us courage in challenging times.

Our campers created "What Acts of Kindness Makes You Smile" signs.

This week, our Instructional Sports program focused on pickleball with our campers. Coach Ben led the instruction of several fundamental pickleball skills including serving, ground strokes, dinking, and scoring.

Campers learned the progression of court-awareness, court-positioning, proper footwork, body-positioning, and essential mechanics.

Even Mrs. B and Coach Ben had a competitive match against each other!

Pickleball is becoming a very popular and fun sport as it combines the elements of badminton, ping-pong, and tennis into a great game for all ages. Country Life Kids Camp invested in two NEW pickleball areas with backstops this season, so we can continue to teach and develop pickleball for years to come.

Dodgeball was a competitive activity this week as there sure were no "Average Joe's" amongst our campers.

Campers were able to experience a Creek Walk exploration and were on the hunt for aquatic living things. They found some interesting creatures!

We also set out food-specific plates to attract local wildlife. Our trail cameras are all set to capture which treats our furry friends prefer. Stay tuned to find out the winners!

One of the highlights was our water fun games playing Capture the Flag!

Our campers were immersed in creating some amazing Lego designs.

From Ziplining to making and eating snow cones and cotton candy, the campers had a lot of fun this week. Besides washing off the chocolate from the campers' faces this week, it probably was very difficult to wash off the smiles as well.

Even Mrs. B and Mama J got into the candy fun!