How many times in one of these updates have we talked about choice? Well, in my opinion, however many we have is not enough, because our campers’ power to choose their activities is one of the marquee features of our program here at Nebagamon, and it was on full display last ight during our second session Wannado. On Wannado nights, we offer out-of-the-box activities, ones that have very little to do with our normal camp program.
Going on a stroll through camp in the evening I was able to catch a glimpse of all of those great options. I started on the Hill, where campers played social deduction games like Mafia and The Resistance: Avalon. Campers pointed fingers in every direction, accusing friends of being the “traitor,” only minutes into the activity – the game had just begun and they were already deep into the heat of figuring out which of their friends had betrayed them.
Down the Hill, I stopped in at the Lower Diamond where four separate spikeball courts buzzed with action, with campers diving across the grass and high fiving teammates for good hits. Spikeball has been gaining in popularity around camp, so the tournament the counselors had arranged was a hit. At some picnic tables, a counselor from Wales, who had promised he could teach campers his native language in just one hour, was giving it his best effort. However, the lack of vowels seemed to be a hurdle for the campers – nevertheless, they enjoyed learning about his culture and heritage.
At the Craftshop, campers played a game called Telestrations, a version of telephone with markers and construction paper. The campers couldn’t hold back their laughter as each revealed a drawing. Over on the volleyball courts, two teams were engaged in a lighthearted game of volley-wall, with a giant tarp over the net obscuring the two teams from each other. Standing on one side of the wall, you could hear the other team trying to coordinate as the ball flew to the other side. It proved a goofy challenge to volley the ball back into view!
Next I came upon a group of campers working on some New York Times crossword puzzles – mainly younger campers, who had never done a crossword puzzle before! The two staffers leading the activity were crossword pros and were happy to help out with the occasional deep-cut from sports history like Mel OTT or Bobb ORR, types of fencing implements like an EPEE, and of course gained familiarity with many different ERAs. I helped with a couple of clues, and the Swampers sat a little stunned with why I knew Nathan Detroit’s fiancee’s name ADELAIDE. “Where do you learn these things?” I honestly couldn’t answer their question, but I assured them that if they kept doing puzzles, they’d fill their brains with a bunch of useless information too!
Down at the beach, campers played Hungry Hungry Hippos with milkcrates and ball pit balls floating all through our swim area, attempting to collect as many balls as possible. At the 10’ basketball courts, campers cycled through games of HORSE and Knockout. Running around the Upper Diamond athletic field were campers playing a bunch of variations on classic playground Tag – I caught them in the middle of a round of blob tag, where the taggers link hands and grow as they collect players.
Karaoke night was going strong in the Rec Hall, with campers belting out camp favorites, pop hits, and of course 90s songs that our administrative staff were excited to sing because they knew all the lyrics. The Rec Hall was rocking, and after a few individual performances it evolved into an all-out song-and-dance party. One camper was taking a quick break on the porch of the Rec Hall, and when I checked in with him, he reported that he was having the best night of his summer so far… he needed a minute to catch his breath after a marathon encore toward the end of the activity.
I ended my walk at the Big House, where campers were rifling through the photo albums dating back to the early 30s, camp’s nascent days, to find photos to recreate. Campers donned costumes and staged pictures all over camp, some of them iconic photos that hang in the Big House, others photos of the campers’ fathers and grandfathers. A Swamper showed me a photo from the 1940s of a young camper standing beside a horse, holding the reins. “Is there a horse in camp we could use for this photo?” Unfortunately the horses left Nebagamon many, many years ago, so the camper went to the costume room to see if he could somehow fashion a horse costume for his buddy.
So, there were a ton of different activities catering to whatever campers were interested in doing last night. Campers could get active playing basketball minigames or tag games. If they wanted to cool off, they could jump into the swim area, or if they wanted to learn a new skill, like a foreign language or how to do a crossword, those were options as well. Wannado is structured around uninhibited choice, just like most of our camp program. Campers get to make the decision right then and there about what they want their night to look like. At the end of dinner, we announced each one, and posted lists outside the dining hall for campers to peruse. They picked an option, and simply headed to it – no signing up beforehand, no locking in a choice earlier today or this week… just, pick what sounds exciting, and go do it. Whatever they pick, whatever they wannado, they are sure to have a fun night!