It makes it easier to plan activities if camp has a theme. We didn't really have a theme the first year - but the second year was NATIVE AMERICAN and this year it's PIRATES.
My grandchildren have Native-American ancestors on both sides of the family so I chose a Native-American theme. With the help of friends, I set up a kid-size tepee in the front yard using burgundy king-size sheets that I asked for on freecycle. Using white latex paint, the kids painted Indian motifs on the tepee walls; handprints, arrows and the sun (followed by a hosing-off ceremony!) This is where we had camp meetings, chose our Native-American names and had a naming ceremony. They made leather medicine pouches (kits from Michael's), hiking sticks which they decorated with leather thongs and feathers. They spent a lot of time removing the bark from the hiking-sticks as this year, they were allowed to use knives, with supervision.
On the last evening of camp, my son and daughter-in-law arrived early for the parents program which was held at the tepee. The kids did dances imitating birds; the flight of a hummingbird and the way a robin hops - looking for worms, while the Camp Staff (that's me) drummed on an overturned bucket. They also had a naming ceremony for their baby sister.
The first year of Camp SP, we went on a bear hunt. Imagine two little kids with flashlights, following me in the dark. 'Sweetie-Pie - what was that noise? Let's go home'.
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