King’s Candy

Tonight’s Evening Program was called King’s Candy. Each cabin is led by a guide in search of the King’s Candy around camp, which came in the form of different colored balloons. They had to help the King’s Guard protect the candy from the Oompa-Loompas who were trying to pop the balloons. Staff were running around camp trying to get the balloons that the kids were working to acquire through various challenges that they had to perform at locations that were undisclosed at the start of the game. The game in itself is like many others, but what makes it work is the interplay between the staff and campers. 

After a cloudy start to the day, the sun was shining on evening program as the handful of Oompa-Loompas ran loudly around camp, making silly noises and singing funny songs. Their enthusiasm brought out the fun and excitement for the campers, who then got more into the game. But built into the game is the idea that these Oompa-Loompas will come steal and pop the balloons your cabin worked to collect. That makes striking the right balance so important. I watched as one of our youngest groups handled losing one of their balloons. The campers were all smiles as the Oompa-Loompa gave chase, but after the Oompa-Loompa popped the balloon disappointment set in for part of the group. The Oompa-Loompa immediately broke character to focus on his most important work of being a counselor and, along with the counselor who was serving as guide, helped the campers work through their emotions. The supportive staff alongside some encouragement from other campers turned the group around quickly, and moments later they were enthusiastically back into the game. It’s an ever-evolving challenge to learn to balance all of the emotions, and it was so great to see the campers learning how to do so with the support of their counselors. 

Tonight’s Evening Program was called King’s Candy. Each cabin is led by a guide in search of the King’s Candy around camp, which came in the form of different colored balloons. They had to help the King’s Guard protect the candy from the Oompa-Loompas who were trying to pop the balloons. Staff were running around camp trying to get the balloons that the kids were working to acquire through various challenges that they had to perform at locations that were undisclosed at the start of the game. The game in itself is like many others, but what makes it work is the interplay between the staff and campers. 

After a cloudy start to the day, the sun was shining on evening program as the handful of Oompa-Loompas ran loudly around camp, making silly noises and singing funny songs. Their enthusiasm brought out the fun and excitement for the campers, who then got more into the game. But built into the game is the idea that these Oompa-Loompas will come steal and pop the balloons your cabin worked to collect. That makes striking the right balance so important. I watched as one of our youngest groups handled losing one of their balloons. The campers were all smiles as the Oompa-Loompa gave chase, but after the Oompa-Loompa popped the balloon disappointment set in for part of the group. The Oompa-Loompa immediately broke character to focus on his most important work of being a counselor and, along with the counselor who was serving as guide, helped the campers work through their emotions. The supportive staff alongside some encouragement from other campers turned the group around quickly, and moments later they were enthusiastically back into the game. It’s an ever-evolving challenge to learn to balance all of the emotions, and it was so great to see the campers learning how to do so with the support of their counselors.