Summer Camp 2014 Projects & Games

This is the 'How To' post for the projects and games completed in DOAM ELEMENTARY'S SUMMER CAMP 2014: CHRISTMAS IN JULY.

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Country Projects & Games:

1. Make Your Own Passports - passport book & info page, passport stamps (courtesy of Rebe With A Clause)

2. Penguin Run - Played relay-style, each team has members on opposite sides of the room. With a plush dice (or ball) between the legs, team members penguin run/hop back and forth through a previously determined and mapped course. My kids were excited about this until the last day - they loved it.

3. "North Pole" Fans - fox, polar bear, owl meh

4. Sparkle Spelling - Spelling game, each student says one letter until the word is spelled. The next person says, "Sparkle!" and the next student is "out." To start the game, I pull a number stick out of the cup and the game starts with whichever student is that number.

5. Telepathy Game ("Day in the Life of Charles" Telepathy Game) - The telepathy game practices reading and writing skills. A Powerpoint game, there are from two to five words or sentences on the screen. Using their telepathic powers, students choose the word or sentence they think will win. Gradually, the choices disappear, revealing the winning word or phrase. Winning words/sentences get points. My students go nuts over this. Here's a Pokemon version from waygook.org I've been using (you'll have to sign up in order to download). If you want the camp version (based around a day in the life of an African boy named Charles), don't hesitate ^^

6. Australian Dot Art

7. Henna Hand Christmas Wreath

8. Blind Pictionary - Blindfolded, one person draws a picture of something their team must guess.

9. Japanese Paper Fortune Tellers - All of the kids knew how to make these already; there is a Korean version of the game that one of the 5th graders explained to me.

10. Paper Matador

11. Class Picasso Head (on screen)

Christmas Projects & Games:

1. Cardboard Christmas Ornaments - Materials needed: light cardboard, colored string/yarn, an awl or we used beauty scissors and razors (to punch holes), scissors (extra: markers)

2. Paint + iron-on-crayon t-shirts - Materials needed: white t-shirts, sandpaper (of varying grades if you please), crayons, iron, fabric paint, light cardboard (to place inside the t-shirt when ironing/painting), paper towel (one sheet)

3. Candy Cane Sleigh - Materials needed: candy canes (mini or regular), candy bars & any other sort of packaged sweets, tape, string, paper, bits of tissue (Santa hat)

4. Make Your Own Version of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" - Students came up with "The Fruit Song," "The Chicken Song," and the "The Samsung Song." I only did this with the 5th & 6th graders; "We wish you a merry banana, we wish you a merry orangey..."

5. Jenga with Christmas vocabulary - Go through your Jenga set and mark the each block with one letter A-J. Then on the board, each letter is assigned a vocabulary word or phrase. Play Jenga and with every successful block pull, kids read and speak the word or sentence. I've also done a version with pictures instead of words for my second grade after school classes. Assigning letters commands is fun, too (i.e. jump and clap your hands).

6. White Elephant Christmas Gift Exchange - Bring an old toy or book you don't want anymore, wrap it, and bring it to school to exchange with friends.

I got a kick out of this in my 5th & 6th grade camp - we got sufficiently wrapped gifts from most everyone, one pack of gum, and this gorgeous package with a fancy ribbon brought in by one of the loud and happy boys. I was so surprised and complimented his wrapping -- "Oh, my mom did." I asked them to play kawi-bawi-bo (Korean rock-paper-scissors) to decide the order of choosing presents. 

This was less successful in my 3rd & 4th grade class, because I forgot to ask my co-teacher to explain - I didn't think they understood but Thursday night I got a bunch of Kakao messages and phone calls about "bartering?" All of the girls brought in unwrapped old toys and all of the boys didn't bring in anything (this group of boys, unless I placed activities in front of them, were wild beasts). So, I let the girls haggle each other for the most wanted items and I handed out Hogwarts House badges from the English Camp from last year to the boys, who played wizards and magic for a good fifteen minutes.

Snack Time Animations:

For the 3rd & 4th graders, watching these animations during snack time was essential recharging time - they just needed to rest their bodies for a bit. We watched for maybe fifteen minute around the midway point each day. The English is minimum but still beneficial - there's one animation where one chipmunk says to his friend, "Thank you!" which they really liked. Here were some of the hits: