This week the dark clouds rolled in and we blasted off to outer space at camp. And although it was dark and dreary most of the week, we still had a ton of fun. Here’s what we were up to in our specials.
S.T.E.M.
It was another exciting week in STEM! All groups started the week making marble roller coasters, using pipe insulation to build tracks for their marbles and learning about physics. Groups built tunnels and loops for their marbles to travel on, and used their engineering skills to build and rebuild their tracks until they worked!
All groups also made and launched bottle rockets in honor of outer space week. The rockets were made by mixing baking soda and vinegar in a plastic bottle to create a chemical reaction. The reaction caused pressure to build up in the bottle and launch off the ground!
Music and Drama
Music and Drama blasted off during our outer space week! Pioneers filled the room with aliens and robots. They honed their acting skills in a mirror activity as they taught aliens how to get ready in the morning, play sports, and-of course- dance. Ramblers worked together in teams to make group shapes of animals, planes, phones, and shoes. Both groups also had an epic freeze dancing competition. Crusaders played rounds of pop song pictionary where they could act and draw out their clues. They created their own version of a Blue Man group playing our camp flip-flop-ophone while splatter painting. Singing skills were at their peak as Crusaders participated in carpool karaoke and lip sync battles. All campers did out of this world shadow dancing and acting!
Archery
Story
Sports and Games
Sports and Games was out of this world! Campers got into the Outer Space spirit. Pioneers participated in glow stick tag and starlight soccer in the dark, chasing after a ball that lights up and sparkles when hit.
Ramblers and Crusaders played floor ball in the dark, with fun spotlights moving around, complete with glow sticks and fun space themed music as they chased after a ball that lights up. Crusaders also played glow in the dark dodgeball in the gym. Friday was a sunny, warm day at camp and the Crusaders got outside and played Wall-E ball; think handball but with binkeepers holding a bin trying to help their team scored while defensive players tried to block.
Overall it was a great, fun filled week despite the weather!
Arts and Crafts
This week was out of this world! The Pioneers and Ramblers at the beginning of this week made beautiful pictures of planets using salt, glue, and food coloring! The Pioneers also made flying saucers using paper plates and straws. They had fun trying to get their saucers to spin and balance.
The Ramblers and Crusaders made galaxy slime using glue and liquid starch with added glitter and food dye. The recipe was PERECT and everyone’s slime came out awesome! The campers were excellent listeners during the slime making process.
The Trailblazers and the Crusaders got to decorate mugs using acrylic markers. Some of the mugs were painted over with a thermochromic pigment that makes the mugs change colors when they are filled with hot water, but we will need to touch them up a bit next week since this week involved some trial and error with the decorating. Campers will be able to take their mugs home next week!
Overall this week was filled with so many fun projects and was one of the best weeks yet!
Epic Adventures
This week at Epic Adventures we pushed through the stormy weather to have an awesome time! With outer space week upon us, we began with a viewing of the Magic School Bus and Bill Nye about the planets and space. On Tuesday, we hosted an inflatable party inside where kids had the chance to jump on the bouncy house, slip down the slide, and shoot some hoops. Thursday was our wacky water day here at camp, where kids splashed around on the giant slip n’ slide and the wet slide. Everybody lined up to dunk their counselors under the big splash, where nobody was safe from being soaked!
Trips
We also had another amazing week of field trips. Here’s where all our groups went:
Pioneers
Ramblers
Crusaders
The Crusaders took flight this week at Altitude Trampoline Park. They jumped high, played dodgeball, did flips into the foam pits, and showed off their dunking skills on the trampoline basketball courts. Some campers even took on the challenge of the climbing wall, whiles others jousted on the plank below. It was a great time all around. If your camper came on this trip and returns home with jump socks those are your to keep! They recommend washing them inside out to keep the traction pads from wearing.
Trailblazers
The Trailblazer’s week began with preparations for their two day overnight trip to ZOAR Outdoor. With whitewater rafting and camping ahead for them, they needed to hone in their teamwork skills so they headed up to “Cross the Pit” where they had to successfully cross their team from one side of the pit to the other while keeping everyone on the platform. If one team member fell in the challenge had to start again. Check out some photos below.
Next they had to learn to communicate with their teams, a key skill when you are rafting, so we held a 3 v 3 Basketball Tournament and a Pillow Polo Game on our new Sports Court to give campers the opportunity to communicate. The key to winning these games were spreading out, passing, and finding the open player.
The campers also had to prepare their meals for the overnight trip, they crafted sandwiches and had to follow recipes carefully to make and bake muffins for their breakfast. We are happy to report the muffins were delicious.
Finally, on Wednesday, it was time to depart for ZOAR Outdoor. The campers arrived early and boarded the bus to the Berkshires to make sure we made it to the river before the dam released the water that would carry us over the rapids. We arrived on time and in no time at all we were strapped into our PFD’s, had our helmets on, and our paddles in hand. We boarded more busses up to the top of the river, where we met our guides and launched our rafts. The trip down river was a wild one, that included class I, II, and III rapids, as well as areas for swimming, time to do raft wheelies, balance competitions played with two people standing on the front and back of the raft while the other campers paddle to spin the boat and see who can stay up first, and our course epic splash battles where boats face off head on. It was an amazing experience, and the views were breathtaking. Pictures from ZOAR are on the way. There photographs caught so much of the action and we will share them on the blog as soon as we get them.
After the rafting trip campers headed to their Cabin Tents to get settled in! Check out the decorations.
Then we headed over to the campfire to roast hot dogs for dinner and play our horseshoe competition. The games were super competitive and went well into the night until we crowned our champions Sander and Will!.
While not playing in the tournament campers played tetherball, board games, and climbed the rock wall.
After returning Lincoln, it was time for one final trip so they headed off to Kimball Farms for another day of fun. At Kimball Farms, campers played mini-golf, bumped into each other on bumper boats, took some swings at the driving range, and swung for the fences in the batting cages. And as always campers finished off their day with amazing Kimball Ice Cream Creations.
Special Events
Costume Contest
We were blown out of this world by all the outer space costumes this week. It was a difficult decision for a costume winner with homemade space robots, Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker, a duo of an astronaut orbiting a solar system, and an alien. Amaya and her multi-eyed alien took the prize. We can’t wait to see what the campers choose to wear for Kid’s Choice next week!
Lincoln Live
On Friday we held our third Lincoln Live of the summer, where campers put on a wide variety of spectacular performances including gymnastics, dancing, and singing.
Next week we will be back with so much more fun as camp goes undercover!
Lincoln Summer Camp 