Going Green, and Making it Fashionable

All this week our Performing Arts campers have been designing their own outfits for our counselors Megan and Ashley's "Going Green" fashion show this afternoon. They were able to use recyclable materials in order to produce their creative outfits. Enjoy the videos of our sassy campers working their environmentally friendly fashion styles!

Team Spirit!

This morning our campers were preparing for the big Basketball Tournament against Camp Outer Limits. All of our team's fans had the opportunity to make signs for the game while our team players practiced in the gym for the competition. Finally, the time came for everyone to come together in the gym and cheer on our campers who have been working so hard throughout the week in Basketball RANK. Campers were having a great time on the sidelines cheering at the top of their lungs. We even had a team mascot! The players had incredible game strategies with the help of their coach Grover, and displayed amazing teamwork. Although we didn't end up taking home the win against Camp Outer Limits, all of Rising Sun still had a great time and tried their best!

Mingling

Today Camp Two showed amazing teamwork during "Mingling with Michael" this afternoon. Each huddle was given various objects, including hula hoops, dominos, gym matts, and other small materials. The challenge was to use these things to get their whole group across the gym floor. If any camper touched the floor, the entire huddle was forced to start again. As you can imagine, it was very difficult! This game takes physical and mental strength, for example impressively the Fijis and Tahitis brainstormed on their own to take off their shoes and use them as materials to get across. Whoever made it to the other side of the gym first was the winner! At the end, although they were on different teams, all of Camp 2 was cheering each other on. It was great to see! Afterwards, I hung out with the Fijis, our most recent spirit stick winners, in the woods. They were a lot of fun to take pictures with....you can really tell that they love their counselors Jared and Chelsea.

Homerun!

Our counselor Jackson was doing a great job this morning out at Baseball as he taught our campers all the techniques of the game. With his help, everyone was able to work on perfecting their swing. Not only were campers individually improving on their Baseball skills, they were also practicing how to work as a team. With a counselor there to help, opportunities to learn about the game, and a way to meet new friends, Baseball was the perfect RANK to attend today! Don't forget to ask your camper about what they did at camp.

Yoga at Camp

Counselors are always looking for new ways to improve a camper's health while still having fun. This week, we decided to offer Yoga. The benefits of Yoga are not only mental, but physical. While it improves your muscle tone and flexibility, it also positively increases your mood... making Yoga a perfect activity to relax campers' bodies from a long hard day of playing in the heat. Everyone seemed to really be enjoying it!

Quidditch At Camp

Quidditch: a fictional wizardly sport played in the popular Harry Potter series. Our counselors decided to take a Muggle (human) like spin on the game and bring it to camp. After constructing six elevated ring-shaped goals and some custom made broom sticks, they were ready to introduce the campers to the game of Quidditch. There are two teams, red being Gryffindor, and green being Slytherin. Each side has seven team players. Three players on each team are named chasers, who take control of the avaliable quaffles (balls) to try to score in the other team's goals for points. Two "keepers" guard these goals, in hope to block their rivals from scoring. Beaters are also included amongst the team, who use the quaffles to throw at players on the other team. If a player is hit, they are forced to run around the goal once before they can enter the game again. Last, but most importantly, one selected player takes the role as the golden snitch. This player, dressed in yellow, hides amongst ALL of camp. One player from each team takes it upon themself to search camp while the game is being played to find the snitch. Whichever team find the snitch firsts, wins. Everyone was having a lot of fun during this new exciting addition to Rising Sun!

Greentastic

Everyone was sporting green this morning to represent all the cool things we have been learning this week about helping our environment. Plenty of campers took a creative spin on this week's Wacky Wednesday theme. I saw some green fairies, recycle boys, green ninjas, and even a green animal trainer. My personal favorite was a camper's sign reading, "homework kills trees and that's not recycling". Hey...he makes a good point. After our entertaining costume contest, I'm sad to say that Ken was unfortunately stolen by the liter bugs. They threatened to throw him away. Everyone was upset not only because we don't want to say bye to Ken, but also because he's plastic....and he needs to be recycled! They even took Police Officer Barbie! I will keep you updated on our search for Ken this week. Along with this, Mauis and Camp Three were bringing it this morning with some amazing cheers. After a long battle, Camp Three won the spirit stick.
High fives for recycling!

Homemade Camp Compost Bins!

Camp Rising Sun is going green....one step at a time. Today our Arts and Crafts chief Chelsea was helping this process move along thanks to this morning's art project. Chelsea and campers were working together to make compost bins for camp. Everyone had the chance to use their artistic ability to paint the bins for some creative decoration. After they dry, Chelsea will then drill holes into the bins and fill them with soil. From now on after lunch campers will have the opportunity to put their leftover food such as vegetable and fruit scraps into the compost bins. This bin will help decompose and recycle organic material to create fertilizer. Who knows....maybe there is some gardening in Camp Rising Sun's near future?

Litter Bug!

Today during morning assembly our friends Barbie and Ken took a tour around camp with the help of Tour Guide Barbie. She showed them all of our recycle bins, and explained what campers could do with their recyclable plastic materials. Right as Barbie and Ken began to feel really impressed, their tour was rudely interrupted by a not so nice "litter bug", who wanted to express his hatred towards recycling infront of the entire assembly. He violently grabbed our trashcans and poured everything onto the floor! He explained that this was the way floors should look all day every day. Um...no thanks! Ken and Barbie promised that with our help, we could change his mind about helping our environment. Also, in hopes to clear away this overcast weather, Hubbell led the campers in a performance of the "Rain Song". With the room completely silent, everyone was able to make the different sounds of rain through snapping and clapping. Smiles were everywhere in hopes that this fun activity could clear up the cloudy sky!