Let the sun shine!

Friday’s are always best when the sun in shining! Friday’s are always a blast here at Camp Daggett, with many great activities to wrap up the week. It is always so amazing to see campers still bouncing around, even after a long week of new adventures. This week saw many new night activities including Reality TV Show Night, Board Game Night, and How to Train your Dragon night. Our area directors always try to get nice and creative when designing night activities. For example, Board Game night didn’t have campers playing board games, instead, they played real life versions of Clue, Guess Who, and even Battleship!
Of course, night activities are only one small part of what makes Camp Daggett so special. During their six class periods, campers are always learning something new. Whether its sailing for the first time, or maybe making a new craft, trying new things is what Camp Daggett is all about. This philosophy is especially evident with our adventure program. Campers in the two oldest cabins get a chance to first do some team building activities, and then later in the evening they are offered a chance to climb our amazing high ropes course. It is great to see campers climb all the way to the tops of elements,  just get their feet off the ground, or even  just help to cheer on their cabin mates.  We hope that they learned some valuable life skills, and will always remember the lessons that they learned at Camp Daggett.

Campers get some Viking practice in during How to Train Your Dragon Night

Campers gather on their way home from the Pines

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Thursday Already?!

It’s already Thursday morning here at camp! We’ve had a bit of rain, but that hasn’t stopped campers from having a blast! Tuesday saw campers really get involved in all of the areas. Of course, no Tuesday is complete without Tie-Dye during arts and crafts. But there were many other awesome things going on as well. Our 2 oldest cabins have both done our adventure course. This program teachers participants many new skills and abilities. During the program, cabins must work together to complete tasks, and then help support each other as they brave our High-Ropes Course.

Tuesday night saw a very fun night activity; Wild Men and Wild Women. As campers traveled all around camp, they had to find staff members dressed as animals and hidden around camp. We had a frog in the frog pond, a raccoon, a fox, and many others. But cabins also had to watch out for out wild people who would steal beans. To get more beans, a cabin would have to find our “Wild Wizard” and perform some task for him- like sing a song. In the end everyone was safe and happy, even though there was some rain in the middle (which just gave us an excuse to have a dance party).

Wednesday was a blast!  Campers got to try out lots of new things, and celebrate some classics. It all started with our Lake Swim, which had 35 campers be boated across the lake. We then all swam back together, accompanied by boars, yak boars, and lifeguards. At breakfast, lake swimmers even got some hot chocolate and doughnuts! The mud walk and “Wobbly Wednesday” are tow very popular things to do. The former has campers getting nice and muddy during free-land and then taking a quick shower in the lake. “Wobbly Wednesday” is as important as it is fun. Campers practice tipping their canoes, and then learn how to empty them so that they can canoe again. This skill is especially important for our two oldest cabins who go on canoe trip campouts.

Wednesday night saw a brand new night activity: Daggett Cove. Using materials found in each area, cabins worked together to construct mini-gold holes around camp. Cabins then rotated through and tried out all of the holes. It was amazing to see how creative and ingenious all of the holes were. Campers also got stopped by hazards a few times, and needed to work together to get through them.

The male cabins show off their “kiss up”- a zombie apocolypse

Kelly teachers campers to flip their canoes during “wobbly Wednesday”

Wednesday morning is always “Wacky Wednesday”

Campers pause during some rec games to take a phot

Live Long and Prosper, and always put “The Other Fellow First”

Well another great week has started here at Camp Daggett. We have a ton of great activities lined up for this week, including tonight’s “Star Trek” night, a battle of Gettysburg, Holiday Night, and “Up” night. Campers have also been having a great time in all of our areas, both on land and on water. Even though it only really got started at 5:00 pm, Sunday night was full of activities. After check in a some quick meetings, campers got their first introduction to camp’s great food. This was followed by some quick tours of the different areas and then our “Counselor Hunt,” where campers tried to figure out some interesting facts about all our staff.

Monday had campers first going to all of the areas. It was certainly a welcome relief for some to get in Walloon Lake and cool of for a bit in swimming, sailing, and canoeing. On land, campers had a blast painting some birdhouses in arts and crafts, playing nature games with Stacy, and playing soccer in rec. Almost every camper participated in Free Water and Free Land, choosing whichever areas they wanted to go to. Of course, the night ended with our “Star Trek” night activity, put on by Sara our swimming director. For this night, campers rotated around different stations to help “Kirk” rescue Starfleet from “Kahn.” They did this by playing dodge ball (to test agility) and “Where’s my Spaceship,” and by doing a few strategy and problem solving games. At the end of the night, the new recruits won by figuring out the secret phrase (the title of this post) and  forced Kirk and his minions into Walloon Lake.

Some cabins did not get to participate in our night. The oldest cabins participated in our Adventure program. This programs allows older campers a chance to further develop their leadership and teamwork goals. Starting off with some ice breakers and name games, campers transition into our low ropes course where team building is highly emphasized. After low ropes campers do high ropes, where participants learn “Challenge by Choice,” and help support each other and form new bonds.

Nature takes a break while playing games on the Rec Field

Campers play a game of “Where’s my Starship?”

Campers support one another during High Ropes

The Beginning of the end

Well, week eight has arrived. While this is the staff’s last week, it is these campers’ first and only week for the summer. It is already amazing to see how much energy and enthusiasm that the staff, and campers, have. Even as we wind down our summer,  there are still plenty of new, fun, and exciting things to be done here at Camp Daggett. Last night after some meetings and a quick review of some guidelines, campers were introduced to some of the many things that they can do this week. If campers wish, they can wake up extra early at 7:30am to participate in Early Morning Recreation and/or our Polar Bear Swim club. If they go to either of these things 4 times this week, campers can get an award on Friday. It was awesome to hear how many campers participated in these early morning activities today, and more than 3/4 of the campers (and some staff!) started their day off with a quick some and some kickball.

At the end of the day, campers got to participate in our night activity, Counselor Hunt. While not really hidden, campers had to hunt down our staff and ask them if statements on a sheet of paper pertained to them. But before an answer would be given, cabins were often made to do something silly, like sing a song or hug a staff member. After cabins collected ten answers, they were rewarded with some ice cream! The fun didn’t stop their though, as cabins had to see who could get the most. In the end, our Iroquois cabin collected the most answers.

Mondays are always great here at camp. It is always exciting to see campers trying new things, and making lots of new friends! As campers travel to all six of our areas they will learn many new and valuable skills. This will be especially true this evening, when our oldest cabins, Ottawa and Gogebic, will take part in some adventure activities. While missing free land and free water, these cabins will work on some teambuilding and communication skills as they do some short initiatives and low rope activities. After dinner, they will get a chance to go on our high ropes course, where they will challenge themselves and encourage others while up on our elements.

Tonight, the remaining cabins will participate in Willy Wonka Night. This activity will see many activities inspired by the classic book and movie. Whether it is kicking our giant blue kickball in order to “juice” Veronica, or having a blind candy taste test, campers will be doing many things they may have never done before. Our night activities are one of the most memorable things we have here. In addition to Willy Wonka Night, we will also be having a Battle of Gettysburg on Tuesday, with campers throwing flour all over each other in an epic battle on the rec field. Wednesday will see our “Yooper” night, with campers celebrating the Upper Peninsula with many silly activities. Thursday will see a Mock Rock, where campers will perform a little show set to some music that they practice all week. Friday will be a sobering night, as we hold our final initiation of the summer.

Please “follow” this blog to see many more updates throughout the week. We also appreciate any comments sharing memories, stories, or thoughts to these posts. Also, as summer winds down, we would love your feedback on the blog, including what you like, what you didn’t, and any other comments or suggestions. If you wish, feel free to use this Feedback form to help us!