Gotta Catch ‘Em All!

Week 6 is already underway, and what a week it is shaping up to be! With some great weather today and in the future, this a perfect week to be at camp (actually, any week is a perfect week to be at Daggett!). Campers started with an amazing night activity in which they had to work together to complete many challenges. We call these short initiatives and it is really great to see all of our campers coming together and developing those team work skills. For the oldest two cabins, these team work skills are further explored on Monday and Tuesday as they complete our Adventure Programs. Cabins spend time getting to know one another, working on team work and communication skills, and finally get a chance to put their skills to the test on our high ropes course! Everyone walks away with some amazing new skills and a great appreciation for their peers.

Monday has been a great day for camp, with many campers trying new things. Some of the most popular times of our day are free land and free water. During these times, campers get to choose any land and any water area to participate in. In fact, due to the warm weather, more than 60 campers chose to go swimming! This enthusiasm for camp was also seen during free land with the basketball court virtually empty with many campers playing Capture the Flag in rec or making “Shrinky Dinks” in Arts and Crafts. Of course, campers are very enthused about our night activity tonight, which combines Pokemon with a little bit of strategy. Cabins must work together to find staff members in the woods and challenge them to duels with playing cards. The rest of the week has equally exciting night activities, including TV Game Show night, our epic “Battle of Gettysburg,” and Mario Party night.

Campers work together to transport some “Nitro” across camp

A duel of two pokemon

A test of whether or not campers know each others’ names

Advertisement

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!

Time for a Terrific Tuesday!

Week four is already well underway! Ever since Sunday campers have done so many things it is hard to keep up with them! On Sunday night, we did “Sundae Night.” During this activity, campers took rotated through some short initiatives in order to earn a topping for their ice cream. Cabins demonstrated some great teamwork and communication skills. In the end, everyone did well enough to earn them some toppings.

Monday saw some amazing activities, with equally as awesome weather. Campers got to try a lot of new things. In arts and crafts, some campers made cup phones, while others made pine cone bird feeders in nature. The end of the day was caped off with adventure activities for the oldest cabins, while the rest of camp participated in that night’s adventure, “Wild Wizard of Oz.” During this, kids had to walk around camp and work together to find munchkins, witches, and even some beloved characters like ToTo, Dorothy, and the Tin-Man.

This morning saw the first Camp Daggett Triathlon of the summer. In this event, campers had to first run a loop around camp, then yak to a buoy and back, and finish it off with a swim in our swimming area. Everyone had a blast running in the triathlon, no matter what speed they went. That isn’t the only exciting thing planned for today, with fun adventures planned in all the areas! And who can forget that today is “Tie Dye Tuesday,” always a popular destination.  Tonight will be our Neanderthal night, where campers will travel back in time and try to live like we did thousands of years ago. Campers will practice spear throwing, fire making, and cave art, just to name a few of the stations we will have!

 

A Great Start to Week 2

Our second session of the summer is off to a great start! After an amazing group of campers arrived, we had a blast with out “Counselor Hunt,” where campers got to learn a bit about our staff, as well as about some of the areas around camp. Yesterday was another great Monday, where campers got their first taste of just some of the many exciting daily activities we have here. While it has been a little chilly overnight, both yesterday and today have seen gorgeous days, with temperatures in the mid-70s and of course plenty of sunshine. This is especially important during our “Free Water” time, when all campers can choose to go to any area in the waterfront that they wish- swimming, sailing, or canoeing. The oldest cabins, Crow and Ojibwe, experienced some team building activities while doing adventure, something that the Chippewa and Potawatomi cabins will be doing this evening.

As always, there are some awesome night activities planned. Last night saw campers participating in “TV Game Show Night,” where campers played Wheel of Fortune, Are You Smarter Than A Camp Counselor, Minute to Win It, and several other classic games. The night wrapped up with our staff showing off some of their improvisation skills during “Whose Line is it anyway?” Tonight, our canoeing director Alex is trying out a brand new night called “Daggett Games” modeled after “The Hunger Games.” Campers will be doing many activities like fire building and memory matching to earn points for their cabin for a snack auction that will be held at the end. Wednesday will bring a classic camp themed Fairy hunt, where cabins will work together to find staff members dressed up as camp super heroes in the woods. Thursday will be out version of Mario Party, and Friday will be out initiation, where campers will enjoy our ceremony after doing some skits about how their cabins got their names.

Along with all of these fun and exciting nights, the days are equally as busy. Trips to the frog pond, soccer, and swimming out to the raft are still some of the most popular things to do at camp. Additionally, this week will also see our first Lake Swim of the summer. Strong enough swimmers will get a chance to be boated across the lake, and then swim back early in the morning. Afterwords, they will get a special treat at breakfast.