Rainy Day Summer Camp Games
Let’s face it—sometimes we prepare for the best day ever, a day of hiking and picnics and freeze tag and capture the flag—and without warning, the sky clouds up and there we are. Indoors. But there’s no point in losing a fun day of camp by staring out the windows and waiting. Some of the best group games are the simplest, and many of these can be played with no equipment and very little space.
Mind Connection
Sit quietly. Don’t speak. Feel the energy in the room. Then, when you’re ready, listen for your counselor to begin the count by saying “One.” If you feel the spirit moving you to speak, say “Two”. If not, let someone else say it. Wait for your moment. As a group, see how high you can count without multiple people speaking a number in unison. Once my unit at camp broke a record with this by making it all the way to twenty four. (No unit in any camp in the world has ever gone higher than that. Ever.)
Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?
This is a game for smaller children, and I’m pretty sure it was also conceived by small children and then perfected in a secret underground game lab run and funded entirely by small children wearing little lab coats.
The call and response words are simple, and the entire game is contained within them:
Group: Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? {Couselors name} stole the cookie from the cookie jar!
The Accused: Who, me?
Group: Yes, you!
The Accused: Couldn’t be!
Group: Then who?
The Accused: Hm….(Randomly chosen campers name)!
Group: Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? (Camper’s name) stole the cookie from the cookie jar!
Camper: Who, me?
Group: Yes you!
Camper: Couldn’t be!
Group: Then who?
Etc, etc. There you have it. Hours of fun. If you don’t believe me, try it. Kids have strange ideas about fun.
Froggy Goes a Courtin:
Sit in a circle with your legs crossed. Place your left hand, palm up, under the hand of your neighbor to the left. Place your right hand, also palm up, over the hand of your neighbor to the right. Pass the slap around the circle– When the slap comes your way, use your right hand to slap the hand of your neighbor to the left. He or she can then pass the slap on to the neighbor to her left, and so on. As you pass the slap, sing a song about a frog who goes down to a river to court his amphibian gal. Make the words up before you sit down to play. I’d write the words here for you, but every time I’ve played this game the words have been completely different. Just make sure the frog has honest intentions. When the song ends, the person holding the slap has to say something nice about the last person who got caught with the slap. Then she has to promise to clean everybody else’s bunk. Or make everyone a sandwich. You see how these kinds of games work. Be creative! Ingenuity is the bread and butter of life.
- Erin Sweeney
