Has winter got you down?  Have you been dreaming of summer, wishing you could be outdoors having fun?  I have a great idea for how you can enjoy summer camp, even when it’s snowing outside!  Originally this idea was put together for a girl scout event that was held in March when we needed something fun to do.  It could easily be used for a family fun night, a birthday party or even for a group event.

First off, what would summer camp be without creating some crafts?   At our event, the girls created some small crafts commonly found at girl scout camp.  But these ideas would work great for anyone.

For our first craft we created s’mores.  Now these s’mores weren’t for eating (those came later), were easy to put together and looked great when they were done.

Here’s a list of supplies needed:

• a sheet of tan colored felt
• a sheet of dark brown felt
• cotton balls
• glue.

I found some felt that was fairly stiff that worked very well but any felt will work.  If you are making these with a large group, I would suggest cutting the felt in advance.  Cut out two squares in the tan colored felt, approximately 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches.  Then cut one square in the dark brown felt just a little bit larger than the tan felt.  Place on tan piece of felt on a flat surface, add a dap of white glue, add the dark brown felt piece.  Add another drop of glue onto the dark brown felt and add a cotton ball.  Last add some glue to the top of the cotton ball and top it all off with the last piece of tan felt.  There you go!  You may add a pin to the back for wearing if you wish.  Just make sure you let your s’more dry for a few minutes for the glue to set.

Some other craft ideas: Decorate tee shirts, tote bags, make friendship bracelets, or re-create a craft you did in summer camp. A great website to check out for craft ideas is Family Fun.

Don’t forget to serve some real s’mores for eating too.  Here is a hint if you are making s’mores for a large group, use marshmallow fluff instead of roasting or toasting marshmallows.  It’s not as good as a toasted marshmallow but far easier and quicker to mass produce these yummy treats!  Don’t forget the bug juice too.

Our event was held at an elementary school so we were not able to have a real campfire.  But we were at summer camp and wanted to have that campfire experience.  So I went searching for a way to create one.  I found everything I needed at the local dollar store and at my home.

How to create your own campfire:

• a ring- I used a grapevine wreath that I found at the dollar store.
• several empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls
• brown craft paper
• tape
• red and yellow tissue paper

Set down your fire ring.  Take the empty rolls and cover with brown construction paper so they resemble logs.  Place the “logs” into the fire ring in a criss cross pattern.  Take a sheet of red tissue paper and an sheet of yellow tissue paper.  Stack them together.  Find the middle of the sheets and pinch.  Fan up the side of the tissue paper and place the pinched end into the middle of the logs, moving them about until they look like fire.

Now that you have a campfire, you are ready to have some fun!  Campfire skits are silly, funny and short.  If you have very creative kids who are quick on their feet, you can give them 15 minutes to come up with their own.  If not, google camp skits or campfire skits and you will find a bunch of ideas, complete with dialogue.  Some great sites are www.scoutorama.com/skits and www.weknowskits.com .   Our favorite one was this:

The Dead Fly Skit

Action

Have the first kid come in and look at the rock and say,”Hey cool, a dead fly. I’m gonna pull its head off.” Have the kid walk off stage and the next kid walks in and says, ” Hey cool a dead fly. I’m gonna pull its wings off.” Have this kid run off and have the next kid come in and say, “Hey cool a dead fly. I’m gonna pull it’s head off.” Have them walk off stage and another kid walk on casually looking around. When he/she sees the boulder he/she says, “cool a raisin!” Have them act as if they are eating something and then say “juicy” and then walk off the stage.

Equipment

• 4 kids and a boulder or a table or stump

Preparation

• line the four kids up backstage and have them come in on cue. set the boulder in the middle.

Campfire Songs

Once all the laughter has ended from the skits, end the night or event with some campfire songs (but be prepared, some of them are just as silly as the skits).  Our favorite song is about a pair of underwear.–.

God Bless My Underwear

(to the tune of “God Bless America”)

God bless my underwear, my only pair.

Stand beside them, and guide them,

Through the rips, through the holes, through the tears.

From the washer, to the dryer, to the clothesline in the air.

God bless my underwear, my only pair.

Some great sites for song ideas are www.weknowcampfiresongs.com and ww.dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/songbook/songbook_index.htm

If you are brave you could also include some ghost stories.  Hopefully this taste of summer will keep you going until it’s time for the real thing!

Kerry is a wife, mother of three kids, 2 dogs and a cat.  In the winter she can usually be found curled in up a chair reading and in the summer she usually is in her garden or in her kitchen processing and preserving her garden haul.  If she isn’t there then you can find her on her blog- Country Living On a Hill where she blogs about her life on the hill and learning to live with fibromyalgia.