It was our first full day here at Camp Amicus, and it was a busy one! First thing in the morning, those bold enough participate in what we call Polar Bear Dip, a short swim in the pool and a chilly walk back before breakfast.
We had a hearty breakfast afterwards, and then it was off to camp-wide game! Twice each day, our entire team play a large-scale game, after breakfast and before bed. Today's morning camp-wide game was gold rush. One of the many capture the flag style games in our repertoire, two teams have a pile of beanbags at the far end of their side of the field, and the objective is to finish the game with as many beanbags as possible.
We then moved to social skill, which we will have every full day. Our social skill blocks aim to teach important life skills that our campers can take with them. The theme of today's social skill was Healthy Relationships. Campers differentiated between friend, family, professional and romantic relationships, and identified behaviours that would be acceptable and unacceptable at each level. Social skills are taught through a mixture of games, activities, and group discussion. We spend this time in groups of 12, in our head counsellor groups. We had some free time and then lunch after this.
We then spent time in our head counsellor groups again in what we call a skills block, doing either swimming and archery, horseback riding, outdoor skills, or giving a group the option to pick their own activity. A popular activity during this time is called Gagaball. Campers enter an octagonal ring and hit a ball with a closed fist, and if hit with the ball below the waist, they're out! The objective is to be the last one remaining, and believe me, Gagaball gets very intense. Each of our head counsellor groups will get the opportunity to partake in each of these skills!
Afterwards, we had rest hour. In this time, campers must be in their bunks, either reading, sleeping, playing cards, or another quiet, restful activity. It gives each and every one of us a break from our otherwise busy day. Then, it was time for choice! Each full day, campers will get to choose one of four activities, facilitated by a staff member. Today, our choices were screen-printing, rock painting, a mixture of sports, and a combination of kickball and golf. It was raining at this point, so for those in outdoor choices, a rain jacket was a must. After choice, we had a half hour of free time before supper.
Our last activity of the day is our second camp-wide game, which today was cardio pictionary. Campers guess their teammate's drawing, and then must catch a staff member who has a list with the next word! At the end of the game, the winning team is the one who has completed the most drawings. After this, we all got ready for bed.
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