preparation for the leaders, but they
looked great, and the girls loved them.Spark Sleepovers/Camps
Circus Sleepover
Safari Camp
Teddy Bear Sleepover
White Water Camp
Our Circus sleepover turned out pretty good. We only had 6 girls, but due to the low number of adult helpers, it ended up being just right.
We did three crafts: Acrobats on a trapeze from Aunt Annie's Craft Page. It
was a lot of preparation for the leaders, but they
looked great, and the girls loved them.
The girls used their imaginations with clay sculptures. We talked about what animals you would find at the circus and they molded what ever animal they chose. (some wanted to be difficult and make things like snowmen)
Our third craft was a clown. Since I couldn't find the supplies we needed for this, I improvised and made it differently. It's a very cute craft, probably better suited to older girls because we had to use the hot glue gun for some parts. If you have good tacky glue the Sparks should be able to do it them selves. Directions:
We made teddy bears this way and I just
used the same technique and made clowns. Use two large wooden
beads. Two round ones for a bear, a long one for body of clown
and a round one for head. Hot glue the beads together. The bears
arms, legs and ears were made from pipe cleaners (brown) made
into spirals by twisting around a pencil. We used orange for the
clown and obviously omitted the ears. These needed to be hot
glued as well. For a ruffle around the clowns neck we use one
bump chenille wrapped around the neck. We cut half circles of
material to form a cone hat. The girls glued on a piece of ric
rac to the curved part of the hat before gluing into a cone
shape. Attach to head. Add wiggly eyes, a small red pompom for a
nose and a little larger pompom on the hat. For the teddy bear we
put on black top hats from the craft store and a ribbon bow
around the neck.
Games we played: We adapted the game "Ship to Shore". We made signs to designate ring #1, 2 & 3. We shouted commands and the girls did the appropriate actions. "ring #1 - run to area, "lion tamer" - crack whip, "clown" - mime juggling, "lion" - roar. The girls just loved playing "Sleeping Lion" better known as sleeping dragon. A girl in to center of the circle was the sleeping lion. She had a noisy object, we used keys, in front of her on the floor, with her eyes closed. The leader picked someone to try to take the keys as quietly as she could. If the 'lion' heard anything she could reach out and grab the thief. If the thief got caught, she became the lion. (since some girls couldn't catch anyone, after 2 or 3 turns someone else became the lion.
The highlight of our sleepover was a surprise for the girls. We set up acrobatics stations. They did gymnastics moves on exercise mats and best of all got to try out a mini trampoline. The girls loved it (by back is still hurting). We also tried our hands at juggling with two bean bags.
A few ideas we use at all our sleepover/camps that you may find useful: We try to include a craft that will hold all their craft for ease in getting it home and keeping track of who's is who's. A box or bag decorated according to the theme. Our free time box is the greatest. We have a box full of skipping ropes, balls, puzzles, books and coloring pages. We girls are waiting for others to finish craft or just during free time, they always have something to do. Departure was a disaster until we decided to use this technique: Each girls gathers her gear, crafts and coats into a pile along the wall. Each girl then sits on her pile until her parent some to claim her. They don't mind sitting for a little while, especially since they've had such a busy day and we can better keep track of who is leaving and that she has all her things.
We had a few problems, mostly with behavior. One girl in particular would not listen to the adults. When she was told to do something she would not do it. At one point she said, "your not my mother and I don't have to listen to you". It was very frustrating. I intended to speak with her mother, however she was picked up by a friends parent. This girl also doesn't listen during regular meeting and usually has the rest of the girls following her example. If you have any advice for me, I would appreciate hearing from you.
All in all it went well and we are anxiously awaiting our April camp. Our theme is Safari and we've found lots of games and crafts for this theme.
The Sparks went on a two night camp in April. The theme was an excellent choice. I normally take Sparks only one night, though we go all day on the Saturday and almost all day on the Sunday. This time we went Friday night to Sunday morning. I feel that one night is plenty for Sparks. Some of the girls became homesick by the second night. I've included our schedule. We didn't always do things according to the schedule and some things were skipped altogether. I hope you find this information helpful. I'd love to hear about other Spark camps.
Friday
7:00 - 7:30*****Arrival - We decorated bags for the girls to keep
their crafts and things in.
7:30 - 8:00*****Rules & Fire drill and get organize, we had
girls get the stuffed animals from their bags that we asked them
to bring.
8:00 - 8:30*****Games: Poor Tiger, Animal Travel see games
section
8:30 - 8:45*****Mug Up
8:45 - 9:30*****Ready for Bed & Story
9:30**********Lights Out
Saturday
7:00 - 7:30*****Wake up & Dressed
7:30 - 8:00*****Put away gear & Duties
8:00 - 8:35*****Breakfast
8:35 - 8:45*****Flag Raising We actually did flag raising while
we were waiting for breakfast
8:45 - 9:00*****Duties and free time for others
9:00 - 9:45*****Games: Animal Races, Elephant Walk Relay, Hide
‘n’ Seek
Note: poor choice of time for hide 'n' seek, still wet and
cold outside, so we didn't do it
9:45 - 10:00****Who Walked here? Activity
10:00 - 10:30***Snack
10:30 - 11:00***Craft: Binoculars see craft section
11:00 - 11:30***Animal Safari Activity see activity section
11:30 - 12:00***Free Time & Duties
12:00 - 12:45***Lunch
12:45 - 1:00****Duties
1:00 - 1:15*****Animal Traits Activity
1:15 - 1:30*****Story
1:30 - 2:00*****Craft: Camera
2:00 - 2:45*****Hike and find stuff for nature craft
2:45 - 3:00*****Snack
3:00 - 3:30*****Rest time
3:30 - 4:00*****Peanut Hunt Search By Sound Game
4:00 - 4:30*****Craft: Nature craft
4:30 - 5:00*****Free Time & Duties
5:00 - 5:45*****Dinner
5:45 - 6:00*****Duties
6:00 - 6:30*****Elephant Head Gear & If You Should Meet An
Elephant
6:30 - 7:00*****Games: Elephant Feet
7:00 - 7:30*****Ready for Campfire
7:30 - 8:15*****Campfire
8:15 - 8:30*****Mug Up
8:30 - 9:30*****Ready for Bed & Story
9:30**********Lights Out
Sunday
7:00 - 7:30*****Wake Up & Dressed
7:30 - 8:00*****Pack & Duties
8:00 - 8:45*****Breakfast
8:45 - 9:00*****Duties
9:00 - 9:30*****Craft: Animal Pin & Jungle Scene
Note: we didn't have a chance to do the animal pin but I
think it's still a good craft idea.
9:30 - 9:45*****Games: Shrinking Habitat, Elephant/Bird
Note: again we had no time for these, only because we
didn't have enough leaders to do things with the girls and clean
camp building.
9:45 - 10:00****Snack
10:00 - 10:45***Clean Up
Note: we did this out of order. We did clean up right
after breakfast and continued to do it while the girls went for a
walk and played outside after their craft.
10:45 - 11:00***Sparks Own
11:00*********Departure
Games we did at camp
Poor Tiger (Better known as Poor Pussy)
Sit in a circle
It is in the middle of the circle. She approaches others, acting
like a tiger. Who ever she approaches has to pet the tigers' head
and say "poor tiger", 3 times without laughing. If she
laughs, she's the new tiger. They get 3 chances to make someone
laugh.
We played until we could get all the girls to laugh.
Animal Travel (from Clouds on a Clothesline)
Two teams
Have each team sit down, side by side with legs outstretched so
that the soles of their feet touch the soles of the feet of a
member of the other team, to create a ladder of legs. Be sure
they are far enough apart to allow room between each person on
the same side. Give each pair (#1 from each side...) the identity
of an animal. When the leader calls out an animals name the two
players from each team with that animal name must jump up, travel
down the line of legs doing an appropriate action, around behind
their team and back to their spot.
Kangaroo - hop
Ostrich - take 3 steps, stop, tuck head between legs
Snake - slither on ground
Elephant - elephant walk
Bird - flap arms
Lion - walk on four feet
Note: We had a girl get stepped on and bruised. We found that
this was a game for older girls but not for Sparks.
Animal Races
Girls race in pairs as their designated animals.
Camel - bend at the waist, grasp ankles, keeping knees as stiff
as possible walk forward
Elephant - bend forward at the waist, clasp hands and swing them
from side to side as they walk along taking long, limbering
steps.
Chimpanzee - jump in place and clap their hands in front. Then
they bend their right leg back and tap their right hand to their
heel. Jump and clap in front again. Repeat while moving forward.
Giraffe - stand with legs wide apart, arms at sides, body swaying
from side to side while moving forward.
Kangaroo - Jump forward
We talked about which animals would go faster or slower while
playing this game.
Elephant Walk Relay
Cup of water for each player
Two teams
When their relay turn comes up each child walks to the watering
hole elephant style. Upon reaching wateringhole each elephant
takes a drink of water and returns to the line.
We didn't get a chance to try this one.
Peanut Hunt/Search By Sound (Search by sound from Clouds on a Clothesline)
Groups/teams
Bag for each team leader, peanuts (or some other thing to find)
Find as many peanuts as you can. One special rule, only the team
leader can touch the peanuts. The team members must get the
leaders attention by making their group sound. We used animal
sounds and our camp groups.
We have done peanut and other hunts and our girls just love it
(we had a gold rush at our Western camp). We wanted to make the
hunt a little different and this did the trick. The adult leaders
acted as team leader. Next time I'll have the children act as
team leader, it was too much running around for me.
Elephant Feet Relay (known as Big Foot Relay
in Clouds on a Clothesline)
Pair of large elephant feet for each team
In relay fashion each team races to a spot using big feet. Place
foot down, step on it, reach behind you and get other foot, place
in front and step on it, continue to the end, pick up feet and
run back. Next girl goes.
Shrinking Habitats (known as Islands)
Newspaper sheets
Scatter sheets of newspaper around the playing area. These are
the safe area. Girls run around the playing area. On a signal
everyone has to get on the papers (safe area). Play continues,
with each new game take one paper away, until you have only one
paper left.
Elephant/Rabbit
Stand in a circle
Leader is inside of circle and points to a girl and says either
"elephant" or "rabbit". The person pointed to
and the girls on either side must do actions.
Elephant - girl makes trunk with her arms and the ones on her
sides make big elephant ears with their arms by her head.
Rabbit - middle girl hold up her paws in front of her and the
others use one arm as the rabbits long ears beside her head.
Crafts we did at camp
Binoculars
Use two toilet paper rolls or one paper towel roll cut in
half. Cover them with colored paper and glue or tape together
side by side. Punch holes in the sides to attach a piece of
string for strap.
Note: We found that tape would not hold them together, try
stapling them.
Camera
Need a empty pudding, Jell-O or suitable sized box, colored paper, juice bottle lid or small jar lid. A small bead. Wrap the box with the colored paper like you would a gift. (glue and tape shut). Trace the lid on paper and cut out circle and glue on to lid. This is the lends of the camera. We used a glue gun to stick on the lends to the front of camera and a bead as a button on top. We also cut out a small square of black paper and stuck to the front as the viewer.
Nature Craft
We had the girls collect objects on their hike and they glued them to a paper plate.
Animal Pin
Paint an animal cracker and seal with a sealer. Glue on a pin back and pin to camp hat.
Jungle Scene
We traced and cut out monkey shape for the girls. They drew a jungle scene on paper and glued on the monkeys.
Elephant Head Gear
I found this on http://family.starwave.com/funstuff/activity/arts.html
Need: shopping bag, large piece of kraft paper, two sheets of
construction paper, masking tape or packaging tape.
Start with a paper shopping bag. Cut eyeholes. Next roll up large
piece of kraft paper, so you have a tube about two and a half
feet long. Cut four slits at one end of the tube, fold back the
sections like petals on a flower. Tape paper tube on bag for an
elephant trunk. Cut out two large ears from the construction
paper. (We used different colors and just cut off the corners)
Tape to the sides of the shopping bag.
The girls loved it.
Activities
Animal Safari
We asked the girls to bring stuffed animals like lions,
giraffes etc. to camp. We played this outside so this is the way
we did it. We hide the animals all over our playing area. Each
animal had a piece of paper. The girls started their safari with
their binoculars and a pencil. If they found an animal they put
their initials on the paper. After a long enough time passed we
signaled them to return.
We asked the girls to go get two animals to collect them back up.
Only one was not found. We tallied the results and had 3 three
girls find 15 of 20 animals.
Another version of this game: Hide animals around the room and have girls find them with their flashlights.
Animal Traits
We had a discussion of animal traits. What animals would have horns? Hoofs? Walk on four legs?
Who walked here?
We cut out
animal footprints and had them figure out who made them. We made
picture card of different animals, including ones that did not
make the prints and had the girls put the picture of the
animal that they thought made the print beside that footprint.
Other things about camp
We made badges for
their camp hats. I traced the shape of a tiger paw print on to
felt, one color as the background and a second color as the pads
of the print. We wrote on the name and date of the camp.
We had the Sparks was their own dishes just like Brownies or Guides. We did this outside, it was a little messy.
Since we were outside a lot we taught the girls whistle signals. They picked up on the come here signal very quickly. The freeze signal didn't work so well, if they heard the whistle they just camp running.
We gave out stickers for good behavior. If they were the first one done or volunteered to do a job. We also gave some of them out for winning a game. We had a few girls who only ended up with two stickers, and others who had lots.
We always plan a rest time with Sparks. They don't sleep, they must lay down and do something quiet. They read books or color or do a puzzle. The girls need this time to calm down.
We had a difficult time getting this sleepover going. We scheduled it earlier in the year and not enough girls wanted to come. In the end we managed to get 9 girls to come to this one.
On Friday night we started with Teddy Introductions. Everyone introduced their teddy and told a bit about him/her. Then we decorated pillow cases with paint. Everyone ended up with a very nice Sleepover/Camp pillow cover. Then we had a Teddy Hunt. The leaders hid everyone's Teddy in one room while the girls left the room. Then we turned out the lights and the girls used their flashlights to search out their bear. We told them not to give away the location of other peoples bears unless they were really having trouble finding them. This activity went over very well.
On Saturday our activities included a Teddy Bear hat craft. We make a bear face with fun foam. A large circle of brown for a face with same color smaller circles for ears with smaller pink circles inside the ears. A lighter brown circle for the snout with a black pom pom nose. Add wiggly eyes and a pin to attach to hat. We played 'Teddy Toss" by tossing the teddies in the air with a sheet. We had a Teddy story, "Teddy Bears Picnic" and a Teddy snack, "Teddy Grahams". We made a Beaded Teddy, also for our hats. We used a car seat bead for the head of the bear and threaded smaller beads on to pipe cleaner for the teddy body. We played Follow the Teddy and other games with our Teddies.
We took a little time to draw pictures and write letters to another Spark unit. We actually needed more activities than we planned but other wise we had a great sleepover.
We only had two of our Sparks attend this camp. We had a joint camp with Sparks 37, otherwise we would have had to cancel. The rest of the Sparks really missed a good camp.
Here is a copy of our schedule:
Saturday
9:00 - 9:30*****Arrival and decorate bags
9:30 - 10:00****Opening, rules, stickers
10:00 - 10:30***Games
10:30 - 10:45***Snack
10:45 - 11:30***Craft - Rainsticks
Note: The Sparks really liked this craft. They
asked to make another one. See instructions further down.
11:30 - 11:45***Learn new song, "My Paddle"
11:45 - 12:15***Games
12:15 - 12:30***Duties
12:30 - 1:00****Lunch
1:00 - 1:30*****Duties
1:30 - 2:15*****Story/Rest
2:15 - 2:40*****Games
2:40 - 3:00*****Craft - Dream Catchers
Note: We made a simple version, perfect for
Sparks. Another great craft.
3:00 - 3:15*****Snack
3:15 - 3:45*****Scavenger Hunt
Note: Didn't do but it is a very good idea, see
below.
3:45 - 3:55*****Practice Song, "My Paddle"
3:55 - 4:10*****Craft - Friendship stick
Note: This craft was to detailed for them.
Perhaps larger sticks would work better.
4:10 - 4:40*****Games
4:40 - 4:55*****Craft - Necklace
4:55 - 5:15*****Free time
5:15 - 5:30*****Duties
5:30 - 6:15*****Dinner
6:15 - 6:30*****Duties
6:30 - 7:30*****Dance - taught by Arts trainer
Note: This was an excellent activity, however
the girls were very tired by this time. Earlier in the day would
have been better.
7:30 - 8:15*****Campfire
8:15 - 8:30*****Snack - banana boats
8:30 - 9:15*****Ready for Bed
9:30**********Lights out
Sunday
7:00 - 7:20*****Wake Up
7:20 - 7:50*****Pack up/Duties
7:50 - 8:00*****Flag raising
Note: We ended up skipping this because we woke up an hour late
due to Daylight Savings time.
8:00 - 8:30*****Breakfast
8:30 - 9:00*****Duties
9:00 - 9:30*****Craft - Gods Eye
Note: Most of the girls caught on but it may be
best suited to Brownies.
9:30 - 10:00****Stalking game
Note: Skipped due to time change
10:00 - 10:30***Games
10:30 - 10:45***Snack
10:45 - 11:15***Craft - Hankie Doll
Note: Knot tying was difficult. Another craft
best suited for Brownies
11:15 - 11:45***Trail sign hike
11:45 - 12:00***Duties
12:00 - 12:30***Lunch
12:30 - 1:30****Clean up and camp duties
1:30 - 1:45*****Sparks Own
1:45 - 2:00*****Ready to leave
2:00**********Departure
We separated into four patrols, named - Lakes, Streams, Rivers, Creeks for our duties. We played various games. We had a quiet time box for the girls to do activities when their duties were done or during free time. We used stickers as rewards for good behavior. We handed out squares of plastic (page protectors) to pin to their hats. Each leader gave out stickers everytime they saw good behavior. We now use this at every camp. We had the girls decorate paper grocery bags to hold all their crafts from camp. At home time they just had to take their bag. The girls all earned the White Water Challenge crest.
Crafts we did at camp
Rainsticks - we purchased foam pipe wrap from the plumbing isle. It comes in 6 feet lengths (I think it also comes in different lengths) and we cut it into 4 pieces for 18" lengths. I sealed them up so they were open only on the two ends. I also cut round toothpicks to lengths a bit smaller than the diameter of the pipe wrap. (This was a tedious job, I would buy thinker diameter pipe wrap to avoid this) At camp the girls first had to push the toothpicks into the pipe wrap. You put them close together and spiral down the length of the pipe wrap. Picture a spiral staircase. Then they taped on pre-cut cardboard circles to one end of the rainstick. We used packing tape. Then we poured some barley in the open end. You could use rice, beans... I found that rice was too small and didn't make a good sound. Then they taped on another cardboard circle to the open end. Now if you turn the rainstick, the barley runs over the toothpicks and makes a sound very much like rain. Then we attached a piece of brown paper (grocery bags) cut to fit around the rainstick. This could be decorated, but we left ours brown (the natural color of a rainstick). Then we wrapped three different colored yarn around one end of the rainstick. So you had a stripe of red, then yellow, then green (any colors). Use thick paper to wrap it in to avoid the toothpicks from sticking out of the foam pipe wrap. There are various ways to make these, this is just the one I felt would work best with Sparks.
Dream Catchers - We pre-cut lids
of margarine container lids so it had a big hole in the middle
and you just had the rim of the lid. We also cut off the top
(rim) of the container itself. So now you can snap together the
rim and the lid to form a ring that works like an embroidery
hoop. We cut circles, a little bigger than the diameter of the
margarine containers, from mesh material, such as onion or orange
bag. The girls then put the mesh between the rim and lid to
create the dream catcher. Then they weaved into the mesh a couple
of feathers and strung beads onto gimp and tied them onto their
dream catchers. They look beautiful and can be done by younger
girls.
Friendship Sticks - We used tongue depressors but you could also use sticks collected in the outdoors. You paint them in a special fashion. Each color or element has a special meaning.
Necklace - We colored macaroni with food coloring and used them as beads. The girls used these beads and feathers to make necklaces.
God's Eye - We used two tongue depressors for this, again two sticks would work. You weave yarn around the sticks to create a nice design. You have to make sure the girl sees how your doing it. Most of them got the hang of it.
Hankie Doll - Use a 16"
handkerchief or equivalent fabric. Put a 2 inch 
Styrofoam
ball or cotton fill in the center of the material. Fold
diagonally opposite points together. Gather fabric around ball to
form neck, tie with one piece of 6" ribbon. Glue 6" of
3/4 " ruffled lace around head as a bonnet. Take corners 1
and 3 and tie together to form arms and hands. Use fine ribbon to
tie small artificial flowers to hands. Add facial features if
wished.
Activities
We taught the Sparks the following song -
My Paddle
My paddle's keen and bright
Flashing with silver
Follow the wild goose flight
Dip, dip and swing
Dip, dip and swing her back
Flashing with silver
Swift as the wild goose flies
Dip, dip and swing
Medicine Man Scavenger Hunt
Chief Whatchamis had a plan to get his warriors to work together and live harmoniously. He called his medicine man to develop a potion and then sent his men in pairs to gather their ingredients as follows:
1 1/2 c fresh water
mix in: 6 pieces of moss from beside large tree
3 dandelions leaves
1 acorn shell
some milkweed
2 clovers
5 blades of grass
1 wild violet
10 pine or spruce needles
a piece of spider web
a small bit of bark
a maple key
Stir ten times with a feather.
Warriors then each put out one foot and pour solution over the pair of feet that they may walk harmoniously through the path of life. This may be repeated to bind several Indians to one another if wished.
We had planned on modifying this to suit our surroundings.
We had an Art's trainer come in and teach some singing games and dances it was great. She did the "Looby Loo", it was interesting to find out is came from the Saturday night bath ritual that families did. We also learned a different kind of "Bingo". I highly recommend that you use your Arts advisors.
Trail Signs Hike - We set up a trail for the girls to follow using the Guide trail signs. The Sparks got a kick out of it. We changed who was at the head of the line so everyone would get a chance to find a trail sign.