I was going to share this with Carol, then figured other educators might
find this of interest.
I work full-time for a sleepaway camp, and at a recent planning weekend for
the upcoming summer, a decision was made to implement a new "down time"
experiment. SLC has 10 Unit Lodges, each serving 40 - 60 kids, aged 7 - 15,
in groups of 8-12. Each Lodge will be given a "Mystery Box" full of goodies
to be opened by the counselors on rainy days, etc. The assumption is that
counselors and administration will add to the Box throughout the summer.
The Directors quickly decided the box needed a deck of cards,
Chess/Checkers, Mad Libs, Uno, a ring binder full of group game rules, etc.
One of them remembered my blabbing and demoing Eco-Fluxx and Treehouse and
it was quickly agreed these must be in the box, too.
I will be runing a demo for the staff before the campers arrive, so at least
some of them will have experience of some of the games available, and I will
make sure the binders include appropriate Icehouse rules. I will likely
also run a Club, for teen campers, to teach and play more complicated games
needing more stashes - Volcano, anyone? Homeworlds? *grin*
This is very exciting! Does anyone else have experience of any kind of
"What's in the Box?" program? Any insight into potential problems?
I will of course keep you posted as this proceeds.
Avri Klemer
307 7th Avenue, Suite 900
New York, NY 10001
212-924-3131 (Tel.)
212-924-5112 (Fax)
www.surpriselake.org
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