Week 5 - Color Wars!

This week's theme is Color Wars! Discovery Camp's teams are the Red Dragons, the Yellow Bumble Bats, the Blue Barracudas, and the Green Vipers. Each team earned points for spirit, winning, and good sportsmanship. On Friday, only one team can be named the Color War Champion.

Discovery Camp has had quite the exciting week. They dived into this week's theme of Color Wars with some high stakes activities. On Monday, to prep for the week's team challenges, the campers made bandanas to represent the teams that they are on, and also, throughout the week, campers proudly wore their team colors. For the all camp activity, Discovery camp created some interesting meals for Mr. Paul to taste. On Tuesday campers competed in Skating Football where counselors and campers had to sit on little scooters and use some teamwork to get the football to their side of the court and to the opposing team's goal. Another activity they played was Human knot, in which the campers had to hold hands and untangle themselves without letting go.  Tuesday ended with the messy all camp activity of a pie eating contest. One counselor was chosen from each team, and then they raced to finish the pies! With Ms. Carissa, campers made some more team apparel in Wednesday's arts crafts. They tie-dyed YMCA shirts according to their team color and are going to sport them in support of each of their teams for the rest of the week. Discovery camp kicked off Thursday with team chants. Each team made up a chant, went into the circle, and performed it in front of their fellow campers. A few activities that the campers played are Newcomb, which is volleyball with some fun changes, and The Hidden Color Path Maze. On Friday the campers have a field trip to go bowling and play laser tag. Afterwards, they are coming back to camp for Paint Battles! Parents, make sure campers come with an extra set of clothes, including a light colored shirt and swim goggles. Which team will be named the Color Wars Champion? Be sure to catch our Friday Mailer for the results!

On Wednesday, The Discovery Explorers had a chance to participate in the YMCA's Marshmallow Roast. Numerous YMCAs across the  nation tried to break the Guinness World Record of the "Largest Marshmallow Roast in the World." At precisely 2:00 on Wednesday, our YMCA and others roasted as many marshmallows as possible. We have to wait in suspense to see if we made the record!

Leadership Academy has two newcomers from China- Du and Hao! This weeks focuses are passion, service, and teamwork. Campers went to the Princeton Presbyterian Church and volunteered again to help out with the church's food pantry. Wednesday began with a lesson on "majority rules" and how how leadership has a role in that. They also watched Amazing Grace and afterwards, they discussed passion and the structure of the democratic political system. On Thursday, leadership campers in a Spaghetti-Marshmallow building contest. They are also getting involved in Christine's Hope for Kids, which is a fundraising organization that is all about kids helping kids. Campers are brainstorming ideas about how to raise funds and supplies for kids in needs. On Friday, the Leadership Academy is joining Discovery Camp to going bowling for some fun bonding time.

MVP campers had a great time this week playing some familiar games and some new games. On Monday, campers played dodgeball in the gym. They had a great time dodging, catching, and throwing balls. The counselors refuse to admit it, but some of the campers put them to shame! Then, on Tuesday, campers spent the day taking on Mach-1, an intense obstacle course with a few twists. Campers got to run, crawl, and catch their ways to victory, and Julia and Clara set the record for the fastest time on the course. Great job, campers! Although their field trip was originally planned for Wednesday, MVP campers’ field trip is now on Friday. They still got to stay active on Wednesday with a friendly game of handball, which the kids picked up quickly. In handball, they put their skills of teamwork and sportsmanship to the test as they passed, made plays, and worked together to score goals. It was clear that these campers have been developing a lot of important skills so far in camp! Today, the campers got to take part in a duathlon, (running and swimming) which really put their skills to the test. Tomorrow, they will get to go on their field trip to Woodbridge Community Center, where they will get to roller skate and play miniature golf: a great way to finish off a great week!

Next week's specialty camp is Super Science! The kids can look forward to a week a exciting experiments and activities. Also, to prepare for next week's theme, Green and on the Scene, please bring in tin cans, wire coat hangers, and other recyclables for Arts and Crafts with Ms. Carissa. We've got some fun projects planned for kids to make with their own household products!

That's all for this week! There are still a few days left to enter our sweepstakes, so get those entries in! Parents, don't forget: a fun day at camp starts with a healthy breakfast and ends with a good night's sleep!