well, if you can tolerate the above entry, you might be able to tolerate this one.
I spent , so far, two of the summer's weeks working as a camp counselor! the barn I ride out of does a kids pony camp for several weeks each summer. the kids are ages 5 to 11, with most of them being 7ish or 8. they get to ride the ponys, on leadline, and love on them and learn about them, but most time is spent in other play activities , either in crafts, or farm fun.
crafts is my specialty, so I am like the "grandmotherly" Craft Lady. here is my description of what it's like:
My description of what it’s like working as the craft counselor at the kids pony camp this week past.
As for me, I’ve spent the last 4 days doing the crafts counselor work at our barn’s pony camp. The kids are very nice, and many of them are returnees from past years. My job is to man the craft area and to guide them through at least one craft activity each day. I say “guide” rather than lead, because they come to the table in broken groups, so I cannot stand up in front and just lecture the crowd through it as you would adults. And, the attention span is a whole ‘nother country. so, I just surf the chaos and somehow, we get the satchels sewed, the wool dyed, the horseshoes painted , etc.
They are all very good natured and seem to have a great time. For me, I am answering questions coming from all directions and helping them (from 14 to 25 of them at any one time) and just going as fast as I can. It literally sounds like this:
Caroline! Oh, Caroline, Excuse me, Caroline , CAROLINE! Can you help me Caroline, Caroline, oh, Caroline Caaay r oooo liiiiiine. I’ve never heard my own name called so many times .
Today, I helped with the crafts , but our craft activity didn’t last long enough, so the kids became a bit bored. I don’t mind them being bored, and I try to engage a couple here, a couple there with silly things like “hey, let me tie your hands behind your back and see how long it takes you to get out” (something the boys love), and “let’s draw a full length silhouette of you on this butcher paper. Lay down while I do the outline”. Or, just sitting and chatting with them while they do some small handiwork. I am struck over and over again that what children want , above anything else (except to be loved), IS TO BE HEARD. They feel so fulfilled to have an adult listen, without interrupting, to have the adult ask questions or in some way validate their experiences. I think this is the thing that makes me so successful with the kids; I try to find a way to listen to each one. Sometimes I can’t catch that place when they’d like it, so I try to remember to circle back. And for some of the shy ones, I try to create it (with mixed results). But, if it does happen, I try very hard to not pop that bubble by saying too much, judging , criticizing, or rushing them. For that short moment.
What I noticed is that some of them really enjoy some kind of repetitive handiwork. The girls were carding some of the wool we got from the sheep. The boys like to do things like try to carve apples with sharp sticks. They are more active in chasing games, or throwing things. When left to being bored, almost all the kids generally find something to do. And it’s cute to watch how they pair up, or form a small group and talk with each other, so intently , as they wandered over the field, or played in the teepees we had set up, or went to swing on the little rope swing under the apple tree. I was telling someone that I had read that being bored was essential to bringing children into a creative frame of mind. That, perhaps, rather than necessity being the mother of invention, boredom is.
These kids are the children of generally wealthy , working parents, most at Microsoft or Google, many Chinese or Indian immigrants, and yet, they did not once speak of their computer games. Only one boy took out his phone to play on it, and I told him, “no electronics” we let them play music if they want, no headphones, but no electronic games. He was accepting of that, if a tad miffed, but he was soon off doing some small thing, in a bored sort of way. Figured it out himself.
We went down to the pond, picked berries (and watching them work through the problems of how to get around the stickers, and assist each other was very engaging to me.). I had forgotten, . . why, I have no idea . . . .that children are very deeply engaged in learning how to form relationships with each other, and the friendships they have are VERY intense, emotionally.
Anyway, we cooked marshmallows on the fire, actually told scary stories (another interest thing, as the kids jumped at the chance to stand up in front of the group to tell a story. They LOVE public speaking!), some of them waded into the mucky pond and then we all piled onto the tractor and trailer (an amazing number of little bodies on this thing) and we pulled back up the hill to the barn.
I had to push pretty hard to get 5 minutes of clean up from them, but I insisted, and kept on each one to get them to do some of this task. And then we ended out the day and the week by giving them the horseshoe that they had decorated, with a photo of them glued on the back, so that the horseshoe is a picture frame. We had each child come in front of the group, as we all sat on the grass (dodging the horse apples and honey bees), and the counselors gave them their ‘prize’ and said some things about each child that were specific to them, their triumphs and their best behaviors. They were stars.
So many good activities, in a relatively small setting, relatively unorganized, and relatively cheap.