All-Camp Games

It was another beautiful day here in the Northwoods! Our second week of activities is in full swing, and our boys have settled into their camp routines. And while the boys love their having their independence to choose their own activities throughout the day, they always relish the opportunities to come together for our campwide evening programs.

Today for our evening program we played Predator-Prey. Predator-Prey is an all-camp game where each cabin is assigned to play the role of either an herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore. The theme this year is coral reef, so teams included the sea slugs, swordfish, seagulls, reef sharks, moon jellies, and clown fish. The teams need to collect a certain amount of resources (food, water, and shelter) based on their place in the food chain. When a team gets close enough to another group, the “instinct,” or team leader, blows a whistle and a 20 second game of tag ensues. Players move up and down the food chain based on whether they were “eaten” during tag. Players can also gather resources by finding signs around camp and singing a song about recycling when they get there.

If it sounds confusing, that is because it is. It’s some combination of capture the flag, dodgeball, hide and seek and an environmental education game. But it is a camper favorite at North Star. One of the things that the boys love so much is the opportunity to play across the age groups. Last night’s evening program was a similar style game called Infection. One person starts out as the infection and a game of blob tag erupts all over camp. The youngest campers chase down the oldest boys, and the oldest boys join the youngest campers in their excitement. That camaraderie builds throughout the summer and helps create our close-knit community.

We followed Predator-Prey with a debrief on our own Northwoods’ ecosystem and our role in upholding environmental stewardship. North Star is incredibly lucky to have two bald eagle nests in camp. Our fisherman witnessed a bald eagle swoop down just feet from their boat, pluck a fish out of the water, and fly off.

Bears, deer, mice, snakes, foxes, and eagles roam these woods and turtles, musky, and bluegills swim the lake. We are incredibly blessed to be located on our peninsula and Brewers Bay with hiking trails and rapids within an hour from us. We are even more blessed to have a group of staff and campers that appreciate the value of our environment and who responded with such enthusiasm to our environmental debrief.

Today’s Grace:
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on this earth.”
- Muhammad Ali