Fabric Yo-Yo Accessories

When I was young, my Grandmother used to decorate quilts, placemats, cushions, pretty much anything with these little cloth flowers. I never knew what they were called so I searched and voila- Pinterest calls them Fabric Yoyos. I used to love sewing them so I headed to the fabric store with my 4 year old daughter.

She wanted to make a headband for her best friend so we went and picked out the fabric. She saw a pretty button she liked so we decided to put that on it as well. I showed her how to sew and she sewed the yoyos with very little help from me (minus stringing the needle and knotting it at the end). She sewed on the button and I helped her put it all together. This was the result:

 

For the little Fashionistas out there, this would make a great camp craft. They're many different variations to the shape of the flower, and you can make this scarf, this necklace, this headband, this handbag, here's another necklace and another and a ton of other accessories – you get the idea!

You can personalize a bag with the campers name and even the year they went to camp. All you need is cloth, a needle and some thread. It's cost efficient, kids can get super creative with embellishments and buttons- but it's so easy a 4-year-old can do it!

Singing the Camp News

At Moorlands, we have always found mealtimes to be where a lot of the bonding and relationships happen. People consider each other, share, laugh, reflect on the day and... sing the camp news! Ever since I can remember, we've been singing the camp news. Camp counsellors would put some of the day's highlights to a verse, and the campers would keep the chorus going. It costs nothing and it personalizes the camp experience. I still remember some of the lines from when I went to camp at 9 years old!

Mafia

Why is a Christian Camp Director talking about a game called Mafia? Well I figure it's the lesser of two evils since the Russian psychology student who created it gave it the name Werewolf! I promise it is lots of fun and doesn't involve any violence. Mafia is a group game involving lots of strategy and bluffing,knowing how and when to reveal your identity, and knowing who to trust. The game has a narrator who assigns everyone else one of the following secret identities using a deck of cards: mafia member, police,doctor, or townsperson. The object of the game (depending whose side you're on) is to eliminate the Mafia before they can eliminate the entire town. Mafia decide who to eliminate at "night" while everyone else is asleep, and in the "day", everyone gets a chance to voice who they think is Mafia and to vote to eliminate them. If I've sparked your interest, see a full description of Mafia rules here.

What are some of your favourite low-budget camp activities?