Camp Green Lane Blog Post July 5th

What does it mean to be creative?

Why is that important here at camp?

Today is Friday, and that means we had a hot dog cookout for lunch and tonight we’ll have Services and Bunk Parties for evening activity.

The theme of tonight’s gathering is creativity. We’ll award weekly COWs and bunk inspection and spirit winners, and we’ll also recognize campers in each division for their creativity with this week’s CGL CHIP.

So I spent part of the afternoon talking with kids all over camp, from all different bunks and divisions and age groups to get their perspectives on the virtue of creativity and what it means to them. Specifically, we talked about how and why creativity is an important tool to have here at camp.

The little girls of Tropicana and Palace talked about their bunkmates who are creative and how being creative can make someone happy who may be feeling sad. They talked about how creativity can make activities fun and how “thinking outside the box” can help to make new activities when they want to play something else.

The older girls of Atlantis talked about creativity being a tool for “problem solving,” and how even though there are no problems at camp, creativity can help to offer a new way of looking at a challenge and may offer a solution where you least expect it.

The big boys of the Phillies and Mets talked about being unique and how at camp it’s important to listen to everyone’s ideas and input because that’s what being a team is all about.

The girls of Sands were excited about chicken and waffles for dinner. They talked about how they can get creative in the dining hall and just the other night, one super-creative chef at their table made tacos out of noodles. This was yet another example of being creative to make something more fun, or in this case, to make something more delicious,

Some little boys from the Cards and Cubs talked about creative spaces in their cabins and how some of their friends use creativity to make themselves more comfortable. Cadet Boys from the Royals had some creative ways of keeping cool on a hot day, and counselors all over camp are constantly calling on their creativity to make games out of nothing.

The independence of camp allows kids to let their imaginations run free. We play lots of games and have plenty of structured activities, but kids get so many opportunities to be creative throughout a CGL day.

Tonight, some of them will be recognized for their incredible ideas, problem solving skills, uniqueness and their ability to make our world just a little better.

Happy Friday, everybody!