Camp Kupugani Blog
4 Ways “Being Good” Can Make Your Life Better
At Camp Kupugani, our overnight summer camp in the Midwest, we try to be the best versions of ourselves as campers and staff. This article from Barking Up The Wrong Tree discusses ways that doing just that enhances one’s life. Check out our takeaways below and/or read the full article here. Gratitude Write the letter. Make the call. (And have tissues on hand.) Give “It’s better to give than to receive” = True. Forgive It’s part of every major religion for a very good reason. Laugh No matter how bad Read more…
7 Tips on How to Have Emotionally Intelligent Disagreements
Camp Kupugani is our sleepaway Midwest summer camp, located close to both Chicago, IL and Madison, WI. Part of our mission is to facilitate and develop effective conflict resolution techniques with our community. This article from Barking Up The Wrong Tree discusses ways to have emotional intelligent disagreements. Check out our takeaways below and/or read the full article here. Remember The Relationship Enemies don’t say, “You are right. I am wrong.” Friends do. De-Escalate If your disputes sound snarky, you’re doing it wrong. Stop Trying To Control What They Think Read more…
4 Parenting Styles and Their Consequences for Kids
At our Midwest summer camp near Madison, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois, we recognize the importance of how our adult interactions impact the youth whom we serve. We strive to foster an environment where children are empowered to be their best selves. A recent article shared some good insights regarding the impacts of various parenting styles. Check out our summary below, with the full article available at this link: https://knslearningsolutions.com/news/the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving-2/ There are four main parenting styles: Authoritarian Permissive Uninvolved Authoritative Each style has different characteristics, with different effects on children. Authoritarian Read more…
5 Ways To Make Your Office More Welcoming for People of All Gender Identities
At Camp Kupugani, our multicultural overnight summer camp in northwest Illinois, we’re all about appreciating all aspects of diversity–not just of race, ethnicity, and religion, but also regarding gender identity and expression. We want our campers and entire community to be inclusive and welcoming to all. We recently came across an article regarding how employers and colleagues can respectfully make their workplace welcoming to folks of all gender identities. Check out our quick summary below, and read the full article here. Do your own research. Use the internet for good Read more…
6 Ways to Help Your Child Thrive Socially in Middle School
Camp Kupugani is our multicultural summer camp located in Northwest Illinois close to Chicago, IL, and Madison, WI. We at Camp Kupugani know that middle school can be a challenging social time; hormones are doing odd things, children are learning more about themselves than ever before, people are placing pressure on children to decide what they want to do. That can be a lot for a child to process. We found this article from The Washington Post that can help you support your middle-schooler to thrive in middle school. See Read more…
4 Easy Ways to Foster an Awesome Life
At Camp Kupugani, our Midwest summer camp, we strive to be our best selves. Here is an article on how to live your best life. Check out the article by Barking Up the Wrong Tree here (https://www.bakadesuyo.com/2021/07/awesome/) and see a quick summary below. We need more awe: It brings us together and makes us feel like kids again. Good lord, it made college students put their phones down. Momma Nature: Go for an awe walk. Or watch Blue Planet. (Whenever you hear David Attenborough’s voice, you are not far from awe.) New Read more…
How To Be Resilient: 4 Steps To Success When Life Gets Hard
At Camp Kupugani, our Midwest summer camp, we role model and help our campers develop grit and resilience. Here is an article on how to make the most of things when life gets tough. Check out the article by Barking Up the Wrong Tree here (https://www.bakadesuyo.com/2021/07/resilient-3/) and see a quick summary below. “First world problems” [“champagne problems” as we prefer to call them]: Playing discomfort Whac-A-Mole just moves the goalposts and makes you see less threatening things as threatening. Deliberate discomfort keeps small problems small. Boredom is a motivation state: Read more…
Last Full Kids Camp Day of the Summer
Today was the last full day of camp before this session (and our safe, healthy, COVID-free kids camps) comes to an end. It was an overall normal day starting with the morning circle. After a tasy breakfast of eggs, bagels, and bacon, the campers did their chores then had team time, with the final day encompassing challenging initiatives like The Wall and Nitro Crossing. After a lunch of cold cuts, chips, and veggies, the campers headed to their last Siesta of the session. Then the campers got to choose their Read more…
Olympics with the Girls
Today was Kupu-Olympics Day! The campers had a great time doing a variety of activities that were judged in 4 categories: Spunk, ‘Spect, Spirit, and Sportsmanship. Each team came up with a team chant and did their face paint. Half the camp was on the red team and half the camp was on blue. The first activity was all camp gaga, followed by a relay race including a 3-legged race, a potato sack race, and a slip-n-slide. After a break for La Tienda, the campers enjoyed the next set of Read more…
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On this Wacky Wednesday, the campers participated in backwards day. This included having breakfast for dinner (and vice versa), wearing clothes backward, and pronouncing words and names backward. After the first meal of chicken and waffles, the campers broke into teams. Today’s module / discussion was Social Awareness/Activism with traditional team-building activities following. We continued to do lap sits, Yurt Circle, and lifts. After lunch, the campers got to pick their camptivities. After the activities, dinner was served. The evening activity was an Untalent Show–with some truly amazing performances and Read more…
A Terrific Tuesday at Girls Camp
On this Terrific Tuesday, after waking up and eating a breakfast of English Muffins (“muffins all the way from England!), the campers broke into their team groups. Today in teams, we started our initiatives which involve trust falls, Willow in the Wind, and Yurt Circles. They also played fun and funny games like “mafia” and “frogger” to pass the time before lunch. Lunch today was delicious comfort food of grilled cheese and chili–perfect for a temperate day weather-wise. The campers also got to choose their two camptivities for the afternoon, Read more…
Magnificent Monday with the Girls
On this Magnificent Monday, we enjoyed our first day liberalizing our COVID-19 bubble (given our infection-free state after our second round of in-camp PCR tests). Campers started off the day with the community gathering, with economic literacy the topic of the day. Breakfast was pancakes, sausage, juice, and fruit! Cabins did their daily chores before splitting off into teams to do some empowering economic literacy activities. After teams, campers enjoyed Free to Learn in the Walnut Grove, with a chance to explore, hang out with those in different cabins and Read more…
