Camp Kupugani Blog
3 Ways to “Selfishly” Be a Better Parent
At Camp Kupugani, our multicultural overnight summer camp in Northwest Illinois, we’re all about helping our campers to be the best version of themselves. We’ve recently finished up our Mother Daughter and Parent-Child Weekends, where many of our parents shared the struggle of being an intentional parent and managing the multiple responsibilities of being a good parent. One important theme is that as parents, we need to more often recognize taking care of ourselves (period…and also so that we can be good for and to others). Check out this article […]
Development Techniques to Help Your Kids Succeed
At Camp Kupugani, our overnight summer camp in Northwest Illinois (near Chicago and Madison), we’re all about maximizing the development for our campers. The good folks from Barking Up the Wrong Tree have some good tips on maximizing their development at home. Bullets below, with the whole article available here. Children need a sampling period Let them explore a variety of different activities (sports, instruments) and not force them into one Real learning is slow and frustrating To really learn, studying must be hard Obstacles that make learning more challenging, […]
!Yad Sdrawkcab Tsugua
We started off the day with our goodnight song. Then we had chicken and waffles for dinner. After dinner, we did our camp chores. Then we did some team building activities: some modules and then initiatives. After lunch, we had a siesta before camptivities. For the first camptivity, we had Untalent Show prep and canoeing/paddle boarding. Then we had La Tienda. Then a second camptivity with archery and biking. We returned to the cabins to clean-up for breakfast. Then had a breakfast of pancakes and sausages. We then had a […]
Economic Literacy Day
We started our day with a smaller morning circle because the 14 and 15 year olds were still out on their trips. Then we went inside for a breakfast of bacon, eggs and muffins (all the way from England!). After breakfast, we did our camp chores before heading off for some team activities. In teams, we did lifts and then some economic literacy activities. We then headed to lunch; mac and cheese. After lunch, we headed back to the cabins for siesta before an afternoon full of camptivities. For camptivity […]
Another Good Day – August 5, 2019
We started our day with a community gathering. Then we ate a breakfast of pancakes and sausage. After breakfast, we did our camp chores then we dismissed into our team for team time. After team time, we went down to Walnut Grove for Free-to-Learn. We then headed back up to top camp for some lunch: barbecue beef. After lunch, we had a siesta followed by an afternoon full of camptivities. Camptivities For camptivity one, we had frisbee golf and horseback riding. After that we had our La Tienda time, then […]
A Nice Cabin Sunday
We woke up Sunday morning on the top field after spending a gorgeous night under the stars. We went to the dining hall and had a “lazy breakfast” before heading back up to the cabins to switch our bunks. After switching beds, we had our community gathering circle. Then we took group photos. Kupugani Hike We then went on a short hike to arrive at our picnic lunch location. After we ate, we worked on our cabin skits and songs. Then we headed to our cabins to have a little […]
A Scintillating Saturday
We started the day with a community gathering, then we went into the dining hall for some coffee cake, potatoes, scrambled eggs, and strawberries. After that we did our camp chores then we dismissed into teams. Teams & Camptivities Today we had two separate teams. After teams we had an AM camptivity of gaga and bench building. Then we had lunch–Tash’s chili and grilled cheese sandwiches. After lunch we had a short siesta. After that we had camptivity one. For camptivity one, we had fishing and a counselor specialty of […]
Fantastic Friday – August 2, 2019
With our senior campers running camp, we started the day with our community gathering, then we went inside for a delicious breakfast of waffles, bacon, and eggs. Then we did our cabin chores–a record was set for camp cleanup with near perfect scores. Then we dismissed into our team. During team time, we discussed conflict resolution and did skits to portray different methods of conflict resolution. After team time, we did Free to Learn down in Walnut Grove then we came back up for lunch. We had hamburgers, then we […]
Another Good Day – August 2, 2019
Thursday was day 5 of our second girl’s session! The day started with morning circle; teams followed after breakfast and chores, as they started the touch and trust section of team building where they learn the building blocks of how to physically support someone; later in the session the girls will have to work together to lift, pass (in a controlled manner), and spot each other as they overcome some obstacle (known in the team building world as an initiative). Evening Activites After fun afternoon camptivities, our day wrapped up […]
Wild Wacky Wednesday
Some wild and wacky hair could be found at this morning’s circle. After morning circle, we ate a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese. After that, we did our morning chores, Yay Clean Camp! Then we went into our team. Today in teams, we learned “I” statements. After team time, we had Free to Learn, a child-directed time of adventure, then we came back up to top camp for lunch. After lunch, we had a relaxing siesta before an afternoon of camptivities. For first camptivity, some of us played gaga, […]
Terrific Tuesday! – July 30, 2019
We started the day with a morning circle. Then we ate a breakfast of pancakes, sausages, fruit and cereal. After breakfast we did our camp chores before going off into our team. We did a few team activities then had a morning camptivity period of 9-square and slacklining. Then we went back to the dining hall for lunch; hot dogs. After lunch we had a brief siesta, then we had some afternoon camptivities. For Camptivity 1 we had rock climbing and cratestacking. Then we had our La Tienda time. Then […]
A Fun Start to Our Second Girls Session!
We started off Girls 2 with a potluck, a tour, and a welcome circle. After we got settled into the cabins and the parents left we had an introductory circle before going to the dining hall for dinner. We had spaghetti for dinner. After dinner we played large group games. Then we had a campfire. Then we went to the cabins, we made our cabin flags, and came up with some cabin rules, then we went to bed. Monday Morning We woke up Monday morning to some refreshing sprinkling rain. […]
