Camp Kupugani Blog
What Makes Families Resilient?
Is your family resilient? What are the things you and your family can do to be more resilient? Marianna Pogosyan, Ph.D. shares her expertise and insight in this article from PsychologyToday.com. Family resilience has been defined as the family’s ability to “withstand and rebound from disruptive life challenges, strengthened and more resourceful” (Walsh, 2011, p 149). From decades of research and clinical experience, Dr. Froma Walsh, one of the leading authorities on family resilience, has identified nine processes around the beliefs, organization, and communication of families that can shape their response to adversity. Family resilience, […]
5 Reasons to Avoid Sending Your Child to Camp Kupugani
(1) Your child will probably engage in gleeful repetitive renditions of camp songs for up to 4-6 weeks after camp. You may be tempted to sing along, stomping hands and feet, and potentially violate social norms of your work, home, or other community. (2) Your child might repeatedly admonish you on how and why to use “I statements” to resolve conflicts. (3) Your child might publicly admonish you for leaving food waste on your plate or littering. (4) Your child might be overzealous about their newfound independence after camp. (5) […]
Fun Fall Activities for Kids
As the weather gets cooler and the leaves begin to change color, it’s time to start thinking about how you can help your kids get outdoors and take advantage of all that this amazing season has to offer. Here are 101 fun fall activities for kids: Visit an apple orchard. Make apple crisp. Build a scarecrow stuffed with newspaper. Have an apple cider “tea” party. Bake apple chips. Make an apple stamp. Bob for apples. Make handprint leaves. Jump into a leaf pile. Paint wooden crafts. Make popcorn balls. Create leaf rubbings. Stuff leaves […]
Why Do Teenagers Lie? And What’s a Parent to Do?
Of the many battles to contend with when raising teens, lying can be the most frustrating and debilitating for parents. Thoughts swirl in your head, Why do teenagers lie? Will my teenager always be a liar? Where did my teenager learn this dishonest habit? You might also wonder how to stop your teenager from lying, while feeling deeply frustrated that your teenager continues to lie even though you know they’re not telling you the truth. These feelings are totally normal, but not necessarily helpful when it comes to changing your teenager’s behavior. As difficult as it may seem […]
Dare to Embrace Difference
I hope that you are well, or as well as you can be during these tumultuous times. Depending on your worldview, you might be considering what to do in response to the what you see in the larger world—to defend rights, to counter hateful rhetoric, to rebuild movements and momentum for positive change. I ask that you support Kupugani and our mission to continue to create a version of the world that we want to see—where issues of difference can be celebrated, and our commonalities can be recognized and appreciated. […]
Are You Culturally Competent? Do You Want to Be?
Given the historic levels of what some have deemed a “cultural crisis” in this nation, perhaps now’s as good a time as any to challenge yourself with our cultural competence quiz. Are you culturally competent? (Do you want to be?) Are You Culturally Competent? Find Out Here
Ways Technology Influences Your Child’s Behavior
At our Midwest summer camp, we minimize electronics during camp sessions, to empower our campers to maximize their social development. A recent blog from the good folks at Intelligence for your Life, underscored how electronics influence children’s behavior. Bullets below, with the whole piece available at this link. Developmental psychiatrist Dr. Sara Konrath says that kids today consume three times more screen-based media than they did 50 years ago. They also score 40 percent lower on tests that measure empathy and compassion for others. Videogames are especially harmful because the […]
Where Has the Summer Gone?
Now that summer is officially drawing to a close, let’s take a stroll back through memory lane. We had a wonderful and fun-filled 8 weeks with our boys- and girls-only camps and the ever-growing blended camp. We had campers who: conquered their fears on a 60-foot limestone rock wall, crate stacked 21 milk crates, dam jumped, slept under the stars and peed in the woods. During the Kupu-Olympics, the red and blue teams competed in the three-legged race, gaga, potato sack race, and canoe relay, and somehow they tied every […]
Be a Better Parent: Lessons from Science
At our summer camp near Chicago, we continually try to improve how we as staff and counselors can positively influence our campers. An article from the folks at Barking Up the Wrong Tree offers a few good parental tips. Summary below, with the whole article at the link at the bottom. 1) Peer Pressure Can Be A Good Thing Myth: Peer pressure is always bad, just leading kids to drinking, drugs and vandalism. Fact: The same instinct that makes some kids so vulnerable to peer pressure also makes them better students, friends […]
The Final Two…
Today, is officially the last day for the remaining two summer camp counselors, Hannah and Leah. [From Hannah and Leah] We both want to say a huge thank you to Camp Kupugani, Kevin, Natasha, our fellow co-counselors and the amazing campers for an amazing summer, filled with new friends, laughter, growth and memories. We have had a blast! Reflecting back on the 2017 summer… We both learned that it was okay to be an original individual and not to compare ourselves to others. We also challenged ourselves in activities we […]
How to do the Kupugani Beat!
Have you got that beat? That Kupugani beat? This is a fun camp song that takes some campers and counselors (and camp directors) a lifetime to master! You arrive at camp on the Sunday and are having a great time, when dinner time arrives and returning campers start with the Kupugani beat! So they do it really slow and you think you’re starting to get it, when two words you don’t want to hear happen–“full speed”! And suddenly all that you thought you had disappears and you know nothing again. Don’t […]
No Challenge is Too Big
Have you ever tried slack-lining? No? Neither had I, until I came to Kupugani. There is no feeling like standing on a two and a half inch wide piece of fabric and feeling every muscle in my body functioning to keep me balanced. Determination rushes through my mind that I just want to keep bettering my previous effort, even if it is just one extra step. It’s addictive. I may only be two feet above the ground, but I feel on top of the world, challenging myself and conquering something […]