Camp Kupugani Blog
7 Simple Ways to Keep Your Day-to-Day Contented
At our Midwest summer camp, we strive to have our community be content, even (or especially) when challenges arise. In folks’ day-to-day existence, maintaining that positive outlook might be harder than when one is playing outside in the sun. It can be done! Studies have shown that many people are not happy at work for lack of seeing success in their every day. Check out below for a summary of some tips and tricks from the good folks at Barking Up the Wrong Tree, to see that you can shape Read more…
7 Tips to Sustaining Happy Families
At our Midwest summer camp (west of Chicago), we try to create a community that functions like a good family. The best families recognize that there should be intentionality to help make that happen. A recent article from Tesh.com underscores some strategies that work well to create loving and respectful households. Bullets below, with the whole article available at this link. #1: Share your family’s story. Helps kids feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves. Knowing what the family has gone through and overcome, prepares kids to face Read more…
Ways to Help Kids Understand Consent
As a parent of a pre-teen, a director of a summer camp, and as a person who wishes he could have done even more to stop bad things from happening to good people, events of the past few years have in my mind, served to normalize sexual assault. As a parent of a pre-teen, a director of a summer camp, and as a person who wishes he could have done even more to stop bad things from happening to good people, events of the past few years have in my Read more…
7 Ways to Minimize Worrying
At our Midwest summer camp, we strive to help our campers live well in the moment, and take away worries. After all, what better time to be worry-free than when you’re a kid! As adults and children, there are multiple ways that we can help with the process. A recent blog from the good folks at Barking up the Wrong Tree has some useful tips. Bullets below, with the full piece at this link. Build your mindfulness muscles: Accept, label, redirect attention. Practice daily. Find your canaries: The most dangerous emotions are Read more…
Empower Your Child for a Future Work World
At our overnight summer camp outside of Chicago, we help prepare our campers to maximize their development. For our mindful, intentional parents, from counselor and therapist Phyllis Fagell, here are some good tools to empower your child and prepare for their future work world. Bullets below, with the full blog available at this link. Cultivate “big likings” Encourage kids to explore new interests. Even a simple project can be life-changing. Ask kids to list their 10 most meaningful experiences. This will help them understand what drives them. Teach them to Read more…
5 Perspective Shifts to Keep You Happy
At our summer camp in the Midwest, we strive to help our campers empower themselves. One way is to maintain a positive life perspective. From the good folks at Barking Up the Wrong Tree, here are some tricks to keep your perspective positive. Amor Fati: Merely “accepting” life is not enough. You need the Platinum Pro package. Love every bit of life, good, bad, and ugly. (Yes, that includes traffic.) Denial And Complaining Are The Enemy: Whatever it is, you will accept it eventually. So sooner is better. And whining Read more…
20 Myths About Summer Camp
Myth #1: Camp isn’t for everyone. Myth #2: Summer camp isn’t educational. Myth #3 – You have to sleep in tents. Myth #4 – You will not survive without electronics! Myth #5 – Camp is just for kids. Myth #6- You can catch poison ivy from someone who has it. Myth #7- Camp food tastes bad. Myth #8- You can’t make a campfire when it’s raining. Myth #9- There’s no electricity or running water. Myth #10- Crate stacking is easy. Myth #11- Rainy days ruin outdoor camptivities. Myth #12- 9 Read more…
15 Ways to Cope with “Camp-sickness”
Now that it’s autumn and campers are trying to find rhythm of the new school year and trying to get used to non-camp life, sometimes there can be a struggle missing the good times you had over the summer. Here are 15 ways to cope with camp-sickness! (1) Write to your camp friends. (2) Teach your friends/family camp songs. (3) Tie-dye EVERYTHING you own. (4) Stalk the Kupugani facebook/instagram pages. (5) Do the Kupugani Beat after every meal. (6) Wear some Kupugani swag. (7) Sing the announcement song every time Read more…
Final Reflections on the Anatomy of Peace
Here at Camp Kupugani, we name our cabins after influential people throughout history. One is named for Mahatma Gandhi, who voiced many inspirational thoughts during his life. One such quote from the Indian activist is “be the change you want to see in the world”. What does this quote mean to you? In previous blogs regarding The Anatomy of Peace, we have discussed “self-deception” boxes and how to escape those boxes by supporting and challenging ourselves as individuals. Now we will briefly discuss the resulting potential change and how the Read more…
More Reflections on the Anatomy of Peace
Our last blog regarding the Anatomy of Peace discussed getting out of the boxes of objectifying others; this forms the basis of the pyramid of change. Once we have exited the box, we can build relationships, actively listen to support people, and challenge people to bring about their own changes. The Anatomy of Peace explains that–for us to solve a problem at one level of the pyramid, we need to focus on building a stronger relationship–a the deeper level of the pyramid of change. (I.e. I might be willing to Read more…
How to Overcome Self Deception
After reading The Anatomy of Peace, we choose a few aspects of this thought-provoking work to apply to our values here at camp. The book elucidates four kinds of “self-deception boxes” we can get into – the four ways that we can see others as objects rather than seeing them as people. The boxes are: “Better-than” box – you see yourself as better than other people. They’re not as human as you because you simply are better. “I-deserve” box – The key word is entitlement. You don’t see others as Read more…
5 Tips on Raising Emotionally Intelligent Kids
At our Midwest summer camp, we are intentional at striving to maximize our campers’ emotional intelligence. A recent blog from the good folks at Barking up the Wrong Tree has some great advice along those lines. Bullets below: Be aware of emotions: Canaries. Coal mines. Sometimes you can ignore the words but if you ignore the underlying feelings you’re going to be cleaning spaghetti off the walls. Emotion is an opportunity for intimacy and teaching: The best lessons about dealing with emotions are learned when things get emotional. Yes, this Read more…
