Happy Summer 2019 everyone! The staff have been hard at work since last week prepping Crystal Lake Camps for this upcoming summer and we are very excited to share all the exciting programs and activities we’ll be providing for 2019. Some are classics, some shiny and new, but all of them will be a fun unique experience we can’t wait to express through God!
One new insightful program we are extremely excited to share with you is something we’re calling Metaphysical Activity Period. We’ve all seen the fun assemblies put on after breakfast to start off the day. These assemblies usually include a fun metaphysical insight that brings a lesson and thought for how to go about the day as God’s child. We’ve seen skits, music videos, songs, a puppet show, group discussions, and an occasional surprise here or there to provide an interactive way to bring the Bible and teachings of Mrs. Eddy to every day camp life.
What the Metaphysical Activity Period will provide is a more in-depth experience for the entire camp during the first period hour of the day. In the past couple days, staff have been working on planning sessions to brainstorm lessons from the Bible and Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures that we can highlight and dig deeper into.
The whole camp will stay together to learn and interact with one another on specific metaphysical topics. Some of the exciting lessons we’ve started highlighting are Mrs. Eddy’s “Taking Offense” from Miscellaneous Writings, the Sermon on the Mount, Jacob struggling with the angel, the parable of the talents, the importance of gratitude, Romans 8, Noah’s Ark, the tares and the wheat, how to use the Science & Health‘s “Glossary,” the “Scientific Statement of Being,” Mrs. Eddy’s interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer, and many more.
This hour-long activity period allows campers to spend quality time with the staff learning more about how to implement Christian Science in their daily lives out in the world. We’ve planned obstacle courses, arts and crafts projects, game shows, trust exercises, and nature hikes to provide an interactive learning experience around the camp while reminding campers of all the resources available to them within our pastors – the Bible and Science & Health.
We are so excited to start these Metaphysical Activity Periods, or, as we’ve affectionately been calling them – MAPs – with the hope that these lessons will enable campers to “map” out their day with Christian Science. (Pun intended).
Also new this summer is the Design Olympics!
Run by counselor Daniel Bort (who is studying environmental engineering at State University of New York College of Environmental Engineering and Forestry) the Design Olympics is an engineering focused program available to campers aged 14 to 17 for second and third session. A two-period class, the Design Olympics will focus on the importance of teamwork and collaboration on engineering projects that allow for hands-on construction through multiple problem-solving and creative thinking outlets.
Some of the activities the campers will be doing will involve learning about sustainable architectural structures by building their own popsicle bridges. They’ll then test their durability by weighing the bridges down with sandbags. They’ll do the good ol’ egg drop by testing their flying contraptions from the high ropes course. And, to top it all off, campers will learn about isometric and orthographic drawings to help them build a structure from just a thought to a real final product.
Overall, when I asked Daniel what he was most excited about for the program and what it would provide for campers, he said that the ultimate goal is to help campers strive to collaborate on a project that is their own original thought By using CC as their resource, campers will be able to hone their unbridled creativity and see their product come to fruition as a team.
Not only will Design Olympics provide a class program, but also there will be an overnight geared specifically for the Design Olympics campers to spend three days and two nights solely focused on some engineering adventures! Daniel doesn’t want to give too much away, but he said there might be some shelter building involved …
Design Olympics does have a fee for any campers interested, and you can sign up prior to coming to camp on our website! You can find more information under the Summer Camp Programs and Activities 2019 page. (This link will take you straight to that page!) On this page you will also find available information for our horseback riding programs! Horseback riding classes are available as a single period course, or campers can sign up for a full program called Hands-on-Horsemanship.
We are five days away from the beginning of First Session and we couldn’t be more excited to greet everyone and kick off the start of Summer 2019! You can keep updated on all our fun adventures and activities through our multiple social media outlets – Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat (CLC1676).
Photos from each session will be posted on our SmugMug where you can view photos that are constantly going to uploaded throughout the day. You can purchase photos here as well! You can find the photos taken during Staff Training of our staff getting camp prepped in the Staff Training 2019 folder.
We will also be posting a new blog recapping the previous day every morning so you can stay in tune and in touch with all the good happening! The blog will be posted every day on our Facebook page, but if you’d like to subscribe, you will find a box to put your email to the right of this blog post!
Happy Summer everyone! See you soon!
– Zoë
Social Media Director/Photographer
zoe@crystallakecamps.org
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