Summer is finally here and the campers are on their way…literally. In the meantime, last night was Staff MTV Night, and it very entertaining to say the least. Animal themes were the trend this year. We were treated to acts featuring elephants, squirrels, and dogs (lots of dogs). Boy bands also held their own. The Backstreet Boys, in particular, are practically mandatory (in a good way) at every Camp Starlight MTV Night event. Dances contained a fair amount of Harlem Shake and even a touch of Gangnam Style. The Camp Starlight Support Staff got in on the action this year with an extremely entertaining number that wowed everyone. We’re not going to tell you which division won because, as everyone knows, that’s a surprise we save for the MTV Night Finals here at Camp Starlight when the entire camp gets to see the act for themselves. Let’s just say that it was truly a group effort; very creative, original, and had the entire audience rolling with laughter during the performance and on its feet at the end. The lip syncing wasn’t too shabby either. In short, it touched on everything the judges will be looking for when the camper MTV Night divisional competitions begin in just a couple of weeks! We’ll see you soon!
Posts Tagged ‘camp fun’
While We Wait for the Campers to Arrive…
Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
Signs It’s Almost Time for Camp
Thursday, May 30th, 2013
You’re counting down the time left in the school year in days, not weeks or months.
You start almost every sentence with, ‘When I get to camp…’
An area in your room has been designated as the gathering place for things you intend to take to camp—and the collection is starting to grow rather large.
You find yourself imagining that moment on arrival day when you step off the bus and your camp friends come running toward you
You’ve pulled your camp trunk out of its winter storage location.
You’ve already started your visiting day treat list.
You and your camp friends have started speculating about the names of this year’s Olympic teams…and whether this year you will be wearing blue or white during Olympic week.
Your stomach jumps every time a “camp song” from last year comes on the radio.
You and your camp friends have already started wagering about what this year’s camp songs will be.
You’ve started a mental “to do” list for the summer.
Staff has already started arriving at camp for the summer.
You chant Dining Room cheers at the kitchen table.
While reading this, you mentally tried to calculate how many more days there are until camp starts (24) because you can’t wait.
F-U-N!
Thursday, March 7th, 2013
In an age where our eight year old kids know more about technology than some Fortune 500 CEO’s, it is apparent that children are “growing up” at a rate faster than anytime before. There’s no doubt parents everywhere find themselves frantically Googling terminology, mathematical equations, and whatever these dangling participles are to save face when “helping” their kids with homework every evening. Did I ever learn this?!? I thought I did these projects in college! What exactly is the difference between kinetic and potential energy again? It’s mind blowing to look on as a fourth grader puts together an Excel spreadsheet with the expertise of a veteran accountant.
While it is encouraging to know that if this whole 7th grade thing doesn’t work out, a kid can take over in the accounts payable department at my company, you have to wonder if all of this stuff might be also turning our kids into far too serious people much too fast. Whatever happened to good old fashioned fun? At Camp Starlight fun is something that we still hold as important, vital, and a key principle to our summer program.
When our campers exit the buses on opening day, they leave behind the long days of sitting in desks, staring at computer screens, and daydreaming through the windows 
about the great outdoors. They know the days ahead will be full of a glorious thing called fun! Starlight’s daily program areas are specifically designed for our campers to discover new hobbies, sports, and talent and give them the opportunity to improve and enjoy activities with which they are already familiar. Every area is open for exploration! Parents are always surprised to hear that their sports obsessed sons have wowed the Starlight community with amazing performances in their division’s theater production. They are jumping for joy when they check the daily photos and find their “shy, quiet” child decked out in some crazy get-up, hands in the air, dancing with 15 of their nearest and dearest. We are right there with them, reveling in the excitement of kids just being kids.
The power of play and the idea that it is ok to let loose and have fun has an incredibly positive impact on kids. Camp Starlight is dedicated to providing our campers with the constant opportunity to enjoy being a kid. Every night our campers enter a world of game shows, obstacle courses, mad science labs, and more. And head to sleep each might dreaming of what the next day may bring. Whether producing an original film in Video, waterskiing around the lake, perfecting a magic trick, or dribbling a basketball for the first time, they can and will do it! So here’s to counting down to 2013 bringing another summer jam packed with F-U-N!!!
Lindsay
Camp Starlight Bucket List
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
Camp is a place filled with so many amazing and fun things to do. While most of the things you do at camp are structured, you still have so much you can do on your own to create memories that will last a lifetime. This Starlight Bucket List has been created so you get the most out of your experience at camp.
1. Pass your Swim Test
2. Dive to the bottom of the lake and touch the sand
3. Go on the water trampoline
4. Learn how to water ski
5. Paddle Board
6. Go down the Zip line
7. Learn a new sport
8. Get a bull’s-eye in archery
9. Join a Wayne County Team
10. Score in a Wayne County Game
11. Sit in the toilet seat at Oz
12. Ride all the roller coasters at Dorney
13. Get up and shake your napkin
14. Skip around the pole
15. Raise the flag
16. Make an announcement on the PA
17. Lose your voice
18. Wear a crazy outfit for no apparent reason
19. Appear in the Week in Review
20. Participate in a Conga line through the Dining Hall during a meal
21. Wear a Fedora on Friday
22. Participate in services
23. Win Spirit of Starlight
24. Land a spot in the finals of MTV Night
25. Earn a Square Dancing Bracelet
26. Run the Slope for Lope
27. Wake up at reveille for Polar Bear Club
28. Win Honor Bunk
29. Become an Eagle/Mench
30. Rush the Lake
31. Find your favorite spot on camp
32. Have a Slush Puppy with every flavor mixed in
33. Eat a burger at cookout with everything on it (including watermelon)
34. Start a new tradition
35. Create a song or cheer about everyone in your bunk, and then sing it every year during Challenge Week
36. Start a cheer
37. Win a Wayne County Championship
38. Make friends with people outside of your bunk
39. Make friends with people outside of your division
40. Be an Olympic Captain
41. Participate in Rope Burn
42. Write an Alma Mater
43. Find the hatchet
44. Win Olympics
45. Win Sing
46. Be accused of something in Heavenly Court
47. Make your camp siblings a gift in arts and crafts
48. Watch the sunset over the lake
49. See a shooting star
50. Make friendships that will last a lifetime
What’s on your bucket list? Send us an email at info@campstarlight.com and let us know. We may publish it in a future blog…Hey, you can even add that to the list… write a blog for Camp Starlight….
Hayley
Crazy Days and Whacky Nights
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
Parents, do you ever log onto your computer to check out the camp photos for the day, see your child painted in blue from head to toe or maybe wearing a crazy wig and big nerdy glasses and wonder, ‘What in the world?’ The answer probably has something to do with your summer camp’s special events and evening activities. For fifty plus nights (and some days) summer camps entertain your children with some of the zaniest games and wackiest contests that they can come up with. Why? Because it’s fun to be painted in blue from head to toe…seriously. Or at least it is when your bunk is performing a dance to the Smurfs theme in front of the entire camp and you’re Papa Smurf—or Smurfette. And seeing images of your children and their counselors slipping, sliding, and splashing around in what appears to be multi-colored goo…it’s a camp thing…a really fun camp thing. Eye patches are always fun. So is spending a day pretending to be pirates and searching for buried treasure. Becoming a secret agent and collecting clues to decode a message or pretending to be wild animals is also a great way to spend that occasional non-program day. From trivia contests to talent contests and everything in between, some of the greatest moments of summer camp happen during the crazy days and wacky nights!
