Dear Girlguiding
Answering your questions about planning camps away
Illustrations by Hikimi/agencyrush.com
Dear Girlguiding, I’m taking my unit away on camp next year and I am wondering about themes or things I can do to make it really fun. Do you have any tips or advice on how to do this?
It doesn’t get more Girlguiding than camping. From toasting marshmallows around a campfire to playing wide games in the sunshine - camps are a highlight for so many Girlguiding members.
A theme can make a Girlguiding camping adventure really special. Whether it's based on a book or a film, the location where you’re camping, or something else entirely, themes can transform a camp so that no two experiences are quite the same.
We chatted to volunteers, Gemma and Maddie, who are experts at bringing a theme to life on camp. They told us how they create a brilliant camping experience for girls, right from the moment they pitch their tent, to when they head home with their camp survivor badge.
When Gemma, a Guide and Ranger leader in East Sussex, took over her unit from a leader who famously ran brilliant themed camps - she knew she and the team had a lot to live up to.
’We started off with small things, but it's just skyrocketed! Guides get their official invite a week before camp to tell them what the theme is, and the leaders all take on a character and wear costumes.'
’This year, we did a Wonderland-themed camp. Before we went, the Guides all received a playing card with their invite printed on the back. The suit of the playing card indicated what patrol they were going to be in on camp. And they were given neckers with their suit stitched on.’
- Guide and Ranger leader, East Sussex
Taking on a character to fit with the camp's theme has become a highlight for Gemma and her team. In character, they each run a specific activity, like making clay pots with the 'absolutely potty' Mad Hatter or decorating teacups with Alice.
Gemma's found that using characters helps to make even the least popular aspects of camp fun:
’There are always jobs that you have to do on camp, but we use the theme to try and make them fun. For example, cleaning the toilets was done under the orders of the leader playing the Queen of Hearts. We just make things as silly as we can to make them fun, and it means we get a week of being silly and being in character ourselves.’
Something the girls always look forward to on Gemma's unit camps is the big themed wide game, played in the evening. Wide games are activities run outdoors in large areas, and Gemma’s are usually very elaborate, and very popular with the girls!
’This year, we ran an escape room-style wide game in the woods - which served as Wonderland. The Guides had to drink a 'potion' to get into Wonderland and figure out how to get back out again. In 'Wonderland', they met all of the different characters who each had a different task for them.
’We had everything from the caterpillar with a smoke machine to the Mad Hatter at a tea party! When the Guides had completed all the tasks, they'd find a box with 'eat me' written on it with a biscuit inside - then they could eat the biscuit and escape Wonderland.’
Camps are also a great opportunity for girls to learn new skills and try out new things.
’We usually try to have a couple of older girls in each patrol so they can look after the younger ones. We really try and make it so that they learn how to look after themselves at camp. We do things like a ‘”who can get the tent up the fastest?’” competition and have the Queen of Hearts do tent inspections.
’Cooking tends to take the whole afternoon. We give them a tray with all the equipment they need, basic cooking instructions and they work it out. It's amazing how much they can do when they're just left to do it themselves.’
Top tip
Gemma's biggest tip for pulling off a themed camp is quite simple: get excited!
’Imagine that you are that 10-year-old, and this is your first camp. You want to wow them. You want them to say: "this is what it's all about!". Sometimes, it’s the little details that can really make it - like using playing cards for the Wonderland camp. It's anything you can bring the theme to, or twist so that it fits in with your theme.
’Get a really good team around you and work out what everyone’s strengths are. And use your team - don't try and do everything yourself.
’It really is just about having fun, being enthusiastic, and enjoying it. Know that you've taught these kids something they might not have learned anywhere else, even if you've just taught them that they can learn while being silly and enthusiastic. And don’t feel too proud to be a ridiculous Mad Hatter or a silly Alice - the kids will love it, and you’ll get a sense of enjoyment out of it too.’
Volunteer Maddie is the chair of Girlguiding's adventure & international youth panel, a new youth panel we’ve set up to keep girl voice at the heart of adventure in Girlguiding (you’ll hear more about this panel early next year).
Maddie, has spent her summers at American Girl Scout camps for 7 years now, and she told us all about the fantastic themes and activities they've pulled off, along with her top tips for running great low-cost, low-resource themed activities.
’I work on camps for 8-10 weeks over the summer, and we have weekly programme themes that the girls come in for. We've done everything from a Hunger Games-themed camp, complete with archery, bushcraft and leaf identification, to a Taylor Swift-themed camp with evening dance parties and friendship bracelet-making.’
Like Gemma, one of Maddie's favourite parts of a camp is the wide game.
’I've got more creative in the past 7 years in terms of thinking about what’s feasible to run. I love a wide game with multiple steps, but sometimes the things that work best are the simplest. When I’m creating a wide game, I think the easiest thing to do is to have 4 or 5 rotating activity stations that fit your theme.
’For example, I ran an international selection recently and had stations all themed around internationals. Girls had to pin the WAGGGS world centres on a map and plan how they'd get there, come up with an A-Z of fundraising ideas, and make up a silent skit to overcome a language barrier.’
How to play Maddie's 'murder mystery' wide game
1. Split the girls into 2 groups, pretend a murder has taken place on camp, and the leaders are the suspects! Set them the task of finding out who's guilty.
3. Bonus: you could give the groups a big map of the camp, so they could put pins in or draw where each volunteer was at the time of the murder.
2. Give each group a different list of suspects to interview. They should find out where they were and who they were with at the time of the murder. Leaders should make sure most alibis make sense and fit with each other, but one shouldn't fit with the rest - they're the culprit!
4. Get the 2 groups to come together to share their knowledge, they'll find out which alibis fit with the others, and which one sticks out! They can then make a group decision about who to accuse.
1. Split the girls into 2 groups, pretend a murder has taken place on camp, and the leaders are the suspects! Set them the task of finding out who's guilty.
2. Give each group a different list of suspects to interview. They should find out where they were and who they were with at the time of the murder. Leaders should make sure most alibis make sense and fit with each other, but one shouldn't fit with the rest - they're the culprit!
3. Bonus: you could give the groups a big map of the camp, so they could put pins in or draw where each volunteer was at the time of the murder.
4. Get the 2 groups to come together to share their knowledge, they'll find out which alibis fit with the others, and which one sticks out! They can then make a group decision about who to accuse.
’You can also make decorating the space one of the first activities when girls arrive,’ Maddie said. ’Have a craft table set up where girls can make things like bunting to fit in with the theme. The girls then get a sense of ownership over the space too.
’The biggest thing is your enthusiasm and engagement with the theme. Be whimsical and sell it. Talking to the girls all day in pirate voice can feel quite funny, but the more engaged you are with it, the more engaged they'll be - even if there is some eye rolling from the teenagers!’
Maddie's 3 themed activity ideas
Pirate theme
Treasure hunt breakfast - all the ingredients for breakfast are hidden around the property or campsite, and girls have to hunt for the food items before they eat, just like pirates on a treasure hunt!
Taskmaster theme
Put the girls in groups and list challenges for them to complete. You could include challenges like: list as many animals as you can in one minute, transform a team member so they're unrecognisable, write a jingle about your favourite food.
Fashion theme
Have a trash fashion outfit competition - all you need iIs a roll of bin bags and tape.
Top tip
Maddie's top tip? ’Have some whimsy. And be as enthusiastic as possible.’
Don't forget that we've got lots of advice for taking girls on residentials on our website: Events and going away including how to run a residential and practical tips for planning.
We've also got information on how to complete the Going Away With scheme – something you’ll need to do to take girls away: Going Away With Scheme.
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