Encouraging Kids to Create Their Own Games for Summer Camp

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When planning a kids’ camp, games are usually a primary focus, and for a good reason. After all, children are meant to play; it’s a healthy part of development – one that expresses a type of carefree joy that adults often miss. However, coordinators often pay too much attention to outside resources for their games. One excellent idea that many people often neglect is having the kids create their own games. So, what would be the advantages to such an idea?

Craft Time Fun

Craft time, like game time, is an important part of kids’ camp that can leave coordinators desperately searching for ideas. Finding the right craft – one that’s easy, but not too boring or cliché – can be stressful. So why not combine game time and craft time for double the fun and half the hassle?

The kids will be sure to enjoy brainstorming with each other and watching their ideas come to life. This is a wonderful way to spark creativity and encourage the kids to help one another in the process.

Solving the “What to Play” Dilemma

One of the few dilemmas that children are faced with in their young lives is this: “What to play?” That question can either arise from too many game options or not enough. Even with a variety of games, kids often grow bored quickly and want to move on to bigger and better things.

If the kids can create their own games, that dilemma is easily solved. They will naturally want to play the games they have created. In addition, if they start to grow bored, they can brainstorm new twists to make things fun and interesting once more. This process can provide hours, days, or a whole week of entertainment that a normal game schedule could not provide.

The types of games that the kids create can range anywhere from carnival-style to large scale. Instead of placing limitations on what they can and can’t make, encourage them to think outside the box. A variety of different types of games is good so that you can structure your schedule accordingly.

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages to having the kids create their own games is that you can reuse the particularly good games for future events. You can tweak their ideas to perfection and then use them to entertain attendees for years to come. Even better, you can use past games to inspire those kids to make their own. There is truly no end to the benefits of this novel, unique idea. It’s sure to be a hit both with the kids and with your entire planning committee. It’s an inexpensive, fun, and easy way to make any kids’ camp a blast.

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