Rainy day activities

[ARam_Kelp]

This summer I will be a lifeguard at a camp where we tend to have thunderstorms every afternoon. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions as to activities that required fairly few materials and that could keep girl scouts busy for about an hour?

[Smudge]

You can do all sorts of games!

Sing down - divide the girls into 2 (or more) groups - and then have a list of random words (frog, boy, girl etc) and then you give both groups the word and then give them a few mins to come up with as many songs that have that word in it as they can - they then take turn about to sing a few lines from the song.

Another one is to take a word (we use commonwealth) and write each letter on a separate sheet - do this for each group. You then give them words that can be made from the letters they have - starting with short 3 or 4 letter words and building up to longer words. As a final challenge have them see if they can come up with long word which uses all the letters. if you want to be really lazy - you can have a different group of girls come up with all the words they can from the long word - combine their lists and you should have a decent list of words.

A similar game is to give each group a set words from a song for example Taps - each word on a seperate card - give each group the same set and see how long it takes to put the words in order.

Hope these help!

[prettysocks]

You can have game board rotations! Bring a bunch of board games (like Life, Monopoly, Checkers, etc) and set them up. Split the girls into small groups (3 or 4) and they play each game for 5-10 minutes, then switch to the next station / board game. You don't start the game new each time, you just pick up where the last group left off!

There's always friendship bracelets, too!

Here's a great resource website. Lots of games, and songs.. http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/games/games.htm

[ARam_Kelp]

Thanks : )
I'll see what i can do. Thunderstorms can be a pain as far as getting anything started. I'm thinking that it may be a good idea to get a Bop it for thunder days because you can rap that game up pretty quickly.

[Smudge]

At my current camp they teach basic first aid if swimming is cancelled cos of a storm!

Talking of storms - we had one to day - big disappoint - on clap of thunder and a flash of lightening - when you love thunderstorms it is a huge disappointment!

[prettysocks]

Since you said they happen often... For variety..

Throw some fun music on, and have a dace party one afternoon!

Have an impromptu talent show! Designate a stage area and a time limit of 3 minutes, and take turns!

Put some active music on and have a cardio class! It could include kickboxing moves, jumping jacks, pushups, situps, stretching, running on the spot, and fun dance moves that get you moving! You'd be surprized how much fun it will be!

If you planned ahead, you could also probably find a fun service project to do during the time. Nursing homes / Elderly homes often appreciate small "table gifts" to go with meal trays for the folks (for summer, you could make cheery flowers from tissue paper and a small card with poem attached with ribbon, or make something for autumn - talk to the management at a nursing home near your camp). Or, often charities are looking for money rollers, to roll donations of pennies and dimes for them; That could be another service project. These things don't have to be lead on as work, either. Pump the music and be excited!

[ARam_Kelp]

Ipromptu talent shows are fun, and so are acting games. Last year one our counselors made a group do a syncronized swim ruetine on a rainy day. My main problem is entertaining the 14-16 year olds. I guess in a lot of cases they can entertain themselves but still I'm sort of OCD about having things planned.

[andrea_leigh_j]

i am a huge fan of the giant game of clue. where the counselors are suspects. campers are split into teams of 2 or 3, and have to go around collecting clues from the counselors. when a team figures out the right counselor, what item they used(ex. hoola hoop, noodle, basketball...) to commit the crime, and where(ex. swim steps, valley ball court, dining hall...), they are the winners. this game has to be planned a little bit ahead though, in order to hand out assignments to counselors on what they are supposed to tell the kids.

[Cocoa]

hemp, beads, gimp, paper, crayons, glue, popsicle sticks, movie/music --> I think you're set for an afternoon of independent entertainment..maybe add a checkers board and soccer ball (if you've got the space) for those who want to do group activities

organized games: murder handshake, angel-killer-detective, human knot, drip-drip-drop...