Help with craft camp ideas (there are teen boys coming)!!!

[aliasgracie]

Of course I have gone and left this until the last minute!!!
I start Monday and it goes 5 days.
I have 12 kids ages 6-14 (the younger ones are very craft-abled)  I just found out there are 4 older boys coming!!!  There goes doing Kanzashi flowers!

Here is what I have: (I have to keep them busy for 1hr)
paper masche (sp???) bowls
duct tape wallets
larger gem magnets (back decorated with sharpies)
maybe origami (anymore elaboration?)
pony bead keychains (I have to find patterns)
shrinky dink stuff???

My budget for this is under $100.  I have a Micheal's store here and a Dollarama (I love Dollarama)

Any ideas?  Please......

[mystarstyle11]

For the girls you could get some cheap plastic headbands or something and they could decorate them. Also, they could make journals; duct tape journals that is. Just get lots of lined paper (with holes), a hole punch (to punch holes in the front duct tape cover), and metal rings or yarn to bind with. Oh and paint markers or sharpies too! I've been making them just for fun and they work wonderfully!

[Jillie]

Your ideas sound good.

Maybe try a "treasure chest"-- get small cardboard/paper boxes and let the kids decorate them.  We always do that at the summer camp I've volunteered at.

Mini-sculptures: get small pieces of cardboard, wood, etc. and  glue together and decorate with paint etc.

Book making: staple small papers together, have a selection of "fancy" paper (wrapping paper works) as covers, and draw/write to fill them up


Here's some threads about crafts kids can make:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=87976.0
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=139307.0
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=102808.0

[aliasgracie]

Thanks mystarstyle11!  This boys being there is screwing me up!!  I want to have all the kids do the same thing so that I can stretch the budget!!!

[mystarstyle11]

You're welcome! I'm going to camp in three days as well. Only I'm a camper. Oh! And if you have an oven that you could use, there is this recipe for this salt dough stuff. What you do is make the dough, mold it to your liking, and bake it in the oven for a few hours. =] Then you can buy paint and paint it. Just let me know if you would like the "recipe" for it (if you have an oven at camp).

[aliasgracie]

Homemade hacky sacks.  Do you think those will take up enough time??  If they use sharpies or fabric markers??

[mystarstyle11]

Hmm.. yes. =] Like the ones made from sand and balloons or what?

[aliasgracie]

I can bake them at home...and bring back the stuff but it is 35C out.  On the BBQ:)
I hope your camp rocks!!!

[aliasgracie]

Socks and beans

[mystarstyle11]

Yep sounds great! And thank you! I've been to this camp before though this is my first year doing the Youth Camp. My friend invites me every year.

[mystarstyle11]

Oh! I have one more idea: Picture frames! =D Well, bye now! Good luck with camp!

[hello color!]

Origami is a wonderful idea! I loved origami when I was little, and I'm really into origami now. Also, it has been studied in kids about that age, and it's been shown effective in developing kids' brains. All you'd have to buy is a pack of multicolored paper. Assuming you have a paper cutter, it would take no time to cut it to the right size. (Or if you can find one of those "dollar" books to make dollar origami, kids like that too, I know I did.)

There are many instructions available online, plus libraries probably have books. Maybe you should have a couple different things that kids can choose to do? Also, some will be better at it than others, so the faster ones can help the slower ones, and with extra instructions, they can make more items. Boxes are useful, and then, some flowers and some easier animals? Just no ninja stars! Or good luck stars, those are somewhat difficult to get right away. I liked making hats out of newspaper, too, so make sure to have that! The older kids will probably be too cool to wear newspaper hats, but if the younger ones never made anything like that, they'll have fun looking silly   

[GrandTheftUno]

I went to an arts and crafts camp with my brother one year. I was ten and he was 12. Some of the more fun/time consuming activities were making paper mache hats, tie dye and origami. I also liked rock painting (go outside, find a fist size rock, and use the shape of the rock to inspire what you paint on it. mine was  a ladybug and my brothers was a cheetah head.)

[craftyhandbags]

I run an afterschool program for elementary age kids, and they always love making slime!

The recipe:
Solution A:
mix together-
2T glue
2T water
few drops of food coloring

and in a separate cup

Solution B:
mix together until Borax is dissolved-
1/4t Borax powder(or 1/2t Boraxo powdered soap)(found @ Walmart)
2T water

Pour glue/water mix into Borax mix and stir until it globs up.  Pull it out and play!  The more you play with it the less slippery it is.  ***This will stick to anything but plastic- put plastic down and keep off clothes!***  Store in a plastic snack size zipper bag and it will last a few weeks.

You can also make icecream in ziploc bags.  I lost my recipe, but I got it at FamilyFun.com.

Enjoy!

[aliasgracie]

Aww, you people rock!!  The peeps have come through again!!  Thank you.

[Skrabadoo]

I used to teach the 8th grade and I taught all my students to make hemp bracelets near the end of the year.  Even the boys liked it and grade 8 boys are hard to please.  Just make sure you have plain beads (e.g. wood) so they can make manly bracelets.

[mllejessy]

I know a lot of teen librarians who have had success with gocks (goth sock puppets, which just entertains the hell out of me).  You could do all sorts of sock puppet-y things.
I would also just have paper and colored pencils for anyone who just wants to draw.  Boys who are turned off by "craft" can sometimes be convinced by "art".  Silly, but true!

[akehurstm]

Paper Mache masks are great. You use the stuff that casts are made of, which isn't very expensive. And boys love getting their faces all goey.

Tie-dye is also a good option for boys, which I find love anything that is "messy." We used white fabric sheets at goodwill to tie dye if you need cheap, and made bandanas, bags and all sorts of things. Another great option is "fake batik" but you might not want the hot wax around the other kids. Sunprints and silkscreening are also good things.

You might also want to try freezer paper stencils. That way the boys can get really creative with it, yet you can have some really simple designs for the younger kids to trace.

[IamSusie]

No one has mentioned catapults: http://familyfun.go.com/parenting/learn/activities/feature/famf199611_learnproj1/famf199611_attendants.html

My son made something similar to this at Cub Scout Camp.  The kids launched ping pong balls at each other or targets for a while after making them.  Girls like catapults too.


You can also do a group building activity.  This one used newspaper to construct a dome: http://www.creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_4.html

We did this with our scouts and challenged them to make the tallest structure they could.  You could also challenge them to make a giant dome, or they have to make something structurally sound...

Have fun!  It is a challenge to design activities for such a big age spread!

[kaykayelle]

Well, I was stuck in the "art room" at my camp for the first week, and the big thing with them was the glitter- which I don't recommend as per the cleanup, but teen boys and glitter don't quite mix.

We also had a giant bag of assorted sized pom-poms and pretty much all of them (We're 5 - 13 years) liked making animals out of them with pipe cleaners for arms and such. Maybe you could make that into something geared toward older kids.

But teen boys are so finicky. My brother is 14 and I'm trying to think of a craft he'd actually do and I'm stumped.


Maybe clay? Or lanyard (the "box" and the cobra stitches are quite popular)? T-shirt decoration?

[SpottedFrog]

I did batik earlier this summer with 5 kids- ranging from my younger daughter who is 3 to the oldest 2 boys at 8 & 10. we used a mini crock pot to melt the wax. A Crock Pot brand "Little Dipper" to be exact- it worked great. Took a while to melt but kept it melted low enough to not be a serious burn hazard. A manicurist wax melter would do the same.

The dying part was a blast but it takes more than an hour. If you only have one hour a day for Arts & Crafts use 2 days for tye dying, first day tie & dye- leave to set overnight- then next day do the rinsing & hanging up to dry. If your class is early enough they can take them home at the end of the day.

Old school traditional Native American crafts (drums, necklaces, headwear, beading) have plenty of appeal with older boys when presented right. I have seen boys learn all the dances because they were proud to learn & perform things only 'men' were traditionally allowed to do. They sorta forgot they were dancing, and wearing a lot less clothes than normal too ; )

[javastain]

Don't forget the Sunday paper always has Michael's coupons! (I think this is nation wide  )

[aliasgracie]

Thanks everyone!  I think I have the line up any critiquing would be appreciated:  Hacky Sack (socks), Duct Tape wallets, Marble magnets (bigger), Shrinky Dink buttons, terra cotta pencil holders.  Lame? 

[WIPs]

You have papier mache bowls, how about magazine bowls? There's a tutorial in the Home board somewhere. Great for using up all those magazines too.

[melimay]

I have two words for you: Hemp Macrame.  I had the same problem a few years ago. 45 teenage boys and 2 days to plan a weeks worth of activities.  The hemp went over extremely well.  They wanted to do extra  later on in the camp.  I did the same thing with younger boys a few weeks earlier and they were able to do it no problem.  If you don't know how PM me and i'll send you soem info.

[linzo]

I was a camp counselor for 5 summers... don't let those boys rock your boat. Yes, there may be resistance but it isn't anything you can't get through.
You have some awesome stuff lined up, you have put a lot of thought and effort into planning all the projects. Just remember to have fun with your job and the campers will to.

And don't be too afraid of those teen boys... talk to them and show a little interest in what they are doing, I think a lot of times they act that way because they worry that they won't be good at crafts or whatever. But I think you have done a really great job choosing things that they could easily do things that suit their own tastes.
If you make examples of your projects maybe make some in colors or themes they may be interested in.

Don't worry too much they are really not too terrible, sometimes the ones I thought were going to be a pain in my butt were really awesome kids
Good luck I am sure you will do great

p.s. if you have leftover time... do the origami, they will love it. extra bonus points for you if you let the older boys (girls too) choose the ones they want to do and look out of your book or photocopies