Little kids blogging--not so scary after all!

Troops worked together on Friday, June 22,  to compose blogs sharing camp experiences from their past week at Deer Trails Girl Scout camp. As the 1990s station of a historical theme celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouts, I spoke with girls about internet as a tool with risk and responsibility, gave them internet safety/netiquette contracts to sign and take home, and then they collaborated on writing with help from their PAs/CITs and troop leaders. Afterwards, some scouts passed around and looked at pieces of an "old" computer that station CITs dissected for the day.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this station possible, including camp director Nan "Carmen" Delwiche who thought of the idea and got us all the laptops and supplies, our CITs Kathryn and Emily who, in addition to tearing apart the computer, helped the entire day running around, typing, and goodness knows what else, and all the parents and troop leaders who cooperated and gave great advice. Enjoy reading!

[PHOTOS TO COME]

[6A Archery]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you do at Archery this week?

We shot balloons and stuffed animals and painted paper plates. We also sling shot stuffed animals.

What did you learn?

To always be safe when using weapons. We especially learned about ready lines and communicating with each other to make sure that everyone is being safe.

Who did you talk to?

We talked to Robin Hood, who taught us how to shoot with the bows and arrows. Katniss and Glimmer were the PAs who helped Robin Hood out.

What did you talk about?

We talked about archery and bows and arrows and the proper way to use them.

Favorite favorite moments?

Favorite moment:
Mackenze: When I hit the bulls eye literally right in the middle.
Emily 1:When I shot the balloon and the stuffed animal attached to it fell down and it made a noise.
Kaite 1:When I shot a balloon and I got a bullseye.
Sarah: When I shot all four arrows at my strawberry ice cream plate.
Neely: When I wasn't shooting arrows, I was shooting the stuffed animals over the tent with sling shots.
Elizabeth: When I hit the bullseye.
Natalie: When I hit less than an inch away from the center.
Miranda: I didn't hit any of my targets, but when I retreived my arrows, I stabbed all the balloons I hadn't popped with the arrows.
Brooke: When I hit the stuffed frog in the neck because the neck was the bullseye.
Katie 2:tryin to shoot the duck with the balloon head.
Julia: Shooting balloons and making our own targets.
Katie 3: Shooting the arrows at the balloons.
Emily 2: I liked to shoot the balloons.

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

We hated a balloon that Julia made because he was ugly and we kept trying to shoot him, but he ended up just popping in her hands. We also tried to shoot a lot of stuffed frogs and we got suckers at the end of the peroid.

Least favorite moments?
When we had to leave.

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

[5C Challenge Course]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you do at Challenge Course this week?

We had to stand everyone on small boxes and had to work together to move the standing skis.

What did you learn?

We learned that we had to work together and one person couldn't just do everything, everyone has to agree and we have to plan ahead. We also learned that when someone doesn't agree and they go and do their own thing it's not going to work. We learned that we had to listen to everyone's ideas.

Who did you talk to?

We talked to eachother and tried to communicate with each other and listened to each other's ideas.

What did you talk about?

We talked about how we could work toegether and what we were doing wrong and how we could fix it.

Favorite/least favorite moments?

Bluejay: My favorite part was the squeeze boxes.
Cat: My favorite part was when we tried to balence the teeter toter (Whale Watch) and we had to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".
Hairspray: My favorite part was the squeeze box where we all had to communicate and work together. IT was fun working together and not fighting.
Rabbit: When we tried to work with the beam skis and the ropes.
Tadpole: My favorite part was trying to stand everyone on the boxes.
Pickles: I liked walking with the planks and the ropes.
Lollipop One: I like the skis and how you had to work together just to move your foot.
Dolphin: My favorite part was when we had to balanece the see saw.
Sweetness: My favorite part was the squeeze boxes.

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

"When Pickles accidentally fell down."
"When we all started laughing just because a bug flew into my hair and got stuck. It was, like, really big."
"When we all tried to fit on the box one way but the person in the middle moved his foot and we all fell back."
"When we were doing the suqeeze box we were to get on it and everyone kept tilting it and everyone fe off the box."
"Lolipop Number Two was holding on to Hairspray's pants when we fell down."
"I named a stick "Studly". He was a stud."

Other moments.


"And when we went swimming in this lake andi t was full of sea weed. It was awesome.
"I like canoeing, especially the tip test.
"When we went canoeing and we did the tip test, I did it with Rabbit and Cat, when we did the tip test it was really funny because the sea weed felt so, so weird."
"I got a leech on my foot."
"I really like the food."
"I liked the walking tacos."
"When Molly got a sliver and she was on the radio."
"When we slept over and we were sleep talking in our sleep." (Followed by a chorus of "That was you?")
"At the pond I caught a big turtle!"
"When Lauren fell into the pond. "
"We caught the biggest turtle."
"I caught two tadpoles. That's how I got my name."
"At archery, you know how my name is Bluejay? I saw a dead Bluejay."
"Me and Lolipop One, we found a dead skunk in the woods".
"At the lake I found someone's watch."
"My team won the scavenger hunt. "
"For archery, I put a stuff animals and balloons and a plate on the
"Today during latrine duty, my and Rabbit went to go pick berries and she wouldn't let me near any."
"I was picking up plate and I think my balloon got to close to an arrow."
My hands are still purple from the berries."

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

[1A/Peewees Water Station]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you each do at Water Station this week?

Wegot to play with water a lot.
When we got to slide down the water slide.
Swimming in the lake.
The pool we got to slide into.
Its fun.
Swimming with Dory.
How we swim.
Climbing up the water slide.
Everything.
When we climbed up the slide and fell down.
slide down the slide and slashed at the end.
Climbing back up the side.

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

[7A Woodshop]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you do at Woodshop this week?

 gahfd
We made pencil boxes out of wood, then we decorated them with markers, beads, and flowers.

What did you learn?

How to properly hammer a nail into a piece of wood, and how to smooth wood with sanding paper.

Who did you talk to?

The Woodshop instructor, there were no P.A.'s or C.I.T's :(, but our unit leader was there also.

What did you talk about?

We talked about a lot of things: what shellac is made of, woodshop safety, how to use all the tools safely, and the importance of wearing safety glasses while working in the workshop.

Favorite/least favorite moments?

We liked decorating the pencil boxes, and the fact that the decorations didn't fall off, it was fun to work with the hot glue gun instead of a glue stick or Elmers glue.

It was frustrating when we sometimes hammered the nails in the wrong spot, or hurt our fingers trying to get the nails into the wood.

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

Spaghetti and Sunshine where unable to come and felt super awkward during blogging time because they nothing to contribute, and just worked on lacing the whole time, which the C.I.T helping, Pookey, didn't mind at all because she helps run the lacing station at camp.

The instructor told us that his daughter comes to camp, and the whole troops was running late for their next activity so he was stuck cleaning all the dishes for the whole troop!

* Also at the sleepover we got to look at Saturn through I telescope which we all thought was cool.

In the morning after the sleep over S'mores brought white colored hairspray but when we used it, it made us look super old because our hair look white!

We also all like chocolate. The end. *

[4A LOST]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you do at LOST this week?

• played a game like hide and go seek in the woods
• learned how to tie knots
• learned to use pocket knives
• different kinds of matches
• how to make a fire
• fire saftey
• heard a story about someone getting lost
• acronim STOP- S:stop T:think O:observe P:plan

What did you learn?

• learned to tie knots
• learned to build fires
• learned fire saftey
• learned about matches
• learned about pocket knives 

Who did you talk to?

• Mr. Ducky Pants
• Eagle
• Jenny Darling

What did you talk about?

• Fires
• Pocket Knives
• Tying Knots
• Lost Signals
• Matches

Favorite/least favorite moments?

• Shreading Sticks was a favorite

• Learning Knots was not a favorite

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

• Briana tripping over sticks and cracking up.......

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!Jw

[2A Crafts]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you each make at Crafts this week?

Name tags, bandanas, plant holders, sisterhood project, and shrinky dinks.

What did you each learn?

How to make a fire safely, how to use knives safely, juggling, learned new songs and games, how to be nice on the internet, how to tie knots, how to catch a frog, and how to be safe if lost.

What were our favorite parts about camp?

Water station, going on the lake field trip, catching frogs and turtles, bubblegum hike, and doing the rockets.

What was our favorite food at camp?

Chicken in the woods and chex mix, walking taco, fruit fluff, hot dogs,veggie rollup, and pizza rollups.

What color beads were we?  Blue

Did we have any fun?  YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

Are we going to come back to camp next year?  YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What was our favorite craft?  bandanas

What activity did we want to do but didn't?

wood working shop, canoeing, sleeping over, making cotton candy, waterballoon or squirt gun fight, making hats, learning how to sew, making masks, go fishing, hang gliding, waterskiing, mountain climbing, tubing, ziplining, surfing, golfing, bungee jumping, archery, horseback riding, milking a cow, making cheese, holding piglets or baby animals, petting zoo, flying a kite, dolphin training, haunted house, dance party, photography, and broadcasting/making a tv show.

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

[2B Snow Cones]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you each do at Snow Cones this week?

We watched them put the ice in the machine and shave the ice.  We pick out our own flavors after we stood in line.  It was so hot that day .  They were fun to eat because they were ice and it felt good.  We sprayed water on our snow cones and it made it taste better.  It was a special day because we went to the beach in the morning.  Our tougues were red, blue, and purple.  It was great!  We love snowcones!

Do you each have a favorite flavor?

Cherry: Peace, T-Rex, Flowers, Miss Wisconsin,
Blueberry: Miss Hawaii,
Mixed: Chicks, Miss America, Bunny, Acorn, Duke/Kate, Doggy, Butterfly, Marshmellow, Rainbow Dolphin

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

Our PA Nemo taught us the game Museum which is kind of like the Night at the Museum.  We also played Drip, Drip, Splash with a squishy ball.  We all got really wet. 

[5B Flag Ceremony]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you do at flag practice this week?

Put up the flag

What did you learn?

How to hook an put up the flag

Who did you talk to?

We talked to ourselves and the helper helped us

What did you talk about?

how to put the flag up and helping strategize

Favorite/least favorite moments?

Our favorite part was being able to put the flags up for camp and our least favorite part was having the whole camp watching us

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

There wasn't really any


What was really fun at camp?
Archery and catching frogs and turtles at the nature pond. We caught about twenty frogs and four turtles.

What was your favorite food at camp?
Chicken in the woods.

What did you do at the overnight?
We ate popcorn, saw the International Space Station pass in the sky, had pink cows, had pineapple upside down cake, scavenger hunt, laughed, and told jokes.

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

[5A Field Trip]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you do at the Field Trip Wednesday?

On Wednesday, we went to a lake. At the lake, we canoed,swam, and paddleboated. Before canoeing we had to take a tip test for the very first time.

What did you learn?

At the lake, we learned canoe safety, how to tie-dye bandanas, and how to make Shrinky Dinks.

Who did you talk to?

We talked a lot to the lifeguards and each other to communicate and solve problems.

What did you talk about?

When we talked to people we talked about water safety.

Favorite/least favorite moments?

Favorite: Canoeing, tip test, and ice cream.
Least: Bus ride

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

During the tip test, one of the moms fell face first into the water before we even tipped. Many of us also spoke Pig Latin to a lifeguard.


Meaga Bean, Jujubean, Solobean, Snoopy, Lib Lib Bean, Wodstock, Belly Bean, Slider, Horserider, Scrape, Twiggy, Kit-Kat, Blueberry

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

[3A Nature]

What did we do at Nature?
We caught baby turtles, little and big frogs, and snails.  We saw tadpoles.  We walked around the pond and saw cattails.


What did we learn?
Dragonflies live for only 1 day.  A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.  We learned the difference between frogs and toads.  Frogs need to be by water and toads need to be on land.

Favorite and least favorite moments?
Our favorite moments were when we caught frogs and turtles, we liked walking in the water, we liked holding the things we caught.

We were scared of falling in the pond and getting stuck in the mud.  The water was a little stinky.


Exciting and funny stories?

A frog jumped out of AF's hand and jumped onto her mom's shirt.  GP caught a frog, Mr. F took it out of the net for a photo, the frog jumped out of his hands and he caught it in mid-air.  When Mr. F let it go, it jumped on AN's shoe. EF caught a frog and it jumped onto the dock but she was still able to catch it.  EP caught a frog and the helper tried to get it out of her net but it kept slipping out of her hands.

[3C Latrine Duty]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you do on Latrine Duty this week?

We wiped the toilets, we swept out the bugs, and we wore gloves. We cleaned two bathrooms. Our leader did not help us clean the latrines.

What did you learn?

We learned that the latrines weren't that dirty. They were cleaned at the beginning of the week too.

Favorite/least favorite moments?

Our least favorite moments were cleaning the latrines. It also did not smell like daisys in them.

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

Putting water in our gloves. An exciting moment was when a girlscout got poop on their hand without gloves on.

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

[3B Lacing]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you do at Lacing this week?

• made the Chinese Staircase with plastic and regular string
• watched Jules make the Chinese Staircase

What did you learn?

• how to make the Chinese Staircase
• For Chinese Staircase: more you make the fours' the more the stircase appears
• how to strike a match
• A vs. T-Pee fire

Favorite/least favorite moments?

• Favorite: making Chinese Staircase
• Least Favorite: getting confused and leaving
• Steph: doing games at campsite
• Kara: making knots lighting fire at LOST
• Christy: games
• Aubrey: learning how to light a match and going on the field trip
• Emily: trying to splash P.A. on field trip
• Miranda: playing in the water at the field trip, jumping off the dock and playing in the sand
• Grace: being P.A.'s bodygaurd and playing in the lake
• Brooke: being with 3B all week

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

• Alphabet Hike: every letter was connecting with bugs
• Human Knot: everyone got tangled up
• Duck Duck Goose: everyone picked on the P.A.
• Making individual pizzas (Grace and Christy)
• Half and Half liked Chicken in the Woods

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

[4B Rocket-Launching]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you do to Launch Rockets on Thursday?

We decorated these white rockets with stickers and put our names on them. We launched them by pushing down a button and holding down a knob.

What did you learn?

We talked about the first girl who ever went into space, Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, and when you launch a rocket, you should keep an eye on it to make sure where it lands.

Who did you talk to?

Mr. John Weber and Mr. Delwiche (spelling unclear) led this fun event.

What did you talk about?

Fellow astronauts.

Favorite/least favorite moments?

Favorite: watching the rockets launch
Least favorite: when it went in the tree
Favorite: decorating
Least Favorite: loud noise
Favorite: watching parachute come out
Least favorite: the talk was boring
Favorite: having them fall closer and closer
Least favorite: supposed to launch, but got stuck

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

The rocket shot up and we were all concerned it would land in a tree, but we watched eagerly as the wind blew it into the clearing, only for it to end up in a different tree anyway!

When a few girls were waiting for the rocket to launch, one of the girls kept mooing while waiting.

When the rocket went straight up, and came right back down.

A few questions some of our girls brainstormed:

Why is cheese yellow, orange, and white? (Unrelated to rocket launching...)

Why did people spend time and money flying to the moon when we could just make flying cars? (Also slightly unrelated...)

How does it feel when astornauts take off in the rockets?

Why can't we fly?

Why can't we ride a bird to the moon?

Why do books have pages? (sensing a pattern of distraction...)

Why do we drink water?

What do we not like about ham?

Why is nature green?

Why do animals make noises? (I think we've lost the point of this exercise...)

Why do we eat through our mouth?

Why do we need air to breathe? (Curious girls we have here)

How come camp is outside?

I think this amazing troop should win a couple of awards for our definitely creative questions...

[4C Outdoor Cooking]

Brainstorming Questions

What did you make at Outdoor Cooking this week?

Eclairs on a stick! Yum!!

What did you learn?

You have to be very patient, and it is done when it is the color of the stick. You also have to  keep turning the stick and pinch the dough. You need hot coals to cook the eclairs.

Who did you talk to?

We talked to Tigger, the adults, and each other.

What did you talk about?

We talked about where the best place in the fire was to cook the eclairs. We also talked about the rules and fire safety.

Favorite/least favorite moments?

Favorite moments were eating the eclairs once they finished cooking, especially the chocolate frosting!!!
Our least favorite moments were dropping the dough in the ashes and getting smoke in our eyes. Also, we missed the flag ceremony because the eclairs took so long to cook.

Funny moments? Exciting stories?

We said "I love white bunnies, I love white bunnies, I love white bunnies, but I don't want to play with them" to keep the smoke away from our eyes.
Another funny moment was when Chatterbox's dough almost fell off the stick.

Feel free to make and answer your own questions—creative effort counts!

Test post

Deer Trails GS Camp 2012 test post.

Come to camp! 100 years can't be wrong!

Volunteering is easy, requires no prior training, and will make both the girls and you smile!  Our camp is entirely planned and led by volunteers.  It is important that you, an adult family member, friend, or even neighbor, volunteer even if it is only for a day or two. If you cannot volunteer during the week of camp, please consider helping with camp planning, set-up or take-down.

PLANNING:  Our camp planning team has begun working on ideas to make this years camp, "100 Years of Sisterhood", a great time for campers and volunteers. We need troops, older girls and adults to pitch in with planning between February and June, and with leading activities at camp. We can use any volunteer skills: administrative, creative, shopping, planning and of course leading at camp.
SET-UP:  We are looking for volunteers on Saturday, June 16 from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. to assist with set-up (this date is different than previously announced!).  Jobs include sorting trading post items by unit, assembling square buckets for units, delivering unit boxes to sites, setting up unit flags for opening and closing activities, and setting up the peewee unit.
TAKE-DOWN:  Help is also needed on Friday June 22 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm for camp clean-up.  Jobs include the reverse of set-up activities mentioned above as well as sweeping, mopping and cleaning of rooms in the Activity Station and Troop House.

Please contact Carmen (our Volunteer Day Camp Director) if you want to get involved.