July 1, "Art Lessons"

During quests one day, I was talking to one of the girls (campers) about art and she told me she wanted to learn more about painting. I offered to show her what I knew and help her make something. Today, we started painting a picture on a piece of slate. She's very talented and it's coming out really well.
This taught me that sometimes, something spontaneous can work out just as well as something you planned. I had just spent a week trying to make samples of all the crafts I could think of. A camper had something completely new in mind and it was perfect. I discovered that I should be open to new ideas. One of my goals at the craft shop is to create a setting where kids can feel accomplished and confident and learn more about art. Painting the picture definitely did that. I think it also helped me become a better leader. It was good practice, I had to teach her how to paint the picture. I even experimented with new materials; we did the painting on a piece of slate I found in the shop. This even turned into a new project, soon more campers wanted to paint on slate.
This was a new challenge but I didn't plan or initiate the activity. But this experience taught me that I don't always have to. It's good to be flexible. I'm at the craft shop to support the campers in their creative projects, not just to tell them what to do.

June 29, First Quest

The campers are here, they arrived yesterday afternoon and today was the first full day of camp. Today was also the first day that I had to teach a quest. I was really nervous, I wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully, we only had girls today, so no monkey's fists. It turned out to be fine. The girl I worked with and I each took a table and gave instructions. The craft is basically just stringing beads, so the girls didn't need much help. I was surprised to see how happy they were just to talk and do their craft. They didn't need to be entertained and they didn't complain or ask to do something else instead. This was very encouraging, I began to feel more confident about teaching quests in general. It also showed me that if you want to give kids a craft to do, it pays to pick something easy and something that will be useful to them in the future. The girl's craft was pretty self-explanatory and they can wear the bracelets. This craft was both easy and useful. On the other hand, the monkey's fist is very difficult and there's not much you can do with them after you finish. I'm not sure that the boy's will like their craft as much. In the future, if I ever have to choose a craft for kids to do, I will keep this in mind.
The only problem was that a couple girls finished early and we didn't have anything for them to do. I want to try and think up something for them to work on when they're done.
This craft was very successful. It helped me with two of my goals. The project was very easy, so the projects did turn out really well and the girls were very able to complete my instructions. I like to think that this was, just a little bit, because I exercised good leadership in showing them what to do. I also think the girls felt accomplished and confident after completing the craft. They seemed happy and the bracelets look really good. It also helped me complete my learning objectives- initiating this activity was a new challenge.

June 24, Pipe Cleaner Animals

Today I worked on learning different crafts by making them. After looking at the supplies on Monday, I had come up with some ideas for new crafts. Last night, I researched them online and found instructions for some of them. One of the things I came up with were pipe cleaner animals. I had seen a bunch of big pipe cleaners while I was cleaning, and it reminded me of a craft book I had had when I was little. It gave instructions for how to make animals out of pipe cleaners. I remember that I loved making them and they came out really cute. So, I made some. They came out pretty well, not perfect but okay. My boss and a lot of the staff like them, I hope the campers will too. This helped me complete some of my first goal, I created a new project. I also planed a new activity, which helps me with my learing objectives.

June 23, Monkey's Fists

Next week, when camp starts, I will have to teach a craft every morning to a couple of cabins. (this is called a quest, the kids do two different activities each morning) Today, the boy's craft arrived. It's called a monkey's fist and it's basically a knot tied around a marble. For about an hour, the girl I work with tried to follow the provided instructions to make a sample. She when she couldn't make one, I started to try. I thought it couldn't be that hard...but it was. This craft was definitely a new challenge and I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to "initiate this activity." If the craft is this hard to make, I have no idea how I'm going to teach it. I've never worked with monkey's fists before, they are made of different kinds of materials than I am used to using (rope and marbles). Maybe by experimenting with these new materials I will become more creative. I will know how to use more materials and will be able to create more things with them. So, as I and most of the other Camp Berea staff try to figure out this craft, I'm learning that working together and sharing ideas gets things done faster. Different people are giving their suggestions and it really helps. Also, practice makes perfect. Each time I try to make a monkey's fist I get a little closer to accomplishing it.

July 15
The monkey's fists are so hard to make, and the kids are not doing well with them. I feel so bad, they try really hard and usually fail. This is not helping me with my goal to make kids feel accomplished. I'm wondering if I'm not teaching it well, because they are coming out badly, but I think it's just a really hard craft. Today, we tried a new craft. Our boss gave us some origami to try, but it didn't look very fun and when we tried it, we finished the craft really fast. The origami won't take enough time to fill the whole quest. Instead, we decided to make duct tape wallets. This was very successful. The campers were really excited to make them, they were easy to teach, and turned out really well. This experience taught me that sometimes if something isn't working, you should take a break from it and try something else.

July 20
So today, I tried something different. I've still been working with the monkey's fists, trying to find a better way to make them and teach them. I tried using hemp instead of string, and it worked really well. The hemp stayed in place better, making it easier to tighten the knot around the marble. I was also able to cut the hemp into longer strips, allowing me to make the knot bigger and also making the string easier to work with. From this I learned that although it can be good to take a break from something that isn't working, you shouldn't give up on it all together. It is good to have perseverance and stay committed to the projects that you start.

July 24
Now for the boy's quest, we let the boys choose to make either the monkey's fists or the wallets. I think this works really well. The kids are more likely to be excited, better behaved and more successful on a project they choose to do, rather than one they have to do. The monkey's fists are working a lot better with the hemp, and the boys who are having trouble can switch crafts to make a wallet instead. I am accomplishing my goal to make kids feel successful. The quests are going well, and the projects are turning out great.

June 22, Cleaning the Craft Shop

Due to limited computer access, I'm posting this after it happened.

Today we cleaned out the craft shop. I don't think it had been cleaned out since last summer and it had gotten really messy over time. I was surprised that cleaning and organizing the shop was part of my job. Although it took up some of the time we had for learning the crafts, it was worth it. Now I know where all the supplies are and what supplies we have. Looking at the supplies also gave me ideas for new crafts. This taught me that although it might be time consuming, cleaning and organizing pays off because it will help me find supplies in the future. It also showed me all the supplies we have, and now I know which crafts have worked in the past, before I try to think up new ones. So, in the future I will try to be more organized.