Summer Camp Games

Gone are the days when kids during their summer vacations used to visit their grandparents. Today’s kids are artistic, smart, outspoken, confident and intelligent. Therefore, there are many schools that arrange summer camps for them. These summer camps concentrate on the cultural and educational development of children by means of certain entertainment activities. These summer camps teach children how to socialize by means of various team activities, one among them being games. Arranging group games and team-building activities help school staff inculcate essential qualities like team-work, a sense of belonging towards the group, a sense of responsibility and leadership in the kids. Mentioned below are some summer camp games that you can ask the counselor of the camp to include in the list of games to provide the children more learning opportunities along with a good dose of excitement and fun. Read on to learn more about these games in the sections that follow.

Summer Camp Game Ideas

Bird Hunt
This is an interesting game to play if all of you have proper knowledge of the area you are camping in. List down the names of the species of birds that can be seen in the area and hand over a list containing these names to all the players. Each player will have to watch for the birds in the list and mark the names of the birds they spot. The first person or the team which manages to mark off all the names in the list is declared the winner.

Octopus
The ‘octopus’ is one of the most popular of all summer camp games for kids who are in the age group of 8 years and above. This game is quite simple to play, but requires a large group of kids. Choose one player from each team before starting the game. These two players will act as octopuses. Now these octopuses will have to stand in the middle of the playing area and the remaining players will stand together in one corner of the area. The camp coach will blow the whistle to start the game on which the players will have to run and the octopuses will have to catch them. Any player who comes in contact with octopuses will have to sit down and become a sea weed, and he/she is not allowed to move from the place. Nevertheless, the sea weeds can tag other campers with their hands if they pass by. The game continues in the similar manner and the player who is not caught till the end is declared the winner.

Typhoon
The ‘typhoon’ is a simple, fun filled relay game that calls for coordination and team spirit. Typhoon is a relay water game in which the fastest team wins. You will have to divide the kids into two teams of equal numbers. Pick up one member from each team and make them sit at the other end of the playing area. Take two large buckets, fill them with water and place them at the other end of the field. Make the two teams stand in a single line behind their buckets of water. The first member in the line of both the teams will have to fill a cup with water and run towards the players sitting on the other end of the field. When the first player reaches the other, s/he throws the cup of water on the sitting player and shouts ‘typhoon’. The players then have to exchange their positions, and the drenched player then have to run with the empty cup to the next player in the line. The team that gets all its members to participate in the relay is declared the winner.

Bottle Fill Relay
This game is similar to the typhoon and is equal in excitement and fun. Teams will have to line up behind the bucket on one side of the field, while one member from each team stands at the other end holding a bottle on their heads. The first member in the line will have to dip a cup in the bucket and run to the player on the other end of the field to pour the water into the bottle. The person pouring the water then replaces the person holding the bottle, who will then have to return to the other side of the field with the cup and hand it off to the next person in line. The game continues till any one team fills in the bottle completely.