Reflections

During Camp Schaefer this year, Leah (age 7) and I made a game.

About a year ago I ordered a blank game board and cards from Bare Books. www.barebooks.com When I say that our game board was blank, I mean there were no lines, no pictures, nothing - just a white foldable board. So, when Leah and I first sat down I asked her about the setting for her game. "Will it be in a desert, a swamp, in a city?"

She quickly replied, "A swamp."

We found some wildlife magazines and studied the different creatures that could be found in a wetland. Then, we cut out pictures that we thought were small enough for the board and would lend themselves to interesting events during the game. We cut out about a dozen each. As we were working, Leah looked to me and said, "What is the . . . you know, mission of our game."

"To win?" I offered.

Frustrated, Leah persevered. "You know, what will the winner achieve if he makes it to the end of the game?" Well, I didn't have an answer for that, but she did. "I know," said Leah. "The players will be photographers trying to get some wonderful photos of wildlife in the swamp. Whoever wins will have the most and his pictures will be on display in a gallery or museum or some place like that."

With our new goal, it was easy to design the board. Leah decided to have a structured path that would end in the center. I took the ruler and drew the lines while she started to create "cards" for the game. Some of those read, "You were stung by a hornet. Go back two spaces." or "An alligator is chasing you. Run ahead three spaces." When I finished making the lines and spaces, we created cards together. My favorite was, "You forgot your GPS. Go back to Start."

Leah had been admiring my button collection earlier in the week while she was sewing in the basement. So, I suggested that she select different buttons to be the game pieces. She did.

We added some color to the board. Made up our hazards - you stepped into quicksand with a snake - and bonus spots. Leah decided that if a player landed on our great photos, we needed to put the word "Click" and then that player would draw a card.

Finally, we needed a name. Leah didn't think long - Alligator Chase. We typed up a brief introduction to the game and it was complete.

To test our game, we asked Spencer (age 5) and my husband to play it with us. It worked. Not only did it have a good pace, it was fun! Here's a photo of the kids playing Alligator Chase at their home.

I don't think I've ever helped create a game before, but I sure enjoyed it. So did Leah. Before winter arrives you might want to go to the Bare Books site and order in a gameboard or two. I also purchased two puzzles from them last year. Last November when the kids were staying with us, they each designed and colored a puzzle. Both of those turned out well, too.

Yes, kids do enjoy their electronics, but they also like to sit down with someone they love and create. I hope they decide to make another game next year. I'm ready!

No writing this week. Instead, my husband and I offered Camp Schaefer again to our niece and nephew.

It was a wonderful week of activities, energy and giggles. The new attraction this year was the hammock. When I was young and traveled to Pittsfield, MA to visit my grandmother and Uncle Louis, I read books for hours in their hammock. What could be better than swaying back and forth under a shady tree and reading one chapter book after another?

So, you can imagine my joy when Leah, age 7, came to me on the second day and asked if she could go outside and read in our hammock. Three beginning chapter books and 100 Duke (our 80 pound dog) kisses later, she returned.

This year the kids had "secret" projects. Every afternoon Spencer ran down to my husband's woodworking shop where they constructed a birdhouse with power tools. Yep, power tools. Even though Spencer never spoiled his surprise by telling us what he was making, he always shared his excitement for the "tool of the day."

Leah wanted to learn to sew. She decided to make a permanent pillow for the . . . hammock. She chose the fabric, sewed the two large squares together on the sewing machine. She turned the pillowcase inside out and pressed it with the iron (another new adventure which she handled beautifully). Then she stuffed her case and hand sewed the opening closed. Her hand stitches were meticulous - small, close and even. I was quite impressed!

The unveiling took place on Friday night. Both children were in awe of what the other had created. (I can't believe that a whole week passed without one of them spilling the beans!)

The rest of the days were spent picking vegetables, cooking, cleaning-up, horseback riding and tubing down a river. One morning we packed up our equipment and went to the National Forest close to our home. Even though it was 92 degrees outside, we weren't hot at all. We stood in a stream (maybe the water was 50 degrees, maybe) and screened for gems. Yep! Each child had a screen mounted on a wooden frame and a trowel. Both kids scooped gravel, sand and small stones on top of their screens, then swished the screen in the water, rinsed and examined. They found mica, quartz, many minerals, and perhaps some fools gold. Two hours passed quickly and we were home for lunch, although our feet were chilly until much later in the day.

On the last night we had the quintessential campfire with hot dogs and smores and two hours later enjoyed one of summer's truly great thunderstorms.

Of course, there was lots of reading all week long. And every night we cuddled on the couch and read 3-5 chapters of a semi-scary novel that Spencer had selected. And then bed. Ahhhhh, bed.

As I said earlier, I didn't write a word this week. I simply enjoyed. For five days I was ten years old again and I saw summer as only a child can. Ted and I try to make Camp Schaefer a great experience for the kids, but in the end, it's a blast for us, too!