Camp Pufferfish

Hello hello! Long time no see! I've been away at a children's camp. No, not attending it, but running it!

Yes, this kid here can run a camp. Do you not know I have extensive experience with kids? Well, now you do. I actually love little kids, a lot. When is anyone going to grant me godparentship? Jie? Anyone?

Well, the camp was 2 days long, but not an overnighter. It was the first camp of the company, so it was decided that we should it safe and attempt a day camp. The camp was held at Laguna Country Club.

The first day, we met up early to discuss things. It was just formality, so after familiarising ourselfs with the day's activities, we head inside the country club to our designated room. The instructors of the camp consisted of my Uncle Lloyd, Zeen, a friend of his, and Jenny and Shu Zhen, both of whom I know.

The kids started streaming in around 8.30am, so for the half hour before camp officially started, we just sat around talking to the kids.

The first activity of the day was a game called Spiderweb. It is a game designed to allow every person to introduce themself. A ball of yarn was secured in the centre of the circle of kids, and then thrown to one of them. When he/she had introduced themself, they would throw the yarn to another kid in the circle. The resulting chaos of string resembled a spider's web, hence the name.

After Spiderweb, the kids were split into 3 groups, each led by either Jenny, Shu Zhen or me. I got 7 kids, all of whom were girls. We were then given some paper, markers and other stationeries and was tasked with establishing a group name and logo. My kids and I decided to do a parody of Superman's famous logo, replacing the 'S' with a huge '7'. It came rather nice, I might add.

Members of my 'Sevens' (as I call them) are: Amirah (No. 2), Carise, Denyse, Celest (my oh so adorable 5 year old), Meagan, Elana and little Elvina. In the beginning Elvina wouldn't let go of me; she adored me so much she wouldn't leave my side, can you believe it?

After a break and some refreshments, the kids were brought round back to an empty patch of land, where we were instructed to assist them in building a tent out of bamboo poles, cable ties, pegs, some yarn, and a ground sheet.

The kids weren't too knowledgable in building tents, so I had to teach them some basics. Although we had some set backs, we eventually erected our tent in the quickest of times, finishing before other's were even halfway through. I was very proud of my kids, especially my No. 2.

Next after the tent pitching, the company had arranged for the kids to barbie (a grill, really) some food for lunch for themselves. Also pre-prepared were some mouthwatering beef burgers, which were humongous I might add.

Some of the kids went straight to the grill, and others took the burgers first. Most sat down and did nothing, so we brought them burgers. One darling, Iffah, was a vegetarian. The company did not know this, and since I was the only one who knew, I bought her sandwiches. I just couldn't bear to see her not eat, she was my darling! A cutsie 9 year old who was very pretty and smart.

Once the kids were done with lunch, we brought them back to the room for some art and crafts. We had them take a couple of wooden cloths pegs, break them up, and then glue them back together to make some sort of holder for small items.

My kids were very efficient; in no time most had finished, and were helping others who had problems. I taught my kids the importence of helping, sharing, respect and manners, so they were being fabulous kids and were doing as I told them to. Saying their P's and Q's, helping one another, sharing glue. It was really sweet.

On top of making their holders, we also gave them some good sized pebbles for them to draw on. This pebble, we told them, was meant to be given to their fathers for Father's Day, which is coming up. Many of them designed a really nice pebble to present to their father.

High tea came next. There were some cakes and packets of Milo for them to consume. There were a lot of breaks during the camp, a total of 3 official eating breaks a day. One in the morning, lunch, and of course, afternoon tea. Goodness, rich kids really are pampered.

Pretty soon, the kids were full and ready for some more action. they were restless, never stationary for longer than a couple of seconds. The next activity was what they were looking forward to and asking about for the entire day. We were going to teach them life saving skills.

We showed them what to do when they see a person drowning. We taught them how to identify the type of victim, analyse that, and take the appropriate course of action. They learned how to coil a rope up and effectively deploy the line to rescue the victim. Some weren't too good at it, but after a bit of practice, we were ready to try it out in the pool.

The kids, being kids, were estatic about going into the pool. They wanted to play, which is rightfully so because it is their holiday after all. Each and every one of the kids had to perform the rescue procedure, and each of my kid did it well, most to perfection. A proud moment for me.

When swimming was done, and they were cleaned up and changed, we headed back to the room. It was time for the last activity of the day.

We handed out square pieces of paper to every kid, and also all the necessary stationery needed for them to decorate their pieces of paper. This piece of paper was sized to fit into the cover of a vinyl CD cover. We wanted them to put anything thing that they though reflected themselves onto the paper.

My 5 year old, Celest, was adorable. She actually wrote my name down on her cover. She had sprinkled glitter over it and did it up nicely, well, for a 5 year old. I was so touched by that gesture. She really liked me. That's 2 girls now in my group who couldn't be seperated from me.

It was time to go home after they finished their covers. Many of them were fetched by their parents without having to wait a long time. My poor darling, Iffah, could not contact her mother. She said her mother was never on time, so we waited with her for her mom to come. The poor darling almost fell asleep while waiting. Her mom did come, eventually, so we headed of home for some much needed rest. More so for me, as by then, hadn't slept for a grand total of 28 hours. This number would go up to 32 before I finally slept.

So, this was what happened during the first day, in brief. I have just returned from the second and last day, and I'm beat. Tomorrow I shall continue to complete the stories of camp for the second day.