Video Post: Christmas Story

Looking for some way to share the Christmas Story?

I found these cute YouTube videos and I really wanted to share them with you. The illustrations are perfect for kids of all ages and they a really great way to share the story quickly.

Often at our day camp we've held Christmas in July or August.

You could share these videos. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z1CbX0kIkM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaeBx6bPlv4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qxqCEqf0N0&feature=BFa&list=PL231941786FB4C530&lf=results_main

Creating a Landscape

Another great way to decorate is to create a landscape scene across one of the main focal points. For our beach theme we decided to create an ocean sunset. I will be posting a few more landscape ideas over the next week but here are the steps to creating your own landscape scene.

1. Decide what kind of landscape you'd like to do...preferably related to your theme.

2. Buy the materials you will need to make it. For ours we used different colours of bristol board, spray paint, and tape.

3. Draw out the landscape you would like with pencil on the bristol board you are using.

4. Cut out design

5. Add special touches...for example we added white spray paint to our clouds.

6. Tape to the Wall

7. Step back and take a look at your master piece.

8. Email the Ditzy Day Camp Director with a picture (I'd love to see it... tori.bissell@gmail.com).

So I can't wait to see what you come up with....

The Ditzy Day Camp Director

Riding the Wave of Decorations

So I know I've been posting a lot of decoration tips lately but I figured, I'd just ride the wave and keep giving you as many ideas as possible.

A few weeks ago I posted about this great website Oriental Trading and I wanted to share one of the things we purchased from their site to decorate our building. One of the things we got were these great Design Your Own Surfboards.

I thought it would be a great idea to have all the staff and kids design their own surf board, and then we could post them up on the walls. For $20 I was able to get 48 of them...which in my books is a great price per kid.

So I had all of the counsellors create a surf board with their camp name. They had a blast creating their own.

When we posted them on the wall they looked great! The certainly added to our beach theme and added colour to our white walls.

Later this week, I will post a picture of all the kids surfboards. They were so creative and had a blast making them.

So instead of signing off today as the Ditzy Day Camp Director, I thought I'd use my camp name...

See you later,

Freckles

Lunch Room Decor

Hello DCDs,

Today I thought I'd just post a quick blog on how to decorate your lunch room and some ideas to share with you on how you can do that. Posting friendly reminders and etiquette signs are one way to let the kids know what's expected. Also posting recycling/garbage disposal directions will help you create environmentally friendly campers and help you to have a happy janitor. You can create these signs with the Staff or have the campers make them. So without further a-du here are our lunch room signs.

A happy and full ditzy day camp director.

One Done

Wow, it's hard to believe the first week of camp is done! This week has been crazy busy with so much going on...but it's also been great.

So I thought I'd give you a little peek into the world of Camp Senda from this past week through this post.

Overall the week went great. We had a few hiccups along the way but everything seemed to just work out in the end.

Monday and Tuesday we stayed mostly in the building, getting to know the kids. The kids choose electives and they participated in 4 different ones throughout the week. On Monday the kids decorated surf boards and we put them all over the back wall of our 'Beach' area (the chapel). They looked so good! (Don't worry, I'll post pictures soon.)

On Tuesday we had Christmas in July! We all wore red and green and some wore santa hats. We sang Christmas carols, told the story of Christmas and played Christmas Games. At the end of the day, as the kids were leaving, we gave each child a Christmas card that had been signed by all the leaders - they loved them!

Wednesday we headed off to the Science Centre. Even though we had sorta a chaotic and frustrating start to the day the kids absolutely loved it and had tons of fun!

Thursday was a blast too! We had a rocket show in the park - which the kids thought was great. We shot off two model rockets. Then we had a picnic in the park...the weather was great! After our picnic we went swimming. After slathering all the kids in sunscreen they jumped in the pool for an hour of wet fun. Only the assistant director and myself got sun burnt...but in my books that's better then any of the kiddies.

Friday was the perfect ending to a great day. We played Bear Hunt (a game the kids adore!), had tuck, and watched yogi bear.

All in all, I thought the first week went great!

Hope your first weeks go well, my fellow DCDs.

The Ditzy Day Camp Director, exhausted but ecstatic that the first week rocked.

Another Directory Duty: Movie Screening...Yogi Bear

One thing you learn quickly as a DCD (Day Camp Director) is that the job description is never fully accurate. There will always be new thing you'll need to do. This week I learned that that job description also includes movie screening. But don't fret, this is one of the nice parts of the job.

So last night, a buddy and I grabbed dinner and chunky monkey's (most awesome drink ever, from Second cup) and sat down to preview the first movie of the summer. At our day camp we have show a movie every Friday. This Friday we wanted to see Yogi Bear.

But before we can show the movie to the kids someone has to watch it and go through it to make sure its age appropriate and well just appropriate. And just because it's rated G doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a good one. Sometimes it can inappropriate content, other times its inappropriate for your target age group, and other times it has scary parts for the younger kids. So those are the things to watch for - try to think like a kid. Enjoy the movie but remain critical.

Well I thought, since I was watching movies for my camp I thought I could help you out with the movies I've found that work for day camp. So this weeks post is Yogi Bear. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't preview the movie for your camp still...I'm just trying to give you some ideas of what might work or might not work.

So onto Yogi.

This was a great movie! I will definitely be showing it to the kids at my camp. It was super funny and really cute. It's actually the type of movie that the kids will love and your staff will enjoy too. It was age appropriate and would work for all ages. It might have a little bit of confusing content for kids under 6, but they will still enjoy it and can watch it.

The great thing about this one, is that it didn't have a lot of innuendoes or adult jokes like some kids movies have. Perfect for any camp, especially a Christian or religious one.

I give this movie 5 picnic baskets out of 5 for appropriateness for Day Camp.

Yes, Yogi...I mentioned picnic baskets.

Anywho, curl up on the couch with some popcorn and enjoy this one....

Says, The Ditzy Day Camp Director

First day...

Hey y'all,

From one ditzy day camp director to another I just wanted to check in and update you on how the first day of camp went. Yep, today was the first day of camp here at camp senda.

As someone who has gone through the first day of camp before, I know how stressful the first day can be. How at times you can have first day jitters and feel pretty scatter brained at the next.

So just wanted to let you know that first day if camp went really well. Yes there were hiccups and things that came up but nothing to big or monumental, that's for sure!

So here are tips for making sure things go off with out a hitch and how to keep things organized:

- arrive early a d have your staff arrive earlier the. UsuL so that everything is set up and ready to go

- have assigned jobs for staff so that they know what to do and when to do it

- post the schedule clearly because most likely your staff is unfamiliar with it so they will need to double, triple, quadruple check it through the day

- be present throughout the dY to answer questions and deal with anything that arises

- go over staff names and rules with kids early and check for comprehension

- stay in the being for the first day as much as possible because it will be easier for you to deL with things that arise

- have a staff member and/or friend to check in on you through out the day to mKe sure you are okay and that you eat lunch, trust me it's easy to forget.

- have fun! Get to know the kids and don't stress out to much!

So here's to hoping your first days are ditz free (except for me)and wonderful

The ditzy day camp director

Making Your Own Decorations

So last week I posted some great ideas for decorating well on a budget and today I wanted to share some more DIY tips for decorating....making your own signs.

All you need to make these signs is

• Different colours of spray paint
• Large pieces of cardboard
• Letter stickers (which can be picked up at Staples) or black paint so you can paint your own letters
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors
• Left over, unwanted leis.

In order to make these signs I first started by spray painting the large pieces of cardboard. I just bursted the spray paint all over the board to create a quick design. It's okay if the colours bleed into each other or overlap...this will actually look better.

After the spray paint had finished drying I placed the large black stickers on for the letters. I got creative with the sizes and direction of the letters to make it more interesting.

After placing the letters I grabbed some left over leis and cut them apart so I would just have the flowers. Then I hot glued the flowers onto the cardboard in varying designs.

And there you have it. A simple but great looking (if I don't say so myself) way of decorating. And depending on how you do it, what colours you use, what words you write, and what you glue on it can really fit with your theme.

The colourful cardboard and leis worked perfectly for our beach bash theme.

Have fun....You'll begin to feel like a real artist in no time...even if you only become a graffiti artist....

The Graffiti Artist and Ditzy Day Camp Director

Exciting News: Our Camp Shirts Came

It was the end of the day and David and I were just about to close up and head home after another day of working hard to get ready for camp. Just before we left we got some mail.

Our camp shirts arrived! Super psyched!

Anyways, I figured since I shared how to create t-shirts with customink.com, I'd share the product with you. We received two boxes....

Opening up, you'll see the two colours of shirts we got...green and blue.

Here are the camper shirts...

And here are the staff shirts.

I love them! I think they worked out great...and we got a wonderful product and wonderful services from customink.ca!

Wow, shirts....maybe this means camp really is right around the corner. Can't believe we start in 11 days! YIKES!

So with an excited heart and nervous twitch, I leave you,

forever the Ditzy Day Camp Director

Saving Money Through Couponing

Have you ever seen that show on TLC called 'Extreme Couponing'? Well, yesterday I felt like the people on that show...even though my couponing wasn't nearly as extreme as theirs.

Just wanted to check in quickly and share another money saving tip: couponing.

A great way to save money on items you need is to look for coupons in the newspaper or even in store.

Well, yesterday David (Assistant Director) and I headed to the grocery store to pick up some items for our upcoming fundraiser this Sunday (info to come). Well in store we found some of that some of the items we needed were on sale - bonus right! Then we found coupons for a dollar off of those items too! It was awesome!

So yeah, we might only have saved 20 bucks with those coupons but it's still sweet.

Anywho, the ditzy day camp director here...encouraging you to go xtreme and go couponing....trust me, it's a rush!

Painted Decorations

So, I decided over the next two weeks to share some decorating tips with you. The tip I wanted to share with you today is that it's okay to go simple and old school with your decorations too.

One great way to save money on your decorations is to make some of them your self...or have your counsellors make them.

Today, I thought I'd share some painted decorations that we are using this year.

Just grab some bristle board and some tempera paint and create child friendly, colourful designs for your walls.

As I've mentioned in other posts, our theme this year is Beach Bash so I tried to create some beach summer friendly designs.

I know they are super simple but they are kid friendly and add a pop of colour to our white walls. Plus creating some of our designs will help us save money ... which can be used else where.

So grab a paint brush my fellow day camp directors and let inspiration hit you. Get in touch with your inner child and make simple painted designs to add to your walls.

Sincerely,

Your fellow terrible artist and ditzy day camp director

Buying in Bulk for the Tuck Shop

One of the things that has been a regular fixture of our camp for the past few years has been the tuck shop. Every week the kids can bring up to $2 to spend at the tuck shop on Friday. They love having an opportunity to decide what they want and spend their own money.

Plus its great for us because it's one less snack we have to plan.

Any who, last weekend my Assistant Director (David) and I needed to go buy the things for tuck shop.

So we headed over to the local Costco, filled up two shopping carts with sugar, and spend over $350 dollars on candy.

Now that might seem like a lot of money to spend on something like tuck but it isn't really....When you think about that, that is spread over 6 weeks of camp. So really we only spent about $58 dollars a week. Which isn't a lot when you think about it.

I think sometimes people are afraid to buy a lot of stuff in bulk but the truth is that it saves you money. And since being thrifty is a great trait for a day camp director to have....buying in bulk is a great tool for you. It's hard though...shelling out $350 all at one time but if you can afford it, it's the better way to buy things.

Plus, depending on how much you sell the items in your tuck shop for you might end up making a profit. Now I'm not suggesting you hike up the prices and charge kids 200% for things but for example...if you buy pop in bulk it might only cost you 70 cents per can. If you sold it in your shop for 75 cents you can find some extra money for camp that you can spend else where. And finding money is always fun!

So good luck saving money, buying in bulk, and getting weird looks at people who see you fill up two shopping carts all on candy....

The Ditzy Day Camp Director

One Stop Decoration Shop: Oriental Trading

So if there's one thing you need to be as a Day Camp Director...that's thrify. Quickly, you'll learn how there is never enough money for what you need to do, especially if you are a camp where you have a low camper registration fee or if you give out scholarships or bursaries to low income families (like we do).

So, since I know how important it is to be thrifty, I thought I'd share some of my tricks for saving money when it comes to decorating. You want your decorations to be epic but you want your budget on them to stay low....

Well I found this great website a while ago orientaltrading.com and they are the perfect one stop decoration shop for you! Their prices are great and they seem to have everything you could think of. Not only are they good for decorations but they are great for craft supplies and any other camp thing you need. This isn't an advertisement...it's me just honestly excited to share this gem with you.

I have ordered with them tons of times and I've loved my experience with them every time. On their website you can see customer review and ratings for each item, so you know exactly what you are getting and they have a great return policy if something you buy doesn't work or if you don't end up using it - and that's another way to save money (return it if you don't use it).

But back to decorations....

On their website they have a party themes and events section where you can find all your party essentials from party supplies and favours, tableware, decorations and even candy.

If you are looking for decorations they have everything from hanging decorations, wall decorations, and even banners. And a lot of their banners can come in pre designed ones or you can customize them!

When you are shopping for your decorations you can shop by category (party supplies and favours, party tableware or personalized products), shop by occasion and event (birthday party, baby shower, wedding, or popular occasions), or you can shop by theme.

They have tons of different themes too. Like: pirates, sports, western, animal, fiesta, luau, princess, bugs and butterflies, dinosaurs, monkeys, movie awards, safari, and MUCH MORE!

Not to mention, that they usually have some of the popular VBS or Sunday School themes if you are from a christian day camp or VBS. Like this year they have the Panda theme and the New York theme.

So head over to their site and enjoy their help and wonderful products.

Yours.

A very happy and productive feeling ditzy day camp director.

Theme Signs

So this week I've been crazy busy planning for camp, and staff training, and decorations and everything else there is to do but I wanted to continue posting some helpful day camp hints. So this week I thought I'd help with some decorating.

A cheep but great way to add to your overall decor, is room signs. You can either create them by hand (if your creative) or you can make them on your computer. I made mine on the computer...just because it was easier and quicker.

It's a great way to help people know what rooms are for what, add to your decorations, and let kids know which rooms they shouldn't go in. Also, it can be super fun to have cool names that are theme related to your theme for each room. Way cooler then craft room or chapel.

So here are our Beach Bash themed signs...enjoy.

Forever,

The Ditzy Day Camp Director

For our library, where the kids can just sit back, relax and read a book.

For the center of all activity, the gym, we called it the Marina.

Every Friday we hold a movie, so we decided to call it the drive in. I found this cute picture on google.

The Cook Out is our kitchen...the hub of snack making and baking time.

Instead of having a craft and activity room, we called it the sand castle.

Our staff room is known as the life guard station, because no swimmers (kids) can come in.

Our chapel is known as the Beach.

The lunch room...the Wave Cafe.

And the restricted rooms are known as 'No Life Guard on Duty' areas.

I'd love to see what signs and room names you come up with!