September minicamp started off on Friday night with the arrival of our amazing Junior Branch (JB) and of course all of the wonderful children .This may be the winter camp but it was still a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Once everyone had arrived they continued to find their rooms and lay out their sleeping bags, the camp was full with laughter and smiles as it is at the beginning of every minicamp.
We all settled into our first activity, a series of games to help everyone to get familiar with each other’s names, and get to know each other a bit better to kick off the camp. This was followed by supper, Amazing baking and a drink each lead onto preparations for bed. Pyjamas or onsies on we had our CISV Lullabies, for many of the older members this is their favourite part of camp, it’s a time to wind down after a jam packed evening and sing some well-known songs,the Beatles and wonder wall are some of the popular ones. Our Friday night concludes with plenty of “sleep tight”s, “sweet dreams” and hugs all around.
Saturday morning of our minicamp started off bright and early with flag, our tradition of singing the CISV song to start off the day. Still sleepy and with odd socks on we slipped into our seats hungry and for once, quiet! Breakfast was the trusty toast, and cereal and after washing dishes and getting organised we were ready to roll!
Georgia ran an activity on the camp theme of the Village to be hosted in Auckland this coming summer – It’s My Choice. We discussed the purpose of the Village program and what we, through the above theme, wanted the participants to take from their experience here.
The kids started off their activities for the morning enthusiastically with Post Man and The Chair Running Game. Then after morning tea we were ready for our Cooperation themed activity. The aim of the game was for groups to make a basket with their limited resources that would protect an egg when dropped- but there was a twist. Each member of the group was given a disability, such as not being able to talk during the making of the basket, or not being able to touch the resources. This way groups had to use their cooperation and communication skills to create the best basket they could.
Lunch of baked potatoes with toppings of baked beans and corn served, and after thanking our cooks with Kiitos we were ready for our next activity!
Up next after our lunch was our Communication themed activity, with Ryun’s special Speedy name game, and an international CISV favourite ‘Washing Elephants’. Then afternoon tea, and activity four. The last activity for the day was themed around bullying, with the kids creating role plays to illustrate different solutions to bullying. It was really impressive for the leaders to see the kids empathy and understanding when addressing such a serious issue, and applying it to real life situations.
Meanwhile the JB were focusing on New Zealand’s MOSAIC project for the year. This year’s Mosaic project, the second for our chapter, is focused on refugees in New Zealand. Plans are taking shape for some really interesting events and partnerships over the next 12 months and an activity was run in the afternoon to start us thinking about the situation of a refugee in today’s society. The Mosaic team put on an episode of the Australian show ‘Go back to where you came from’ and invites anyone interested in being a part of this project to look out for Facebook events and let us know!
After shower time, free time, and dinner, we gathered in the activity hall for the Saturday night activity, a camp favourite! The JB and littlies worked together in teams to come up with a play, putting a twist on the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. We then had supper, brushed our teeth, and sang lullabies and got into our beds ready to sleep after an exciting day!
Sunday was kicked off by flag, breakfast, and cabin cleaning, and then we all gathered together in the activity hall for the final activity of minicamp. Both the older and younger groups joined together to do the new favourite energizer ‘Double Dream Hands’, play the Mickey Mouse game and Cowboy game. Then it was flag, Thank You’s and Good byes.
CISV New Zealand 