2018 FBI Agent

 FBI Camp 2018



This little dude was so exited to be at camp!

 The senior agents were looking official with sunglasses, shirt and tie, and attitude! They greeted the potential agents and ID's were checked upon arrival by senior agents. To enter the training facility agent candidate's had to have a hand scan. Once allowed entry, fingerprints were added to their ID cards.

The first challenge was for the candidates to figure out where the mystery map would take us. It turned out to be a splash pad and park. Each physical accomplishment reached earned  letter to add to a wristband which spelled  L U N C H. It was hard but some even conquered fears.

 

Of course the splash pad was utilized!
These agents saved the animals of the planet from becoming extinct by detecting and disarming an explosive device!

 Agents received more clues that lead them to the ingredients to make their own pizzas.

These FBI agents even learned a little about forensics. When we took their fingerprints to add to their ID's (that they had received as part of their 'official' letter inviting them to be a candidate of FBI training camp), a fingerprint was also put on a small square of paper. They had to record in their notebook whose print was on the paper by matching it with each others print in the ID. I had also put a few weird things on cards and put tape over them. Like hair, food coloring for blood, a fingernail clipping, etc. I wish I had spent more time on the 'Crime Lab'. It was fun and the kids really got into it.

The GIANT slip n slide was a hit! These agents were fearless! Afterward, the agents had to detonate the bombs (black balloons) to find out the next activity. We made "I Spy" bottles. Small water bottles filled with rice and about 20 small odds and ends (safety pin, pompom, bead, pasta, penny, etc). Add a  HOT GLUED lid and a label with the list taped onto the bottle. This is the take home craft along with the kit made from a dollar store binder pencil pouch (reusable in the future) with a webbing strap added. The kit held a magnifying glass, pencil and notebook, mustache, and sunglasses. We made binoculars by coloring toilet tissue rolls that the agents colored and then taped together and added a yarn strap.

We had a 'badge pinning 'ceremony and called the agents up one at a time to receive their official badge and get a congratulatory hug from mom and dad. Then we went in the house to eat but..... There was a loud thud and a scream "Oh no! The butler had been murdered!" Hence the chalk outline (that had been concealed under the rug).

The parents had all received invitations from 'The Butler' to attend dinner on pick-up night. Upon arrival they were each given a short description of who they were to portray and what their reaction should be when arrested for the murder of the butler! A very creative grandpa put together the interrogation room. A convincing looking battery was hooked up to the metal chair the suspect sat in. The accused had to place their hand in the pan of water on the table. There was also truth serum to drink and silly string to spray if the answer seemed untruthful. The parents were very involved and made it fun for the agents. In the end, the guilty party really hammed it up! 

 

 

Take note of the little agent partaking of the truth serum! And the accused own son was getting a kick out of dad's interrogation!

Of course we ended with a pinata (couldn't find a 'bomb', go figure, so we painted a Pokémon) to send the kids home on a sugar high!

Dinosaur Camp 2017



Can you say terrific?!



Can you say fun?!

My assistants and I decided to do dinosaurs for camp this year. I had done it with their older siblings years ago. Dinosaurs appeal to all ages and girls as well as boys.   

     

 The gathering activity was creating dinosaurs out of  craft foam geometric shapes. We had a snack and then took a field trip to the museum. We had a good time and we learned a lot. It held the kid's attention for over an hour. Each of the kids had to pose with their head in the jaws of a hungry dinosaur!

Every year I get a group photo that is displayed all year in a frame in the kitchen at the kids table. I wanted this years to be on the Sinclair dino just like the one of their older siblings and cousins. The only problem was when our very close station became a Texaco 2 weeks before Camp! My daughter-in-law knew that she had seen one several miles further North of the museum, so we loaded up and got the picture I had to have. Come to find out there were at least 3 closer to home!

On the way home we stopped for lunch at a park with  splash pad. When the water turned off to recycle the water, the kids went to the playground and played "hot lava". My assistant and Grandpa were a lot of help keeping an eye on them all.

 

When we arrived back home, we had fun making the volcano erupt. I had made the volcano the week before Camp. I stacked upside down whipped topping, sour cream, and yogurt containers and taped them to a cookie sheet with a rim that could catch the "lava flow". Then I paper mached the whole thing and painted with craft paint. I had a small 2 oz. container that was nestled into the top of the volcano to hold the lava. I then placed small plastic dinosaurs, from a pack I bought at the dollar store, around the base so that the lava could bury them a make them extinct.  Each child took a few turns making it erupt and then decided to let it dry out so that their parents could use it the next day.

 
We made Stone Soup for dinner, adapting the story to cavemen and using Brontosaurus burger, club moss, etc. along with stones. Each child added a different ingredient and of course their own stone! I had the kids shape roll dough into dinosaurs before baking. As you can see the assistant archaeologists like to ham it up for the camera. The kids ate every drop of soup! Even the pickiest eaters will eat what they have cooked.

The last time I used this theme, I had saved a few bones from a turkey, beef roasts, pork chops, you get the idea. We buried the bones in a garden grow box for the kids to find. Well this year we buried the bones of a half a cow! One of my co-workers had a connection to a slaughter house. It took my son in law and hubby several hours to get all the bones buried under the apple trees but it was well worth it! 

When it was determined that we had real archaeologic discovery, we decided that a real "site" had to be set up. We set up strings  and numbered the bones and where we found them. Grandpa spun a yarn about having called the museum about our "discovery" and told the kids that it would be named Grandmalasaurus and would be in school textbooks! We placed all the bones on a tarp to figure out what we had.

As usual, we made a stepping stone to mark the weekends events. A plastic dinosaur was placed in the cement along with the handprint of our newest camper, Ariya.

We made petroglyphs of glue, water, and sand with various pasta shapes on a plastic plate. This takes a while to dry and some went home wet. At least, I think they made it home without landing upside down in the car!

 

 It took a little a lot of help from the fathers to figure out what the dinosaur should look like.

 The Pinata is always a hit! Pun intended!
These boys each picked a bone to take home and then later worried that they should take them to the museum so that the "Grandmalasaurus" could be assembled correctly.

I think I can call this camp a HUGE success!