Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Mythical Creature Camp

Christian is known (in our neighborhood anyway) for his kids' camps every summer. For the past two years, he has planned, organized, advertised and taught Spy Camp. The smaller boys in the neighborhood would come and Christian would spend a couple of hours teaching them how to be spies. I'd look off the balcony and see him teaching the kids how to tuck and roll and hide behind things. They had target practice with fake guns, learned how to eavesdrop effectively .... top quality stuff. :) The parents in our neighborhood would chuckle but were happy to send their kids to our house for a couple of hours.

Christian took the summer camp thing to a new level this year. He held Mythical Creature Camp for 5 kids this summer (4 school friends and Haley, who begged to be included). He wrote his own invitation, printed them on nice paper and hand-delivered, mailed or e-mailed them to everyone. The invitation began "The fate of all mythical creatures is in your hands... Join one of the best camps in the entire world. Use what you know to help you save the rest of magic creatures. Learn about things you never thought were real." It went on to say that the cost was $2 per kid, that they must bring a notebook and then listed the dates & times.

The funny part about all of this was that he did it without my knowledge or help. He had mentioned wanting to have this camp but we never discussed it past that. Not until he said, "Hey mom, my camp is in the morning." Ummm, excuse me? What camp? Who is coming? What are you going to do at the camp? You're charging them what? Only then did I see what he had planned.

He had written up an agenda for each day, including learning about different creatures (dragons, elves, etc.), making a Field Guide, drawing the creatures and having a test at the end. Notice the time set apart for sit-ups and push-ups on Day 3. I'm sure that's what all of the kids thought would be included in their $2 fee.The test made me chuckle ....I fed the kids snacks at the end, let them play for awhile longer and that was it. He planned and carried it all out on his own. Totally blew me away. And cracked me up, too.Can't wait to see what he comes up with next. If anyone wants to pay $2 to come over and do push-ups and sit-ups, let me know. I know a 10 yr. old that would be happy to arrange it.

7 comments:

Kelly said...

OK - I'm super impressed. That kid has great things in his future, I'm sure of it.

Jennifer's Kitchen said...

That is hysterical!! What a great and fun kid. I am so impressed. :) He must be fun to have around. :)

Anonymous said...

Can grandmas pay their $2. and come, too? This is unbelievable for a 10 yr. old. He's some kid! GMA

Rob & Megg said...

Can you put us on the waiting list for next year! Seriously Jack asks for Christian only 10 times a day. What a funny kid, he is so great! Love it!!!

alison said...

Michael would be all over that camp! That's amazing that he's come up with it.

Linsey Farley Jameson said...

How stinking cute!!! That is really impressive!! I told my boys about it and they said "Can we go to his camp next summer?" That is AWESOME!!!! LOL!!

Erin Blake said...

Christian at his best. The great thing is picturing his stone cold serious face as he teaches these kids how to drop and roll, or feed a dragon and the way he explains slowly and with all seriousness.