The Great Outdoors

Your kids may be packing for camp this month–or maybe not.  (Watch for my post on Bible/Christian camps later this week.)  While the weather’s warm and the days are long, they can at least get outside and play some . . . you know, outdoor games.  Does anybody remember how to play Capture the Flag?  Here are a couple of fun titles to get you in an outdoorsy, “run-aroundy” mood.

Justin Case: Shells, Smells, and the Horrible Flip-flops of Doom, by Rachel Vail, illustrated by Matthew Cordell.  Feiwell & Friends, 2012, 179 pages.  Age/interest level: 7-10

“Camp GoldenBrook is where all the run-aroundy kids go.  And none of the nice calm worried kids.  I am not a worried kid anymore, but I am still not a run-aroundy kid.”  A definite yes on the latter, but as for worrying, not so much.  Justin Krzeszewsky, a.k.a. Justin Case did overcome his third grade worries in School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters, but summer sports camp opens a whole new can.  Especially GoldenBrook, which seems like such an odd fit his parents are continually asking if he’s sure he wants to go, which only makes him all the more unsure.

Kids have read this story before: false confidence leading to preliminary challenges leading to more serious challenges leading to a crisis that precipitates a fall . . . . then determination to get back on one’s feet and face the bully or complete the quest.  But seldom is the voice so winsome and often laugh-out-loud funny.  Justin, as suits his quiet character, goes for subtle rather than gross, outrageous, or over-the-top humor, which is why moms will think he’s a sweetie.  (“That, in our family, is what we call a loser, I guess.”)  But boys will like him too, especially the slightly anxious types who work through their masculinity with toy knights and staged battles, but cuddle with their “stuffties” at night.

Justin’s parents seem very traditional.  Mom: Are we paying good money for our son to be pushed around by a bunch of bullies with no adults taking notice?  Dad (quoting Goethe): “Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.”  Justin has to figure things out on his own during the day, and life presents its usual conundrums.  Such as that daily round of Knuckles begun by Cash, the cool kid from Tennessee.  Accidently winning the game one day gets Justin in the inner circle, but only at the expense of his friend Gianni, who’s suddenly out for cheating—even though nobody except Cash has figured out the rules.  Justin is surprised at his own reaction: “What it made me feel instead of happy was that I could get kicked out of being a cool kid very easily, too.”

There’s a life lesson for you, but the lessons are never laid on too thick.  Justin gets to the end of camp with certain anxieties conquered, though there are doubtless more on the horizon—like Fourth Grade.  And when summer comes around again . . . ?  “I am going to Science Camp next year.  Not quitting is one thing.  Signing up again is just nuts.”

• Wordview/moral value: 4 (out of 5)
  
• Literary value: 4

Go Out and Play! Favorite Outdoor Games from Kaboom!  Candlewick, 2012.  Ages 4-up. 

Darell Hammond, Founder & CEO of KaBoom!, has a mission to get kids off the couch and into the great outdoors.  “All that anyone needs is some rules (which you can feel free to change), a bit of grass or asphalt, a ball, a rope, a can, some chalk, or just determination to let loose and have some fun.”

It’s not as easy as it used to be to get up a neighborhood game, because kids don’t seem to know as many outdoor activities as they used to.  When I was growing up, games were handed down like stories, to be added to or altered.  For example: To play Swing the Statue, “It” would swing each player by one hand in a number of circles, and when she let go, you had to freeze in the first position you could.  When everybody was frozen, “It” would decide on a tableau, assign places to everybody (“You be the car, and you be the man driving the car, and . . . and you be the road, and you be the stop sign . . .”).  Then she would turn her back and count to ten, and the players all had to assemble themselves in the tableau.  That game had no point or scoring system, which makes me think it was made up.  Another one I know was made up: Drop Dead.  Everybody lines up.  The second player from the end turns to the last player and says, “Drop dead.”  Whereupon the last player falls to the grass.  Then the third player from the end turns to the second and says the same, with a corresponding drop, and so on until all the players are stacked up on top of each other.  Obviously, we liked squishing games.

Anyway: Get Out and Play! is designed to get kids started–running, tagging, screaming, hopping—and hopefully they’ll take it from there.  Suggested games come with a handy guide to the number and age of players, space requirements, and materials needed.  They’re divided into variations of Tag, Hide & Seek, Ball, and Race, with games for the sidewalk and circle.  Old favorites like Blindman’s Bluff and HopScotch share space with newer ones like Rhythm Detective, Ghosts in the Graveyard and Drip Drip Drop (like Duck Duck Goose with water!).  In spite of the absence of squish games, it’s a good reference for day camp or VBS—go for it!