Assistance with a theme for a camp

[Limbo]

An organization I do volunteer work for is currently fishing for ideas for the theme of next years camps. This organization organizes camps for children in three different age groups (8-10, 10-12 and 13-15 years). The theme applies to all three age-categories simultaneously, should be easily applied into games / creative work for the children / decorating the building into the theme.

This year we had goosebumps as a subject, which was used as a theme for cold stuff, scary stuff and stuff related to chickens (goosebumps in dutch is "kippenvel", which  literally translated means chickenskin).

In previous years we have had subjects like: Midieval times, Cookie for President (Sesame Street), Just like in the movies, Cruise Control (vacation / speed).

As there are quite some creative minds around here, I am sure you can help me / us come up with some nice ideas.

Thanks in advance.

Leon

PS: This is a link to the site of this years vacations. Clicking around should easily yield you some pictures to give an idea of what the vacations / building look like.

[Bram]

Pimps and hoes? That seems to go over well with all age groups these days...

How about "you're in the army now"? Uncle Jan Peter wants YOU!

Or mafia...you could wear a suit and smoke cigars while the children are put to work in sweatshops.

Seriously, I'll think about it for a bit.

[BigMac]

I am a long lonesome cowbow (i am a member of the royal canadian mounted police)

I am the ships captain. (what was the name again. oh Titanic, well that is allright then)

I am the ships captain. (USS Enterprise (A), shoot to kill shoot to kill)

I am the ships captain. (where is that bloody whale, or are we all environmental now)

I am the ships captain. (let us burry that silver) (is a little Dutch one, spanish could understand as it was their silver our Piet Hein (a very good dutch pirate, well with us he is considered a hero, robbed)

All i could come up with for now.

[Bram]

Hey yeah, a pirate theme could actually work. Beware all ye' scurvy lubbers, shiver me thimbers.

[Limbo]

Hey yeah, a pirate theme could actually work.

This sounds quite nice. Any other good suggestions?

Or mafia...you could wear a suit and smoke cigars while the children are put to work in sweatshops.

A mafia theme, somehow this sounds familiar
(We had it as a theme for a long weekend for 15-18 year olds for the same organisation last year. The theme for the weekend in Oktober will be Allo, Allo )

[BigMac]

Bram, i see the double eyepatch, where is your pipe though?

[dandan]

Magic is a decent theme (Harry Potter and all that) and you'd have an excuse to play cards. Anyone older than 10 has to look crap in order to 'celebrate' the new Magic card format. You'd also have to make sure that there is no more than one Will, or else everyone will be Walking too often.

[Jacob Orlove]

Ninjas!

[Limbo]

Ninjas!

Extending that into Chinese / Japanese / Asian culture could actually work. And yes, in that case I would shotgun the role of being the Ninja.

[BigMac]

i am wondering if you get that whole honour thingie down in a youth weekend. The fireworks are ok though. Otherwise the whole asian thingie is a bit difficult perhaps.

I would stick with the pirates, as you could actually have a treasure somewhere and have them do chores or games to earn pieces of the map that says: X marks the spot.

[Limbo]

i am wondering if you get that whole honour thingie down in a youth weekend. The fireworks are ok though. Otherwise the whole asian thingie is a bit difficult perhaps.

I would stick with the pirates, as you could actually have a treasure somewhere and have them do chores or games to earn pieces of the map that says: X marks the spot.

It is not only the "honor-thing" I am aiming for in asian culture (btw, the camps are 6 days, from sunday until saturday, the long weekends are easier to come up with appropriate themes, as it is smaller in setup, as it is only 2 days and in a smaller location near the place where the weeks are). The dragons, fireworks, strange language ("letters"), eating habits, etc. etc. all make it a very viable theme for this kind of thing. Pirates works too though, so I will be admitting both as ideas. But more ideas are most certainly welcome, so keep the good ideas coming.

[Anusien]

Secret Agents.  There's actually a fascinating amount of information on the history of espionage and it's all deep in technology.  And you can give them misssions and assignments.  You could also adopt the assassins game, to fit.  Everyone gets a target.  You have to find your target and hit them with a sock or something, and then you kill them and get their target.  Then it makes the whole camp suspicious and paranoid, which puts them in the right frame of mind, and then you give them chores/games and they have to be careful and alert and whatever.

[Limbo]

Secret Agents.  There's actually a fascinating amount of information on the history of espionage and it's all deep in technology.  And you can give them misssions and assignments.  You could also adopt the assassins game, to fit.  Everyone gets a target.  You have to find your target and hit them with a sock or something, and then you kill them and get their target.  Then it makes the whole camp suspicious and paranoid, which puts them in the right frame of mind, and then you give them chores/games and they have to be careful and alert and whatever.

The assassinsgame you name we actually play already sometimes (this year as "hunters") using waterpistols in the forest. We tend to call it "Gotcha". However, secret agents / espionage sounds as a cool theme indeed. Added to the list of choices

[Bram]

Then it makes the whole camp suspicious and paranoid, which puts them in the right frame of mind, and then you give them chores (...) and they have to be careful and alert and whatever.

Wow. Just like real life :-/

[Hi-Val]

Pirates Vs. Ninjas would be fun as hell. Cowboys and Cowgirls would also be bitchin'.

Ideas:

-You can get chopsticks really cheaply in bulk, and teaching the kids to eat a meal with them in the Ninja camp would be a lot of fun. Making paper lanterns and doing Japanese calligraphy would be neat too.

-I really love the concept of giving clues to pirates and having them find buried treasure. If there's a lake nearby and canoes available, you could do some sort of race on the water. If there's a zoo nearby, perhaps you could see if a curator could give a talk on parrots : ) You can make food that's got a Jamaican or Carribean flavor to it. If you get bored, you can always slip them rum...

-Cowboys could build a fire, learn to use a lariat, ride horses if they are nearby, make badass belts, etc. You could go South American and teach them about gauchos and make bolas and make up games with them. Plus, straw hats and bandanas are pretty cheap. I suppose you'd probably want to play down the whole guns thing though : ) Kids these days don't get enough Western stuff, so cram them full of trail dirt. And OH MAN, since you're in Europe, the mythology of the cowboy on the open range is even cooler.

[Limbo]

@Hi-Val: It isn't the "difficulty" of applying a theme to the games / food / etc. as we succeed at doing that quite well I think It is more that I am fishing for as many general themes as possible, so that when we as the leaders of this year have our reunion, we can choose from a wide variety of themes for next year. So far I must say that these all look very promising, with a lot of possibilies:

Secret agents
Asian Culture
Pirates
Western stuff

Remember (as stated in my example) that we turned something general like Sesamestreet into Cookie for President where we used Sesamestreet in general, but implied some "election-stuff" as well (believe it or not, when children are allowed to choose their bedtime, not all of them vote as late as possible ).

[Limbo]

I thought a little thread resurrection would be allowed to inform all of you with the end result. The catch-phrase for the coming year will be (roughly translated):

"How the West became wild..."

So BigMac, you win the prize, whatever that may be

Any great ideas for games for 13-15 year olds to play going with this theme?

[Godder]

Cowboys and Injuns?

[SpencerForHire]

Another good theme would have been the great depression.  I hear those were exciting times..