Camp Woodland Blog

The Holidays are a special time of year. You can’t help but find yourself full of joy, nostalgia, and self-reflection as the year comes to an end. Everyone has different traditions and favorite memories that help sculpt this wondrous time of year. Whether it’s baking, playing games, or enjoying the great outdoors, there is no shortage of fun to be had in the winter months.

Oddly enough, enjoying the Jordan family holiday traditions always gets me thinking about camp and the traditions I enjoy most with my friends in the summer. So much of what we enjoy doing with our camp friends and cabin mates reflects a tight knit community and parallels what we cherish most with our family. At camp, we even eat our meals “family style” as a cabin, a longtime tradition that reminds us of the tight-knit community that is formed every summer.

Our camp community is unique in the way that everything we do intentionally builds strong relationships through shared experiences. We eat together, sleep together, cry, laugh and grow together. In an environment like that, it would be impossible NOT to develop strong bonds. When campers and staff were asked to give their favorite ways to spend quality time with their camp friends, an array of answers relating to special events, activities, and quality time in the cabin together were shared.

SPECIAL EVENTS: At Camp Woodland we have a variety of special events that we get to participate in as a cabin group. Every Sunday we have some sort of whole camp game or activity, which is frequently planned and facilitated by our esteemed CITs. Some of these events include our Fair Days and Gold Rush.

Sydney H. (Starshine, age 13): Either games (alien invasion) or cabin night when we play board games or something.
Bárbara O. (Hilltop counselor): Sunday games and cabin night
Mera M. (Aquarius counselor): Cabin activities like rainy days and Sundays! (Or getting ready for themed coed show practice)

CARDS/GAMES: Campers and counselors alike always appreciate a little downtime in the cabin just to enjoy each other’s company in their safe haven. Popular ways to spend this time include playing games, reading, dance parties, getting ready for special events, or just chatting and sharing our day.

Sydney A. (age 10) and Masyn A. (age 7): Playing games, doing activities together, sitting together at the campfire, meals
Claire (Aquarius counselor) and Caroline (Treetops counselor): Playing cards
Rachel and Bunny (Aquarius, age 16): Playing Skipbo
Sofia S. (Hilltop counselor): playing games
Morgan (Sunrise, age 7) & Maddie (Sunrise, age 9): playing Uno and running around in the cabin.
Isabella S. (Tamarack, age 15): playing games or working on something as a cabin
Tori N. (Sunnyside, age 15): listening to the music from Mamamia
Caroline C. (Treetops, age 13): I really like playing tetherball with my cabin mates and I also really like practicing for song contest!
Irene (Sunnyside counselor): When we have extended rest hour and just hang out in each other’s bunks.

CABIN NIGHT: Part of this beloved cabin time is a Cabin Night once a week. This is when the counselors specifically plan something to do as a cabin group. This may include trust exercises, spa night, or some sort of bonding game/activity.

Aubrie (Sunnyside, age 15): cabin night
Elena (Tamarack counselor): cabin night!
Molly J. (Tamarack counselor): Chatachini

BEDTIME: Of course, one of the best bonding experiences as a cabin is getting ready for bed and decompressing from the day. This involves a lot more than just the basics of brushing your teeth and putting on your jammies. Every night the counselors read a book to the cabin group and the oldest campers come around to send us off to dream land by singing a goodnight song.

Daphne (Sunrise counselor): Just hanging out and relaxing while people are getting ready for bed.
Aria (age 7), Alegra (age 5) and Dee (staff): getting together at bedtime
JoAnne: Story time is fun too!