- Family
- Nat Geo Family Camp
Week one: Ice breakers
Ice breakers help children overcome those first few moments at camp when parents take off and kid-jitters take over. Things might be more relaxed at home camp, but you can still use these activities to strengthen family bonds and friendships. (Adapt these games to extend camp fun via group video chats or while social distancing outdoors.)
ICE BREAKERS
Fake forests. The group chants, “In the forest I once saw a …” then one person completes the phrase with an animal starting with the letter a (for instance, an ape climbing a tree). Repeat the chant, and the next player does the same with a b (a bear flying a kite), and so on. (To make it harder, have each player repeat all the previous animals before adding their own!)
Balloon up. See how long each person can keep a balloon or lightweight ball in the air by taking turns tapping it and sharing your favorite food, location, movie character, or something that grosses you out. If kids are doing this virtually or socially distanced, each player can have their own balloon or ball and use a timer to see who can keep it in the air the longest.
Sweet details. Have each player grab a handful of colorful candies … but don’t eat them yet! Each color represents a question a camper must answer. (You’ll need separate bags of candy for socially distanced or video chat players, of course.)
For instance:
Red: What’s your superhero power?
Orange: Name your silliest skill.
Yellow: What kind of dog would you be and why?
Blue: How does your favorite animal laugh?
Green: What emoji are you?
Get creative when coming up with color-coded questions. The fun comes when campers have more than one color of candy in their bunch!
Two-handed cards. You’ll definitely need communication skills for this challenge. Build the tallest house of cards with two hands—but only one hand per person. Take turns working in pairs using one hand each to add to the house of cards.
