It’s the start of a new week of camp…You’ve got tons of outdoor activities planned…
The weather forecast looks pretty good…The kids are all excited…
Then, it RAINS. Hard. The whole day. What do you do????? ROLE PLAY!
When campers are stuck indoors, role play activities can quickly engage (and instruct) a whole group—even first-time campers or learners of different ages, from very varied education and home backgrounds. “In role playing, campers who might otherwise stay to the side of an activity can engage comfortably, feel less inhibited, even act goofy,” says Jim Kahler, Program Specialist at 4-H national headquarters, who has led many camps in his time.
Pretending to be an insect, for example, lets campers join in the group fun no matter how much they already know or don’t know about the science of head, thorax and abdomen.
In an activity like The Bug Walk from howtosmile.org partner 4-H, campers become a bug’s many legs to simulate insect locomotion together. If some campers shake it a bit more than others in the buggy line dance, that’s OK too.
“Role playing gets kids involved and active, and allows for a level of individual imagination and creativity,” says Kahler.
When kids internalize what they have discovered through role playing, they can better retain their new knowledge. In the howtosmile.org collection, you’ll find activities that let campers "become" not only insects but all kinds of animals, like monkeys, wolves, otters and cryptozoa (organisms that live under rocks and in other hidden places), or even garden vegetables and weeds.
Activities where campers role play humans—such as scientists at work—also keep science in mind while school is out. The Wonderwise project, in partnership with 4-H, offers many activities where kids “try on” the role of scientist. Wonderwise encourages kids to create stories about scientists after doing other thematic role play activities. Such scientist stories can easily be turned into impromptu scripts, and acted out—with the added fun of making costumes and/or props to bring the stories to life. Then rain or shine, you can spread the fun by having kids perform their stories (or their Bug Walk) in front of the whole camp!