Kids Fun Kamp Camp Started When They Were 9 Keeps Mead Sophomores Busy Coming Up With New Ideas

When Molly Brown and Beth Kennedy were 9, the summer stretched endlessly before them. Whole calendar pages full of empty days.

But instead of watching yet another rerun of The Brady Bunch, the girls decided to do something to help others while they helped themselves.

“We figured if we had trouble thinking of things to do with our days, other kids probably did too,” said Beth, now 15.

So they brainstormed daily activities, typed up a flier and recruited neighborhood children for their week-long Kids Fun Kamp.

“I was skeptical at first,” said Debbie Kennedy, Beth’s mom. “But after the first year, I saw how smoothly it ran. I was proud and surprised.”

The first camp had only four or five campers - most of whom were younger siblings. This year, however, the camp hosted about 30 kids, from ages 3 to 9.

“But the 9-year-olds said they want to keep coming, so we’ll have to expand the age limit next year,” Molly said. All they ask from the parents is a few dollars to help cover the cost of supplies.

Beth and Molly, 11-year friends and sophomores at Mead High School, enjoy spending time with children. They say it’s part of living in the North Side Brentwood neighborhood, which is full of kids.

Each day of the camp - usually a week in July - begins at about 9:15 a.m. at the Kennedys’ house. After walking to each camper’s house and collecting their lunches in a red wagon, the girls make sure everyone is wide awake with simple exercises like jumping jacks and stretches.

Daily activities include arts and crafts - making puppets out of brown paper bags, masks from paper plates and yarn, balloon figures and book marks - neighborhood hikes, running through sprinklers, singing, storytimes and games.

As counselors, Beth and Molly say creativity is key. Finding they had difficulty getting some campers to participate in nap time, the girls invented a wake-up fairy who would “magically” leave treats for those who took an afternoon snooze.

Counselors lead games focusing on the all-important skills of team work and cooperation. Hours are whiled away teaching trust-building skills by building human pyramids.

Campers also work on a play or dance to be performed for parents at the end of the week. Though Molly and Beth have training in tap and jazz dance, the kids don’t always think they have the best ideas.

“I suggested things this year and got shot down,” Beth said. “The kids came up with ideas that were totally new - things I never would have thought of. So we did that, and they had a blast.”

Ideas for camp activities come from school, books, other camps and from the kids themselves. Beth also works as a counselor aide for the Camp Fire Program and tries ideas she learns there with her own campers.

Each year brings new kids and new challenges. This year - with parents’ permission - the girls organized field trips to “Whitworth mountain” (the hill behind Whitworth College) and a nearby roller rink. Keeping track of all the kids was difficult, they said.

“We had name tags tied around their wrists but they kept falling off. We had to learn how to tie while we were skating,” Beth said with a smile.

They’ve become pros at handling everything from kindergarten cat fights to pint-sized love triangles.

“You just have to try to reason with them using a whole different logic of common sense,” Beth said.

Throughout their years with Kids Fun Kamp, the counselors have grown along with the campers.

“I’ve learned to enjoy the time we have with them,” Molly said, “and not expect too much of them.”

“…or you’ll get soaked,” Beth added, referring to one time campers rebelled and drenched the counselors with water.

“I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. You can make schedules but something will probably happen that will make your plan not work out for an hour or two,” she said.

The camp provides a great benefit for area parents as well.

“It’s like free babysitting,” Molly said.

“Everyone wants to be able to send their kids out to play without worrying,” added Mary Lou Morgan, a camper’s mother. “The camp is always held in one of the girls’ back yard and a parent is always home.”

Molly and Beth plan to continue their camp for at least a few more years, until they graduate from high school. By then, Beth’s sister Laura and her friend Vanessa Clemens, both 12, should be set to take over.

This year they started their own camp for kids with theme days. On sports day, they played four square, volleyball and wallball. On arts and crafts day they made bird feeders out of peanut butter and birdseed. Friday ended the week with fun day and a water balloon fight. Already they have realized a valuable lesson: learn as you go.

“The water balloon fight wasn’t fun,” Vanessa said. “They didn’t pop and it really hurt!”

If the younger girls stick with it, they too, might get more than they bargained for.

“The camp has really helped us in where we want to go in life,” said Molly, who wants to become a teacher.

Both girls are surprised the camp has lasted as long as it has. They still look forward to it, sometimes beginning the next year’s planning as soon as the weekend performance ends and the kids are on their way home.

“It’s an amazing week,” Beth said. “You’d think we’d know by now how the kids are going to act, but they always surprise us.”