Fall into Camp!

This fall camp has a new, or rather new to us, cherry-picker. Today we all learned how to operate this super fun piece of equipment! We want to give a big Thank You to Nick from Altec for coming out and showing us how to use it.  Anyone interested in a really cool egg drop?

Bill Thomas in the Cherry-Picker

The After School Day Camp has gotten off to a great start! We have had so much fun making slime, tracking Bigfoot, boating, and building shelters.

Our After School kids!

Our Outdoor Education program is wrapping up this week and we want to say a big THANK YOU to all of the O.E. staff. Thanks for all the hard work this fall.

Coming up this fall we have more After School Day Camp, Jammin Jamboree, and the evening of November 9th at camp in the Lodge we are having the first annual Family Movie Night! If you want to bring the family out for this free event at camp please RSVP with Kena at (425) 258-5437.

Have a great fall!
WoHeLo

Summer Fun!

These last few weeks have gone by in a blink of an eye. We have had so much fun around camp! So instead of a “special clap” for those who have ever been to skit night we will do a recap of some really great summer memories.

Remember the first time you saw the climbing wall? Or the first time you took a step on that latter? Here at camp we enjoy the climbing wall, high ropes, and low ropes.

We also have Horse camp. Do you remember the name of the horse that you worked with all week? What about the first time you went on a trial ride or painted the horses?

Can you remember the first time you took a tippie test? Did you ever sing a song from under a canoe? Or take a sailboat for a ride around Crabapple Lake?

As September draws nearer serenade seems sweeter, going for a penny hike is more peaceful, and jumping in the dolphin pond is more fun. From everyone here at Camp Killoqua make the very most of the rest of your summer!

People in cities can’t understand falling in love with the land.

WoHeLo

Greetings from Arts & Crafts!

One of our day campers made a wonderful pirate costume!

Ahoy there from the Camp Killoqua Craft House!

This summer is off to a great start in Arts & Crafts and we have been busy working on many theme related projects - as well as all those classic camp crafts! Lanyards and friendship bracelets are always in style.

Owakna campers making feather earrings for Pirate vs. Ninja Week!

This morning there were Day Campers and Resident Campers in making Pirate and Ninja crafts. Many campers chose to make costumes, though paper bag pirate puppets and feather earrings are popular this week as well.

A day camper and his paper bag pirate puppet for Pirates of Killoqua week in Day Camp!

We also had some campers drop by this morning to pick up supplies for projects they wanted to make in the meadow, which is always exciting to know that the creativity does not stop at the Craft House door.

The Chinook Boys came by this morning as well to make Council Fire Invitations. I taught them some new oragami tricks, and they turned out great!

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Chinook campers hard at work on paper boats and ninja stars for Council Fire.

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates from the craft house this summer.

Happy Crafting and WoHeLo!

Session 4



While walking around camp this afternoon I couldn’t help but notice how camp is a really great place for campers to be themselves. Here at camp we don’t answer cell phones we answer the call of WoHeLo, there are no text messages just letters home to friends and family, there is no Facebook friends but friends we meet face to face, and we don’t play video games but real games. At camp you meet around a campfire or table and share a meal, a song, a smile, and a silly story.

Play like a Girl!

WoHeLo

Session 3 2012

It has been a very magical week out at camp! In resident camp the theme was Disney and other animated characters. On Wednesday evening we had a lot of fun going on a camp wide hunt for Mickey Mouse who was hidden somewhere at camp. We also had a lot of fun looking for hidden Mickeys (Mickey silhouettes) that were placed all around camp.

 The Gypsy boys getting ready for our all camp game!

Just one of 62 Mickeys hidden around camp this week!


In day camp we had a wild time during Happy Trails week. Campers got to do all sorts of western inspired activities. On Friday afternoon they had an all camp complete with "cow-pie" tossing, cowboy costume relay, and hay rides! Earlier in the week the Washington State Jersey Queen brought her cow Annabelle out to camp. The campers got to pet her and some even got to milk her. They were also given the opportunity to make butter! It was a fantastic week in Day Camp!

 Petting Annabelle!

Staff Training

We had a really fun seven days of staff training this year! One of our big highlights was being the first to play gaga in our gaga pit built by the Kiwanis of Mukilteo and members of our camp comity!  The photo below is of our entire staff the night before camp making a giant zero signifying zero days left before campers arrive!

 Playing our first game of gaga! This game is a lot of fun, and its hard to take photos of because there is so much action going on. We set this up as an example of the game!

Spring Break Day Camp!

We had a great week here at camp with Spring Break Day Camp. If you are a parent with a camper who was too tired at the end of the day to keep you filled in this week this post is for you! This past week campers enjoyed cookouts and boating. Two of the groups got together for an airplane flying contest. Watch out Boeing because Camp Killoqua has some real talent in designing planes! The oldest group of campers had a lot of fun at the climbing wall and everyone had a chance to tie-dye. Archery was a favorite for many as well as making forts and learning a few camp songs. To the left is a picture of some campers testing out their fort! There was also a group that made their own fishing poles. We had a really great time outside this past week at Day Camp enjoying some sunshine!

Upcoming events start this Friday with a movie night for Camp Fire area 8. Later this month camp is celebrating Arbor Day with ArborFest April 28th from 10am-2pm. Bring the family and a sack lunch and enjoy spending the day at camp with fun stations including a chance to plant a tree. This is a free event! That same weekend is Dad/Youth overnight where dads, uncles, grandpas, etc. can bring out the kids and experience some of the classic camp activities, a fishing derby, and fun new activities.

See you soon!
WoHeLo

Spring Outdoor Education

We just wrapped up the first two fun filled weeks of the spring Outdoor Education season, and have 10 more to go! We are pleased to welcome our OE staff to camp and excited for the work they will be doing this season.

OE Staff left to right: Winter, Azul, Willow, Madrona, Sunshine and Chaco!

Schools from all over the state, Ferndale in the north all the way down to the Gig Harbor and of course a ton from Snohomish County, will be joining us out at camp for our spring program. Students in grades 1 to 6 will be participating in 1 to 5 day programs through mid-June. Outdoor Education is a fun combination of school and summer camp. Our days are packed full of environmental learning, leadership, outdoor recreation, and of course camp songs! Rain or shine we are out at camp having a great time!

Visit the blog again soon as we will be introducing our spring staff individually. You may get to meet them if you are out at camp this spring!

Wohelo!

Outdoor Progression

One of our spring events is Outdoor Progression. For those of you who don’t know, this event is for Camp Fire Clubs (Adventure age and older) to come out to camp for an overnight and work on their Progression in Outdoor Action emblems. Starflight members have the opportunity to just spend the day and participate in the same activities.

With some help from camp, club campers learn about fire building, knots, pocket knives, tools, Compasses and pacing. This year we had Dozer, Toast, Azul, and Cornflake leading the activities. On Friday night when all of the club campers arrived we started with a night hike packed full of fun activities. Club campers learned all about nocturnal animals and how they live in the dark, fun games (does anyone remember playing Bat and Moth?), spark in the dark, and even the art of howling. We ended our chilly night hike at Tapala lodge with hot chocolate and roasting marshmallows.

The next day was packed full of fun filled activity rotations! The clubs learned how to tie knots with Twizzlers pull and peel and then moved on to ropes. They even learned the art of whipping a rope (and we don’t mean like Indiana Jones). Fire building was a great time to explore different styles of building a fire and how clubs might use them for camping/cooking. Saturday afternoon started with a club lunch cookout and moved to compasses at Kravik Field and it was even sunny! After finding their way the clubs learned about pocket knife safety, how to make shavings used for tinder, and all about different types of saws.

Wow! What a fun weekend. We were happy to see clubs at camp learning and practicing outdoor skills. Outdoor Progression only happens every other year and I think this year’s event will keep us excited until it rolls around again.

WoHeLo

Spring at Camp Killoqua

Today is officially the first day of spring. Walking around camp this morning has led me to believe that April showers have arrived early. Even with the rain, camp is ready for spring. We have salmon berries blooming, green grass is growing and the birds, well they wake us up every morning with their constant chattering. Even the birds are excited about spring! Other signs around camp that spring is here is the arrival of the new Outdoor Education staff, orders coming in for the Trading Post, and all the planning for summer.

Another great thing about spring is Spring Break Day Camp. Come spend your spring break at camp April 2-6. Killoqua offers a week of day camp programming, with many of the same acidities as summer. Dress for the weather this week and camp will also keep the fire going in the lodge for a dry warm place to take a break between activities. If the weather is really cold and raining we have a lot of really fun raining day games, arts and crafts projects, and other activities. Open to kids in grades k-8, and bus transportation is available! For more information about bus transportation go to visit our website www.campfireusasnohomish.org . Come experience the ‘Best of Killoqua!’ Each day is sure to be an adventure!

We have a lot of other great events this spring too! Come visit us for ArborFest (April 28th), Dad/youth overnight (April 28-29), Mom/youth (May 4-5), and/or Family Camps (May 25-28, Aug. 31-Sept. 3). Hope to see you this spring!

-WoHeLo

Winter Wonderland

During the week of January 16th was very memorable here at camp and for many around the state of Washington. It snowed. Then snowed some more. Camp became a winter wonderland with everything covered in snow. This is a big change from our usual mud. This week Daisy enjoyed cross country skiing on our trails and all the camp dogs jumped and played in their redecorated backyards.

Share your winter memories of Camp Killoqua in the comment section.

Winter at camp is like a ducks feet underwater. Calm on the surface but busy under neither. We’ve had a few events and are in the exciting process of preparing for spring and summer. One of the events this winter was the Quilting Over Night. This has been the 20th Quilting Over Night here at camp. We had 12 members of Teens in Action spend the night sewing, pinning and ironing. For some this their first time sewing and others are pros. The teens made over 60 pillow cases for children in need.

WoHeLo