They say “necessity is the mother of invention.” And there’s nothing like boredom to make us NEED to find something to do. And thus were born a few amazing camp-related projects by two ‘Ghany Girls during the COVID-19 shutdown.
When I heard about what they had done — one camper made a Camp Alleghany for Girls out of LEGOS and made a version of ‘Ghany Monopoly. And the other, a counselor, totally unbeknownst to the first, also made a homemade ‘Ghany Monopoly, or Campopoly!
What fun! And I had to tell you all about it in the blog because it’s so cute.
So from whence did all this creativity spring?
Wey-ell…how it happened is that after one of our Virtual Worldwide Campfires this Spring, a few people stayed on the Zoom call afterward to hang out and chat together. As we were chatting I mentioned our planned online Songfest bracket competition as well as an idea we’re working on for a Bingo card of 30 things to do that are NOT online — things that are, as the kids say, “IRL” or “in real life.” No screens, that is! (Stay tuned about more of that to come…)
Then one mom, Allison (who was my tentmate in my very first tent in 1987 — ‘Ghany Girls forever!) said that an “IRL” camp thing was happening in her house, too. She shared that her daughter, Carson, one of our campers who was also on the Zoom call, had made a whole camp scene out of Legos!
A whole ‘Ghany camp scene made out of LEGOs — wha, wha, wha, WHAT?
Of course I asked Allison to pretty please send me pictures, and gushed about how much I loved this idea!
And oh boy, when I saw the pics I was so impressed!
I love it so much that I added a version of “build your own camp” to my evolving Bingo card idea (again, stay tuned for that). And I couldn’t wait to show Carson’s camp to my own Lego-obsessed sons. Now my boys up for the challenge of creating their own camp scene, which is a great rainy day activity-in-waiting.
Carson — Budding Designer!
But I wanted to know a little more, so I put on my cub reporter camp and went straight to the source, Carson herself, the architectural genius behind all this building, to interview her for my blog:
Me: What made you think to create Camp Alleghany out of Legos?
Carson: I recently got one of the “Lego Friends” houses for Easter, and I decided to transform it into my own house. I made my family out of Lego people. When I was pretending it was summer time for my Lego family, I decided I would make a camp for my Lego kids to go to. And what better camp would I make than Alleghany!
Me: How long did it take?
Carson: About 2 – 3 days, working 3 hours each day. This was because I had to find the pieces to build with, by borrowing from my other LEGO structures. When I borrowed pieces, I had to find substitutes for the structures I borrowed from.
Me: What did you like best about making it?
Carson: My favorite part is probably the store I made because it looks almost exactly like the store we have at Alleghany. For example, I even made the clothes rack that we have in the store, plus Lego stuffed animals I put in there to be sold.
Me: What was the most challenging part of camp to try to create?
Carson: Probably the cabins. I tried to make tents, but the flaps were too hard because I didn’t have fabric. And Lego pieces would be too hard to make flaps. So, for the cabins, I needed four to be able to hold all my Lego children. The cabins are similar to Alleghany ones because the counselor bed is up front and each camper has a trunk. This was hard because I wanted each cabin to have the same look, but it was hard to find enough pieces to do this but I finally succeeded!
Yes, she did succeed!
I’m so impressed with the camp-oriented mind set that Carson brought to this. Like at any given summer at camp, Carson set a goal for herself, she stuck with it, she faced obstacles and challenges and found solutions and alternatives and she did it all screen free!
I LOVE IT!
And Carson didn’t stop there. She also created a Monopoly game with a whole side of it dedicated to Camp. I love that the memories of camp, the inspiration of camp, the culture of camp, our values, traditions, goofy little rituals and timeless in-jokes have been immortalized in a board game.
Mariska Gets Creative
As I mentioned above, in a marvelous coincidence, one of our Head Counselors, Mariska, also made a darling Campopoly during the shutdown, complete with color-themed tee shirts for game pieces. Who can’t wait to play this?!
The thing is, Mariska actually wanted to make a game of “Guess Who?” but said she couldn’t think of enough people for it :). But what about you, dear readers — would one of you be able to make a Guess Who…or any other game that references camp?
We’d love to see you try and we’d love to feature it on our blog.
Stay tuned for our own game — an announcement about a BINGO card we’re developing.
Stay safe and healthy!
— Elizabeth Shreckhise, Director, Camp Alleghany for Girls
