Join Us In Opting Outside
This year, we’re thrilled once again to join with REI, the outdoor equipment co-op, to encourage you to opt outside on Black Friday. REI gives its employees a paid day off instead of opening for the crush of people looking for deals the day after Thanksgiving and encourages other organizations to do the same. They also started the #OptOutside hashtag as a way for people to share what they’re doing in nature.
We love the idea of #OptOutside because it matches so wonderfully with our Core Values, specifically that we want children to “experience the awe of nature.” We hope that you’ll join with us in spending time outside on Friday, November 29th. If you take pictures, you can share them on social media using the hashtag #OptOutside. We’d love it if you also tagged us (@goldarrowcamp) so that we can see what you’re doing outside. We’ll share our favorite GAC family #OptOutside pictures on our social media channels.
If you’d like more information on the Opt Outside movement, visit REI’s Opt Outside website.
Join Audrey “Sunshine” Monke and Sara Kuljis for a 1-Day LIVE parenting workshop in Newport Beach, California.
• Creating the Family Culture You Want by learning how to move your actions closer to your values and determining what kind of family you want to build.
• Raising Successful, Thriving Kids means defining what success for your kids looks like, what character traits you seek to foster, and how to help them become thriving adults.
• Building Your Positive Parenting Toolbox that includes skills like Authoritative Parenting, Connection Before Correction, Play & Fun, and the Power of Affirmation.
• Loving The Child You Have by harnessing the power of Positive Language – Behavior Management, Calming Skills for Ourselves & Our Kids – Internal Chatter, Empathy, and Compassion.
• A signed copy of Happy Campers: 9 Summer Camp Secrets for Raising Kids Who Become Thriving Adults
• A binder full of parenting resources and activities to support you in raising thriving kids
• Four follow-up group Zoom coaching calls with Audrey and Sara
• Lunch
• Discussions & advice that will improve your parenting and make your family life happier and more connected
Last night, everyone at camp came down to Granite Grove in their best space attire to celebrate the end of an incredible Mini Camp session at GAC! Enjoy some photos below!
“Big Campfire” is a highlight of the session for campers here at GAC. At Big Campfire, each cabin group performs a skit, song, or dance. The evening provides a fun opportunity for kids to work together to provide a fun, entertaining performance for the community.
Our younger campers (Bears & Tigers) celebrated Big Campfire on Saturday evening, and our older kids (Lions & Eagles) had their Big Campfire on Monday evening. Here are a few highlights from this session’s Big Campfires:
Tonight, everyone at camp came down to Granite Grove in their best Western attire to celebrate the end of an incredible Session 4 at GAC! Enjoy the highlights below!
Session 4 campers have had an awesome first week at GAC. The singing has been loud and the dancing ubiquitous! We are also doing a whole lot of bucket filling.
One of our favorite ways to fill each other’s buckets has been writing WOWs. Each morning at assembly, Cheerio reads a few of the WOWs from the previous day, and then all of the notes are delivered in the camp mail. WOWs are a fun camp tradition that reminds us to thank, compliment, and celebrate each other.
Our daily podcast features campers and staff talking about what’s happening at GAC. Campers (usually with their cabin group) serve as hosts for our daily update, which is usually recorded right after Morning Assembly. You can listen or subscribe here.
Episodes so far this session:
A new and fun addition to morning assembly 2019 has been the “Stat of the Day.” Each day, Soy and the other hosts present a stat challenge question. Each cabin group can put one guess into the yellow “Stat of the Day” box. The winning guess gets the special “Stat of the Day” trophy on their dining table for the next day. A few of the fun stat questions this week included how many emails came in to campers on one day and how many boats there are at GAC.
We love having special celebrations here at camp. They give us an excuse to dress up (or stay in our jammies) and socialize with kids outside of our own cabin groups. Here are a few picture & video highlights from some of this week’s special events:
We’ve got more fun planned for the second week of Session 4 including Big Campfires, the Carnival, International Day, the Western Dance, the Paddle Campfire Ceremony for our graduating campers, and our end-of-session celebration banquet and Appreciation Campfire.
We’re also going to be focusing on some important friendship skills, including asking questions & listening, staying calm, and being a great friend.
The second week of the session always flies by here at GAC, and we are going to make the most of our time together by remembering to have fun, make friends, and grow!
Be sure to download the Campanion App if you want to view photos and keep up with this week’s news on your phone!
Today was Crazy Cranium Day, and we had some wild headgear, wacky hairdos and all-around crazy craniums! See some pictures and the video below for a look at the fun!
This morning, at morning assembly, each cabin arrived with it’s own theme! Some wore backwards hats, others were decked out in lifejackets, even some rocked walrus teeth! Enjoy a few photos from the morning, below!
.
We always start our first breakfast of the session making ourselves feel comfy and at home in our jammies! Here are a few pictures from the morning!
Here at GAC, we love the outdoors and think it’s important to appreciate the beauty of nature and learn how to protect it for the future. The Every Kid in a Park initiative is a great way for 4th graders to learn more about their National Parks and Public Lands and visit them for FREE! Gold Arrow Camp is lucky to be located near three National Parks: Yosemite National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, and Sequoia National Park. As a 4th grade camper, we will supply the pass and you do the rest! Go to https://findyourpark.com/ to locate Public Lands in your area and go to https://everykidoutdoors.gov to learn more about this amazing initiative!