Green Wagons

I saw something kind of funny the other day. I was cleaning up lost-and -found clothing and towels over by the lake, when two thirteen-year-old campers passed by. They weren’t walking, running, skipping or hopping. Actually, one was pulling the other on a green wagon that campers use from time to time for schlepping their laundry to the pickup spot. One girl was struggling to pull the other through the deep sand volleyball court (which was puzzling considering the fact that they were less than a yard from a solid path, but who am I to judge?). In a moment of intense chaos and confusion, the wheels began to dig in and the whole operation had to be halted; they clearly weren’t going any further. They looked at one another and appeared to be discussing this strange but ultimately pointless debacle. Puller girl was definitely annoyed and obviously winded. Sitting girl seemed equally interested in freeing the wagon from it’s sand trap, but I could also see that she feared for her spot. If she got up, then puller could become sitter and she would be forced to be dragger (which was certainly not the desirable role here). After some understandable deliberation, she did hop off and both girls took the handle and dragged the passenger free wagon right out of the sand. Once freed, they both tried to jump on at the same time causing the front two wheels to take flight like a teeter-totter with no counter weight. In a panic, they quickly disembarked in an effort to escape from this unstable situation, causing the wagon to roll down a small slope and right back into the sand. To my surprise, sitter girl jumped right back on and puller girl went right back to dragging the thing through the thick sand. Would you believe me if I told you that the exact same course of events happened all over again? It struck me in this moment that I had seen those same two girls on that same wagon multiple times that afternoon. They were not going anywhere specific really, because they had nowhere that they had to be at that particular moment. They were not carrying out any specific task either because there was nothing particular that they had to do. They were simply free playing and enjoying a carefree hour at camp.

I found this happenstance to be so indicative of what camp is, and the role that it plays in child development. Something that camping expert, writer & camp director Jolly Corley calls, “The old neighborhood for a new generation.”

Do you remember free play? When we used our imagination to learn, explore and have fun? What happened to jumping on our bikes and going wherever? What happened to taking a walk through the woods and discovering nature’s hidden treasures? How about roaming outside of the house at all? That was the safe, healthy and flexible community where Lisa and I grew up. We also didn’t feel the kind of pressures that children do today. The decision to play baseball was simply made for the sake of playing baseball, and not to prepare for going pro. When school let out, we didn’t take five different classes, play three different sports and study to learn how to study. At the end of the school day we stepped out through those double doors, got onto our bikes and created our own fun. We enjoyed what I would call a healthy level of mental stimulation and activity. This is not to say that Lisa and I are perfect about this stuff. Audry and Vivien are in all sorts of really cool classes outside of school that make them happy and broaden their horizons, but this ultra prepared, time stamped, and bullet pointed generation is at risk of losing the benefits of something so special- That “old neighborhood.”

Enter Chippewa. A city of it’s own. A self contained community that allows it’s children to step outside in the morning and go for a walk. With a 2 to 1 child to adult ratio, a camper is never alone, but gets to feel like she is experiencing the freedom of exploration and the majesty of creativity and imagination. She will roam around carefree from activity to activity like we used to do growing up, and enjoy all of the benefits of that developing independence. Colorful polish over her nails will be replaced by dirt under her nails. She will unplug herself from texting, and social media and replace those social hindrances with experiential play and peer interaction. Best of all, she will have to look her friend in the eye and have a face to face conversation about their problems; no hiding behind a phone, or a computer screen (or frankly a parent). She will be challenged to problem solve.

A former camper’s dad told me this past winter, that one of his favorite moments in life was over parent visiting weekend when he saw his thirteen-year-old daughter building a sandcastle again. He said he nearly cried. He said that he had not seen her use her imagination like that since she was seven. He described the feeling as being “refreshing.”

I can’t say that its the most important object in camp, but that metaphoric green wagon clearly serves a greater purpose than laundry transport (at least on this day). Their ultimate goal may never be clear to me, but whatever they were doing with it, and wherever they were going, the power of creativity and imagination being cultivated in that moment was more impressive and more valuable than any standardized test score could ever be. That green wagon was a key tool for experiential learning, problem solving and creative development.

Here is how I see it- those two girls were taking an unadulterated walk down a sandy sidewalk, wagon in tow, enjoying what has become the new old neighborhood: CAMP. So simple. So perfect.

I think we’ll get a few more of those green wagons…

All best,
Cliff