"Wizard of Oz" Camp Theme

"WIZARD OF OZ"
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

We camp in wards (1st- 4th years).
5th yr YCLs camp together....6th yr YCLs are together.
Each ward was given a theme:
Munchkins, Glenda, Wizard, Lion, Scarecrow, Lollipop Guild, Lullaby League, Dorothy, TinMan


1st Day of Camp-
Campers' Arrive!!
We decorated the entrance with this rainbow balloon arch.
Our first supporting theme was "Somewhere over the Rainbow".
 The Rainbow of YW Value Colors was our focus.

Girls and Leaders had to "Check-in" at the YCL table.

 First day "Opening Ceremony"...the YCLs led the group in camp song singing!!
We made a "Camp Bible" (the red book they are all holding) and gave it to all the campers.  It has a hole in the corner, with a ribbon, so the girls can wear it around their necks at all times.
It includes:  Camp Songs, Camp Rules, Camp Agenda, Camp Chore Chart.
We will definitely provide this item again!


  This was us, the Stake Camp Directors & Stake YW President.  We did a skit to "Dancing Queen" but with words "Camping Queen" that we found online.  It was a highlight for the girls!  They loved watching us get up on stage and be silly.

  Camp Opening Ceremony included: singing, Introducing the YCLs, Stake Leaders. You can introduce the leaders by saying, "1st years, 2nd yrs, 3rd yrs, OH MY!"  "Craft, Kitchen, Nurse, OH MY"...  We went over Camp Rules & Emergency plan.   We went over the agenda for the day (showed them where to find it in their "Camp Bible").  

It was time for lunch (they bring a sack lunch with them on the first day) and then we handed out t-shirts.  Each Camp Year had a different color.  Stake was Green for "Emerald City".  Camp Picture time!!

T

 -After pictures & lunch, we allow the girls to have "Free Time".
On the first day of camp they can do the following...
-Take their Swim Test.  Archery, Swimming, Crafts, or Personal Progress Tent. (Picture below shows girls relaxing under the ramada.)

 Tues. Night's Evening Program-
(No pictures, unfortunately)
We celebrated 100th year of Camp, by starting out with a service project of clearing the camp grounds of branches and wood.
Then we had a birthday celebration!
We moved the balloon arch from the front entrance to the stage.
We used all the value colors and did a devotional on the "Rainbow of Colors" and how girls all around the world were living these same standards!
We provided each cabin with a birthday invitation to come to devotional that night and tied it to a helium balloon.  That night, we had the girls write down their testimonies and then we tied them to some "Glo balloons" (LED balloons that light up) and we let them go in the nighttime sky at the end of our devotional.  We used only 10 balloons (rather than the 100 we had originally thought of) we were afraid of them getting stuck in the trees etc.  It was so cool!!!  Wish I had a picture.  :(  Then we celebrated with birthday cake for dessert!

Day 2:  Courage (Hike Day)

-Our hikes begin at waking up 5a.m.'til about 3pm....sometimes even 5pm!

-Free Time (for the 1st and 2nd year girls that are back from their hike.)

Evening Devotional:  "The Yellow Brick Road"..."There's No Place Like Heavenly Home".

We began our evening with everyone meeting at the "stage".

The stage was decorated in black/white..."Welcome to Kansas" sign.

Dramatization of Dorothy not wanting to be home and feeling sad, lonely.

The witch comes and makes fun of her and scares her even more.

Then, we had a "mock tornado"  where we turned out the lights and had the YCLs spinning around the girls with streamers to look like wind.  The light came on and Glenda tells the girls that there's a way to get home, but they must follow the yellow brick road.  

Our Yellow Brick road was yellow bags with battery operated candles inside.

The YCLs all lead different groups off to various campfires spread around camp.

Each camp fire had a different "visitor".

We asked 3 women to dress up as their character and share a short, spiritual message.

Lion- "Courage to live the gospel!"

Scarecrow- "Knowledge...scripture study is so important to help us connect with God."

Tinman- "To love others and YOURSELF"

 After the  3 Characters, we had the girls make their way back to the Stage...They found it lit up with lights and COLOR!  The rainbow was awesome :)  We used plastic tablecloths and put a light underneath.  We hung up the sign from the first day of camp that said, "There's no place like camp  HOME"!

 The last message of the evening was Dorothy sharing her thoughts:
Along the way, she found some friends.  They were each imperfect, but each was willing to help the other reach their goal!  They strengthened one another and were there for eachother.
We all need to make it back home, but we need to help others on their way as well.
She testified of a Heavenly Home, that was proud of us and the journey we are on...Christ knew we'd make mistakes and stumble and provided a way for us to make it HOME!

Day 3:  Knowledge (Certification Day & 11 yr. old Day Camp)

-Morning Scripture Study, divided up into camp year.
-11 yr olds are invited to come up for the day and take part in a "Nature Hike", learn camp rules, participate in games, taught by the 5th yr. YCLs. They eat lunch with us and then spend Free Time with the girls at camp.  This is so much fun for the 5th yr YCLs to connect with next year's 1st years!!  It's alot of fun and really helps the in-coming 1st year girls. :)
-During this time is...Late morning, Certification!!  The girls rotate for 2  hours, completing their requirements.

-After Lunch: YCLs planned a gospel Jeopardy game for the camp!  I think they handed out "Smarties" and "Dumdums" for funny prizes ;)
Free Time...(Archery, PP Tent, Crafts, Swimming)

Evening Program:  SKITS :)  Lip Syncs 
Each ward had a fun theme.
The Lion ward did a lip sync to "The Lion King"...and so on.
Stake was "Emerald City"/Wizards, so we did a remake of the The Prince of BelAir song to fit our theme and dressed as rappers. :)  Let's just say, we proved we weren't much of rappers!
We handed out awards at the end:
The skit with the most "Courage". The "Wickedest". The "Cutest Munchkins" The Wisest...The Skit with the Most Heart! etc.

Day 4:  LOVE (Service & Bishops' Devotionals & Testimonies)
-Morning Scripture Study.
-5th yr. YCLs plan a Humanitarian Aide project for the camp and devotional.
 Last year we made 100 pillows for the elderly in our area.
-Lunch & Free Time

Afternoon Devotional:  The Stake YW President spoke on how showing love, one brick at a time, helps build strong relationships and strong self esteem.  She shared "bricks" of love that she witnessed at camp over the week.
**We gave each girl a yellow brick to take home.  (It had a red sparkly ribbon, an animal printed ribbon, a straw ribbon, and a silver ribbon with a message that included our camp scripture and what each character represented at camp.)**

Stake President came and spoke on "LOVING OURSELF" and even when we make mistakes, which will happen, we need to repent and then forgive ourself.  It was wonderful for us leaders, as well!

Evening Devotional:  We invited all the bishops to come to camp with a short spiritual message to share with their ward girls.  They ate dinner with us.  After their devotionals we met at the stage for our Camp Testimony Meeting.  Our Stake President loved this part of camp and said that he hopes we do this every year!!

Day 5:  "There's NO Place Like Home"
The hung the sign back at the entrance as a "Goodbye" from camp.
Our last day is strictly clean up, breakfast, and a few awards, Secret Sister reveals.

Extra Ideas:
- Buy a roll of yellow plastic tablecloth at a party store and run that all the way through camp!  We couldn't find this in our area :( but had hoped to.
- Personal Progress Tent is a great activity!!  Decorate it, provide fun snacks, and entice the girls with some sort of award.  We used different charms that the girls could earn each time they came and started on a project.  They didn't have to completely finish them (since many are read scriptures, write in journal, then do the activity for 2 weeks, etc.)  It's been a great thing to have at camp!
-Camp Song:  "Be Strong With Me" by Jenny Phillips.  Our girls really loved this song!
-Camp Kickoff- we made cute cupcakes with witch legs sticking out the top.  (look on pinterest)
-For Stake Cabin- we had a sign on the outside of our door that said, "Doorbell out of Order, please knock".
-We have "Clean Cabin" checks, and the award for the cleanest cabin of the day was a pair of witch legs that you put under the cabin, that stick out.  Looks like the cabin landed on the Wicked Witch!
-We had DingDongs for dessert one night "Ding Dong, the witch is dead".

We love dressing up to the daily themes!!!

 Cute Cabin decorations!!  This was the "Lollypop Guild" ward.