Camp Counselor Ben introduces everyone to Camp Adventure with a story about shoes and making friends in new places. Plus a sing-along, an invitation to name your camp space, and directions to make your own camp flag!
Camp Counselor Ben introduces everyone to Camp Adventure with a story about shoes and making friends in new places. Plus a sing-along, an invitation to name your camp space, and directions to make your own camp flag!
We’d love to feature you and your fellow campers on our next episode. Share a photo of your camp space and your new camp flag for Camp Adventure on social media using #AKBAsummer or write to us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com.
Camp Adventure: A Kids Summer Camp Podcast
S1 E1 “Welcome to Camp”
[INTRODUCTION]
Ari: Welcome to Camp Adventure! Camp is in your living room. Camp is in your car on the way to the store. Camp is under your blanket fort. Camp is everywhere. And Camp Adventure is for everyone, no matter where in the world you are. And camp counselors Ben and Hannah are ready to welcome you.
It’s our first week at camp, and this week we’re exploring being new somewhere and making friends.
I’m camp counselor Ari, and I’ll be welcoming you to camp each week. It’s a beautiful day at Camp Adventure. Let’s say hello to Counselor Ben to kick things off.
Ben: Ari. Thank you. Thank you. And yes. Thank you everybody for being a part of this podcast camp. How cool is this? My name is camp counselor, Ben, and it is an honor to be here with you kids. I mean that truly, it's a great honor. So thanks for hanging out. I wonder how you're doing as we start here on day one.
And I, I wonder what it's like, where you are. I'm out in my backyard. I made a little wooden shed and I, uh, it's sunny out to birds are chirping. It's very beautiful today. Although it is often quite rainy where I live, still here we are... first day of camp.
Here's one thing I know: I've been to camp a couple of times, myself as a kid.
I know it can be pretty nervous on the first day and there, and I think, I just want to tell you that it's totally okay. There's lots of different kinds of people sometimes talking and looking differently than I'm used to. I remember feeling downright scared sometimes on the first day of camp. So big thing I was always wondering was are people going to be kind to me?
And I actually have a story about that later on, but we'll come to that later on. Let me tell you what to expect today. So at least there won't be surprises about what we're going to do as we continue. I find it helps when you're nervous about something. And I won't spoil any of the secrets I promise. I find that that helps with excitement.
Okay, here we go. We've already done our grading and now we're going to meet camp counselor, Hannah. She is our camp music director. She's awesome. And after that, we'll check out the mailbag and then I'm going to tell you the story about sneakers and accents and then moving. Have you ever had to move? Know somebody who has? Oh yeah!
Well, we're going to close out the day then with an awesome camp activity because you got to do that at summer camp and then we'll make plans to see each other again and the next camp week. So why don't we do a quick, get to know you activity wherever you're at. So that we can get to know each other, a little button.
Okay. Here's what I want you to do. Raise a hand. If you're listening to this podcast in the same room where you sleep at night,
Raise two hands if someone else is listening with you, anybody else?
Okay. Now raise a foot. If you're listening in your car (and grownups not you. Okay. You got to drive the car. Don't forget.)
Okay. Now wiggle your bottom. If you're listening somewhere in the United States
And then say a great big “Helllloooooo” if you're listening from a different country. Whoa. Okay. There we are. I can hear you all the way over here in Portland, Oregon. That's where I'm at.
Well, here we are. It's hard to know what camp is going to be like, but there, hopefully you at least know what to expect. And I want you to remember a little bit of nervousness is totally normal, but then something really magical happens when all the campers get together and we start to sing the camp songs.
I love it. So therefore...
[Dun Dunna DUUUUUUHN!]
I now introduce our Camp Adventure music leader, Hannah Glover. She's an artist, she's an adventurer she's brave and strong, she's friendly and kind, and most of all, she's a true camper like you and me. So please welcome with me, my friend, Hannah.
I think a notice came in that last recording. So here's one more take on the final paragraph. Therefore done Denna. I now introduce our Camp Adventure music leader, Hannah Glazer. She's an artist, she's an adventurer she's brave and strong, she's friendly and kind, and most of all, she's a true camper and I've been running lots of camps with Hannah.
She's a true blue camper like you and me. So please welcome my friend, Hannah.
[CAMP SONG]
Hannah: Thank you, Ben!
And thank you, kids, for joining this year’s Camp Adventure.
Alright—Well We’ve gotta get up for some stretching and wiggling—and maybe a little dancing—This is your time to move! We are going to sing this song together every week and add on fun parts as we go!
So today I am going to teach you the song, and next week we will have new parts to add onto it. So please, send me a photo or video of you singing or dancing from wherever you are so we can all see each other! And make it your own! How would you make the song sound? What moves can you come up with? I can’t wait to see and hear what you all share! Sound good? Great!
Allllllllriiight here we go!
Ok, I’ll start it a bit slow, so you can get the idea.
Do you feel a little freaky when you’re trying something new
Like when your life is so much different and you don’t know what to do
Don’t forget this little secret
When you’re feelin sad and bluuuuuueeeeee
Adventure’s trying new things, and you’ll grow stronger as you do
Hannah: All right, well here’s the chorus. Let’s learn it together.
Adventure (adventure)
We venture (we venture)
Together with courage
We learn and grow STRONG
We learn from (we learn from)
Each other (each other)
So let's discover and uncover
Great adventures bright and new
Hannah: “Let's discover and uncover… let's discover … and uncover great adventures bright and new—you think you’re ready? All right here we go.”
Adventure (adventure)
We venture (we venture)
Together with courage
We learn and grow STRONG
We learn from (we learn from)
Each other (each other)
So let's discover and uncover
Great adventures bright and new
Hannah: “Alright we’re going to do it one more time, and this time we are going to do it a liiiittle faster.”
Adventure (adventure)
We venture (we venture)
Together with courage
We learn and grow STRONG
We learn from (we learn from)
Each other (each other)
So let's discover and uncover
Great adventures bright and new
Hannah: Awesome job!
I’m sure you all sound so great! But I have no idea. Don’t forget to send in photos or videos! So if you sang along in your car, or in your home, or even at the zoo, let's share this camp song or things we make with the other campers!
So much fun, and it's only the first week! I cannot wait to be with you next week—but for now, it’s time for a VERY SPECIAL MOMENT that happens every week at camp (drum roll please) and it’s called “Mail Bag.”
[MAIL BAG]
AKBA Counselor: Hi everyone! I’m Camp Counselor Matthew and I’m here with the Mail Bag. It’s where I keep all the mail we receive for our campers. And yeah… I know that this is your very first day at Camp Adventure, but you are never going to believe this!
You’ve got mail!
Our other camp counselors are SO excited that you’re here, they sent in these messages!
Emma: Hey campers. My name is Camp Counselor Emma and I am so excited to join you all at Camp Adventure. This summer, I haven't had a ton of experience with summer camps because I tend to get kind of homesick when I'm away from my family for a long time. Maybe you feel that way too. However, I do have some sweet memories from the summer camps I have been to.
It was my first night outdoor school in the sixth grade and around dinnertime. I was starting to miss my parents a bit. My counselor could see that I was getting a little anxious and she told me that something really cool was happening later that night. And sure enough, after dinner, we all trekked out to this big field on the outskirts of the camp and it was the first truly star filled sky I had ever seen with absolutely no city lights around. The sky looked totally magical.
Have you been stargazing before? I'm so stoked to adventure with all of you this summer talk soon.
Jen: Greetings campers. It's another beautiful day here at Camp Adventure. I'm Camp Counselor Jennifer. Wow! I am so glad we are here together. What will today's adventure be? Maybe some swimming or time out in the forest? Building a fort in the shade of the trees?
I've got two things I love most about camp: singing songs like “Breaststroke side stroke and fancy diving too. Oh, don't you wish you never had anything else to do? Oh, Camp Adventure. You're the camp for me!”
And picking my favorite comic books to take along with me to read and trade with my friends at camp.
What do you love most about camp? Shout it out. Can't wait to hear what you've got to say.
This is Camp Counselor Jen, signing off until next time.
AKBA Counselor: We’d love to know about your camp experiences and so, to ALLLLLL of our Camp Adventure campers and families and friends, send us photos and videos and mail to listen@akidspodcastabout.com or on social media using #AKBAsummer. We’ll share as many things as we can from our Mail Bag each week.
That’s listen@akidspodcastabout.com or on social media using #AKBAsummer.
And that’s it! Have a great day at camp!
Ari: All right campers, after this break we’re going to hear a story from Camp Counselor Ben, and I promise, you’re not going to want to miss it!
[BREAK]
Ari: Okay, we’re back, and it’s storytime! Do you like stories? Me too! We all love stories at Camp Adventure! And Counselor Ben is a GREAT storyteller.
Let’s do some stretches before we get cozy. Reach out your arms as wide as possible. See if you can bend all the way down and touch the ground. Shake your body like a big twisty tornado.
Now, let’s get ready for this week’s story! Can you hear the show at a comfortable level? Turn up the volume if you need to. I know you'll get sucked into Ben's story for sure! Good? Now in a moment I want you to pause the episode and move to a comfortable spot. My favorite listening spot is under my glow-in-the-dark stars in my room, but maybe your listening spot is around a campfire, or at your dinner table, or in a big pile of pillows—wherever you go, get comfy! Just unpause when you're ready, and okay, go!
Are you there?
Are you ready, Counselor Ben?
[STORYTIME]
Ben: Ari. Thank you. Yes, thank you. Thank you. I am definitely ready.
Uh, kids, everybody thank you for being here for story. I'm always up for a good story. I love storytime back when I went to campus, my favorite, favorite time of camp, we did stories. So this is going to be really fun this week. Our story is about that moment where you feel really embarrassed in front of a bunch of people.
Has that ever happened to you? Or have you ever kind of been worried about feeling really embarrassed? Well, the title of the story this week is the scary sneakers. All right. The scary shoes. You might call them shoes where you come from, but that's what we're talking about. And it all starts back when I'm 10 years old, living in a little town in Wisconsin, and we lived right across the street from a big river.
At least it was very big to me back. Shiny smooths, a slow moving river called the Fox river. The town was Burlington and my sister Christie. She was eight years old. I was 10 and she and I were master reptile catchers. And we'd go down to the river and catch these painted turtles. They're green on top.
With sort of red and yellow and orange on their tummies. She'd catch these water snakes. And, oh, we loved it so much. One day we were catching snakes and turtles and my mom yells from across the street, kids come back and she had that serious tone that, you know, All kids in the world know when the grownup has a certain tone and it's real serious, you know, she serious.
So cosplay, shutter that turtle back in the water and Christie let the snakes slither and slide away through the grass and weed. We ran back home and we came into the kitchen and mom says, you're not going to be able to catch any more snakes and turtles. She said, we're not even going to be living in Burlington anymore.
Not even in Wisconsin anymore, we're moving, we're moving. I said, what do you mean? We're moving, we're moving to Tennessee, but why? Well, dad got a new job and we had to move to Tennessee. And as bright as I say that at this part of the story campers, I just have to ask you, have you ever had to move or maybe, you know, a friend who has.
It is really difficult. Isn't it it's really hard for me. It was, I've had to move a couple of times, but that was my first time that I remember moving and, oh man, was it scary? And I remembered the big thing that I was really thinking about all the time was what are the other kids going to think about me when I get there?
Are they going to like me? Or are they not going to like me? Are they going to make fun of me or will they accept me? And that I remember that. Still to this day. That was what I constantly was wondering. Well, Our new house down south in Tennessee, it had a big old pecan tree in the corner and we had three peach trees.
And in the summer when the peaches were ripe and juicy and sweet, and you could just bite into them and the juice would drip down your chin. My mum would make peach custard pie plop a big old scoop of vanilla ice cream onto a. Piece of peach bowl makes you want to have a piece of pie. Doesn't it? I would love, this is not a story about pie.
I'm sorry. We're talking about scary sneakers. So here we were down in Tennessee new house, new woods, we found new turtles and we found new things to catch. We had to be careful though. Cause down there the snakes were poisonous in Wisconsin. They were safe, but down there they weren't. So we couldn't catch snakes in Tennessee, but.
We had a good time doing all of that. And it felt really cool. That was fun. It was really fun, but something also felt extremely terrible when it guess what it was, that what felt totally awful inside. No, it wasn't getting bit by an animal, although that happens sometimes and that hurts, but it wasn't that kind of pain.
It wasn't fallen from a tree, although I've fallen out of fallen out of trees plenty of times. And that hurts, but it wasn't that kind of pain. No, this is the kind of pain that hurts kind of in your heart or in your chest inside. What hurt me. So, so bad was the way that some of the other kids in the neighborhood were laughing at me and always making fun of me because I was different.
And I wonder if that's ever happened to you and if it has happened to you, I am really sorry, my friend, and it is one of the most painful experiences that any person. Ever has to go through is to be rejected from others. It makes me feel alone, like I'm unwanted. And I wonder what words you might use to describe how it makes you feel, but whatever it is, I know that it's very painful.
And if that has happened to you, I'm so sorry. And if it does happen to you, maybe the rest of the story can at least be a helpful encouragement for you. So here's the question now, can you guess why they were making fun of me now in this new town down south in Tennessee? When I was from Wisconsin? Well, they made fun of me because I talk differently.
My words sounded really weird to everybody at school and in my neighborhood, I had a Wisconsin accent. Do you know what an accent is? You might think I'm talking with an accent right now. I might be depending on where you're listening from. Well, Wisconsin, people say the same words as Tennessee people, but in different ways.
So if Wisconsin grownups need the kids to get in the car, they say, Hey, you all get in the car now, but the Tennessee grownups say, Hey, y'all get in the car now. And let me ask you when you're going to sleep at night and you rest your head down on that soft thing, you call it. Well, I've always called it a pillow.
But our Tennessee neighbors back then called it a pillar. He said, we're going to lay down on the pillar. I didn't know what it was at first, but the funny thing is these are just different ways that people talk they're not good ways or bad ways or better or worse ways. They're just totally different.
Well, some of the neighborhood kids thought that my differences were, they were actually very bad or very wrong. They thought I was bad for talking differently. So that made them want to ignore me or make fun of me or keep me away. They excluded me. And I, like I said, I'm not sure if anything hurts more than being excluded like that.
It makes me feel like something's heavy in my chest and it just doesn't feel good. Guess what? Pretty soon, I started to be afraid to even talk out loud because I knew people would just make fun of the way I was talking and then they would laugh or bully me around and many did, and then it happened, you know, We're there at the playground one day in the biggest scariest guy, his name was Brandon.
And I think he was two grades older than me. And as he's coming up to me, I don't really know what's going to happen. And everybody pays attention to him and he walks right up and he says, Hey, y'all got them knocker shoes up there in Wisconsin. And I looked at him and I thought, oh my gosh, I don't know what to say.
Everybody was staring at me. I think I started sweating or I was just terrified. And I couldn't understand what he said. So I asked him a question. I said, Docker shoes, do you mean knocker shoes? And everybody's just laughing and laughing. These shoes were a really big deal. And he was asking me. If I had ever heard of Nike air shoes, but the way his Tennessee accent came to me as a kid, I didn't know what he was saying.
And oh, I tell you what as, if it wasn't silly enough to not understand him, you know, that's kind of funny. It's not a bad thing, but then the worst part was that. That was the very first year that Nike air shoes had come out and a basketball player who was very famous back then his name was Michael Jordan.
You might've heard of him. He was wearing these shoes. So everybody knew about them. And of course I knew about him. I just didn't understand the way that he was talking at the time. And now this would be such a cool thing if I could say, and then everybody understood that I was just different and it made, and it was happy ever after, but it really didn't end that way.
What happened was when we realized that we were talking about the same kind of shoes, then everybody just kind of chuckled a little bit and they got on their bicycles and they rode away. And I was pretty much still there at the playground all by myself. Everybody rode away except for one guy. And his name was Dan and he came up to me on a bicycle and he asked me if I wanted to go ride bikes with him around the neighborhood.
And he said, sorry for laughing at you before I won't do that anymore. And then Dan never made fun of me again. And I think that we must have ridden bikes or skateboards every single day, that summer, because we became pretty good buddies. He invited me to be friends with other friends in the neighborhood.
He included me in his baseball team. So we, we got along, even though his Southern accent kept saying y'all and knock air shoes. And I kept saying you all and Nike air shoes, because it was no problem at all. What mattered the most was our friendship. Not how we did or said stuff. So I wanted so badly when we moved from Wisconsin down to Tennessee.
Oh, I wanted to make friends so bad. And now in the end I was making a new friend and guess what? I learned something by accident. I learned that the kids who were making fun of me on the playground and at school, I think they were probably feeling something bad inside themselves, too. I know for sure. It wasn't because I really was, or truly was weird or bad or wrong or something like that.
And that's true when people are making fun of you too. It's not because you truly are bad or weird or wrong or something like that. It's something else happening with the other people. And I learned also that good things they can and they do happen because our world is filled with goodness. So kids listening here to this first story time and come into this new camp adventure from so many places I ask you, what are the differences about you that maybe make you feel embarrassed or scared even, and maybe you're a little bit nervous about other kids' differences too.
And remember what we said at the beginning. That is totally okay. We all feel those kinds of nervous things. I tell you what Dan and I had all kinds of hilarious moments where we didn't understand each other at all, because we just had different accents, but this is the truth. It was a lot more fun being friends and getting to know each other than it was to make fun of each other and start fighting.
So that's what I want to say on this first day of camp, as your friend and as your camp counselor, Ben, I know what it's like to be nervous around new people. And I know what it's like to be scared, and I know even what it's like to feel rejected and to be laughed at. And I think that you might know what.
That's like two. And so I think I can ask this question for all of us wherever you're at. You can even put your hand in the air if you want to agree with this question, but here at camp adventure, I want to say let's learn from each other and be interested in our differences, not make fun of each other and let's invite people and welcomed them.
And then when we do, here's the promise, we are already starting the best possible adventure ever. And you might say, well, how so? And I say, because we're learning to be strong together and that's the best bonding together and becoming real friends who help each other and who take care of each other.
That's a true adventurer. And in a way, I think that's exactly what my friend Dan and I became. We became adventurers in this world. And we built a fort and we made a really cool flag. And that's the end of the story kind of. It's kind of the end of that's kind of a hard story to tell, honestly, isn't it, but it does have a good end.
And Dan and I did become adventurers and it reminds me now of our weekly camp challenge. Okay. So every week at camp, you're always doing cool activities when you go to summer camp. So every week we're going to issue a weekly camp challenge. And so just hang on, I'll be right back with the first weekly camp challenge.
And it has to do with flags. It's going to be so cool.
[WEEKLY CHALLENGE]
Ben: All right, campers. Here we go. On the first week of camp tradition says that campers have to each make a camp flag for either yourself or for your cabin. And if remember my friend Dan, from the story that would just told, well, Dan and I, after becoming adventurers, we made our own little fort in the backwoods and we called it the Badger Hut.
And we created this really cool flag that we hung over it that said Badger Hut, and it had a picture of a Badger on it. So you, wherever you are, get some paper, maybe your best Kranz or your markers, or some colored pencils, whatever you've got. Get some glue and construction paper. That's kind of my favorite.
I love cutting the shapes out of construction, paper glue in it on maybe even some real fabric and paints that your grownups can help you find whatever you can find, whatever you can get to make your own camp flags. So be creative. Think about what symbol can you use to represent your cabin. What's something that you love or a symbol that says something about you, who you are.
Maybe like a rainbow or a cat or a video game controller, or maybe a bug or a dinosaur. I don't know something that you invent from your own imagination, whatever you choose this flag should say something about you and the folks that you have in your camp space. And then speaking of those other folks in your camp space, Think about this as an activity that bonds you together, that you can become friends doing kind of the fort that Dan and I made in our Backwoods, that was special because it was part him and pardon me, but it was ours together.
So let this be something that represents everybody in your space. Even if that means that you all agree on the same cabin name, but you each make your own flag. What's your own flare, your own style. Okay. And then Ari and Hannah and I, and all of the other counselors and people here at camp adventure.
We want to see these beautiful camp flags that you make. Two R is going to tell you here in just a second, how to share your pictures and videos. Does that sound all right, campers? It sounds pretty great to me. So for real, make some art, take some pictures. Show us you your camp cabin flag, and any fellow campers joining you in your space for camp adventure.
And here's the biggest, most important than ever. The number one goal for every single weekly chat.
And here's the biggest, most important thing ever. The number one goal for every weekly challenge that I ever give you is to just have a lot of fun. So no hurrying, no worry about making it perfect or anything like that. Just a whole bunch of fun. And I cannot wait to see you next week.
[CLOSING]
Ari: Thanks, Ben! And thank you, campers for joining us at Camp Adventure this week. We’d love to feature you and your fellow campers on our next episode. Share your camp space and your new camp flag for Camp Adventure on social media using #AKBAsummer or write to us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com.
Camp Adventure is written by Ben Tertin with help from the A Kids Podcast About team. Original music is by Hannah Glavor. Check out Hannah’s albums at https://hannahglavor.bandcamp.com.
The show is edited and produced by Matthew Winner with help from me, Ari Mathae.
Audio production is by Chad Michael Snavely and the team at Sound On Studios. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory. And this show was brought to you by A Kids Podcast About.
Listen to other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsbookabout.com. While you’re there, be sure to check out Ben’s book, A Kids Book About Adventure.
See you back at Camp Adventure next week.