S'more Pops

Last Saturday, Amy and I had a table at the Weymouth High School craft fair. Our intentions were to share information about the summer camps and out-of-school time programming we have to offer. So we set up our display board, assembled mini s'more packets, collated brochures, and then decided we would should have something to sell!

We decided to make s'more pops to sell at our table. They were fairly easy, and they go really well with the Camp Fire theme! The great thing about these pops is that there are so many options! We stayed with the traditional Hershey chocolate and crushed graham crackers, but next time we may get adventurous! 

To begin, the marshmallows were assembled onto their pop sticks. I purchased the lolli pop sticks at Shaw's for 3.99.

After that, the graham crackers needed to be crushed. I used gloves so I would be able to crush the crackers finely.

Next, the chocolate was melted. I used Hershey chocolate and melted it in the microwave. The chocolate pieces were broken down into small chunks and a dollop of Crisco was added to the mix. I microwaved the chocolate for 30 seconds on 50% heat. I did this four times, stirring in between each microwave session. 

Once the chocolate was completely melted, I began dipping the marshmallows into the chocolate and graham crackers. I was sure to shake a good amount of the chocolate off, before dipping it into the graham crackers.

I came across a problem when I was letting the pops cool and harden. They were being placed in coffee mugs, and some of them began to bump into each other! Oh no! Amy came to the rescue and grabbed tinfoil. She covered each mug with tinfoil and poked small holes in each one to give the s'more pop a designated space.

Once the pops were fully hardened (I let them sit for a couple hours), then it was time to assemble the packaging. I small plastic bags found in the candy section of Michael's and gold ribbon. 

This was the finished product. Ta-da! I may add that they are absolutely delicious. I tried a few too many when I was doing "quality control."

Holiday Gift Idea

Each year, I try to come up with a cute holiday craft that can be given to family members, coworkers, and friends. I must admit that some years I have great, stress free crafts, and other years I want to pull my hair out!!

I was determined to remain stress free, and I came across the perfect gift idea when my coworker, Amy, was getting crafts together for our class, "Bracelets, bracelets, bracelets!" That perfect idea was making beads using washers, Mod Podge, and scrapbook paper!

It is very easy to do. The materials you will need are:

• Washers-- there are a variety of sizes, I like the larger ones. I bought a pack of 25 at Home Depot for under $8.00.
• Mod Podge-- You will need their basic glue to paste the scrapbook paper onto the washer and then you need the Dimensional Magic glue, which gives the paper that "bead effect."
• Scrapbook paper-- or stationery, calendar photos, etc...
• Scissors-- try to find sharp ones! I began using dull ones and it was hard to cut out the inner circle.
• String, leather cord, beads, whatever you want to attach your bead to.

You will notice that when you put  on the Mod Podge, Dimensional Magic, that the design  you pasted on looks a little murky. Do not be alarmed, it will dry clear! I plan to create necklaces for the females and key chains for the males. I'll post back later with final results!

For in-depth directions, check out this link.

Happy Holidays! 
 
 

Ice Cream in a Bag

During our last Mad Science class, the children made ice cream! It was an absolute blast, and definitely the highlight for many of the children.

The kids paired off to make their ice cream. They began by placing their milk, sugar, and vanilla into a quart sized plastic bag. Then, they added a second bag around it... just in case anything were to leak! Then, they had to add their ice and coarse salt into the larger, gallon bag. When that was complete, they placed their quart sized bags into the ice and sealed it up!

They had to shake, shake, shake for quite some time! The recipe called for five minutes, but we were shaking for at least ten. After the ten minutes, the children had some delicious ice cream to enjoy. They added fall sprinkles and chocolate sauce to their finished product.

 Some had more sprinkles than others, but everyone really enjoyed their treat!

No Bake Snack for Kids

One of my personal favorite classes offered by Camp Fire is the babysitting certification course. It is a class that is offered to students between grades 6-8. The topics that are taught include behavior management, child development, reading aloud, crafts, game, preparing basic meals, how to care for children's needs, basic first aid, how to respond in an emergency, and professionalism. The students have a great time sharing ideas and learning new ones, too!

This is one of the adorable snacks our babysitting instructor, Kayla, made with her students.
You can find the link to this delicious project here. The website calls for coconut and raisins, but this caterpillar has Nutella and chocolate chips. 

 

Banana Caterpillar

Blast Off!

Another program that is offered for grades 1-3 in Quincy is Blast Off! In this 5 week program, children are learning about space. The specific classes include learning about constellations, the moon, distances from the sun, astronauts, and rockets!


 
In one of the classes, the children learned all about the moon. They began by discovering how the moon got its craters. By dropping objects onto a plate filled with flour, they were able to understand how an asteroid could create craters on the moon.  





 


The table cloth was a good idea, because the flour gets EVERYWHERE. However, I would suggest that you bring a trash barrel over to the table cloth instead of trying to  bring the tables clothes to the barrel... I still made a big mess!





 Then, the children created the phases of the moon out of Oreos. It was delicious! Before they were able to eat away parts of their "moon" they created a moon phase book to get familiar with the names and shapes of the moon phases. After the children made their moon phases and got their picture taken, those Oreos were gobbled up!

Eggciting Eggsperiments

Making eggs float!

Camp Fire has been running an exciting Mad Science program in Quincy for grades 1-3. One of the two hour classes focused on eggs. The children began by finding out how to make an egg float. They began by predicting if it would float in a cup of water. 

Then the children were given the task to use salt to find out if they could make the egg float. Some children added very small amount of salt, while others were dumping it! The children who dumped the salt into their cup of water were able to make their egg float quicker. This made the other children excited, and pretty soon everyone was dumping salt into their cups! 

When everyone had successfully made their egg float, they began to discuss density. The children learned that adding salt into the water created a mixture that was denser than the egg... which allowed it to float!

Next, the children were given new ingredients, and they were left to explore on their own. Could they make an egg float with oil, dish soap, baking soda, sugar, or other ingredients? Some children were successful in making their eggs float, while others made some smelled or looked cool!

Finally, the children worked in small groups to create a safe structure for an egg drop. They had about 20 minutes to safely protect their egg from a full staircase drop! All children were excited to find that their eggs survived the drop!!

To find out more about our eggsperiments, or to try more on your own, click here!

Introduction

Welcome to Camp Fire Eastern Massachusetts! We are excited to share many things on this blog! As we hold programs such as Mad Science, Blast Off!, Time Travelers, Babysitting Certification, Imagination Kids, etc... we will be sharing the exciting experiences and activities that we encounter. We also have exciting one day vacation programs during December, February, and April Vacation, and summer camps that occur for eight weeks in the summer months.

If you are visiting us for the first time, here is more information about Camp Fire Eastern Massachusetts.

Camp Fire is one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit youth development organizations, currently serving 735,000 children annually. Camp Fire, with national headquarters in Kansas City, MO., provides all-inclusive, coeducational programs in hundreds of communities across the United States. Founded in 1910, Camp Fire outcome-based programs include youth leadership, self-reliance, after school groups, camping, environmental education, community service, and child care.

Camp Fire Eastern Massachusetts Council, founded in 1919, serves the greater Boston area. Last year we served over 1,150 co-ed youth at our after school programs and camps; Camp Ponkiwanee, ZooCamp.

Our participants range in age from 5-18 with age appropriate programs available for all participants. Camp Fire programs are led by committed, caring adults who want to invest in today’s youth. Camp Fire's Promise is: "Young people want to shape the world. Camp Fire provides the opportunity to find their spark, lift their voice, and discover who they are. In Camp Fire, it begins now. Light the fire within." 

As the first nonsectarian, interracial organization for girls in the United States, Camp Fire takes pride in its long-standing commitment to providing fun programs and services to all children’s and families in America. We are inclusive, open to every person in the communities we serve, welcoming youth and adults regardless of race, religion, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation or other aspect of diversity. Camp Fire programs are designed and implemented to reduce gender, racial and cultural stereotypes and to foster positive intercultural relationships.

Thank you for reading about us and stay tuned for many exciting posts!!