Last week, was the final week of summer vacation for Thai kids. Instead of spending it soaking up their last days of freedom, they instead, decided to come to an English Camp run by yours truly.
Our host told us on our first day that we would be responsible for planning and running an English Camp. The church we were working with had already registered about 30 kids and they were excited for us to start.
The day before camp started, we spent the whole day brainstorming, creating curriculum, and making sure we had enough craft supplies and candy. We had to fill six hours a day for three days. We had our work cut out for us.
Day 1
We got to the church and there were 50 kids waiting our arrival. The Governor was there to ‘open’ the camp.
We took the kids to the local park and played games for about an hour.
After that we performed a riveting rendition of Noah’s Ark.
Then we taught the students songs in English along with some silly songs.
We took a break for lunch, to regain our strength to tackle the afternoon.
We had our first English lesson. We went over the English Alphabet, which they knew, but they struggle with knowing what sounds each letter makes. And we taught them colors.
Next, we had craft time. They made paper rainbow. Which conveniently fit in with both the Noah skit and the vocabulary lesson (Gold star for us, I know).
With our final time left in the day, we assigned roles and rehearsed for the Noah skit that they would perform for the last day of camp.
Day 2
Day 2 looked much like Day 1. We started with games and then did songs. Then we performed the healing of the paralytic man. Then we broke for lunch.
The day before we had taught a song called Big House, which is about the house that God is creating for us. We used this to help teach house vocabulary for our English lesson.
Then it was craft time, which was always a crowd pleaser. The kids could either glue rainbow popsicle sticks (see what we did there?) to paper to make a house or they could build a house using candy and toothpicks.
Day 3
This day was a little jumbled because we had to take extra time to practice. We played games and practice our songs. Then we had craft time early. Since most of the kids were going to be animals, we had them draw and color any animal that they wanted. After this we ran through the Noah skit with the kids.
After lunch we played games until the governor and other parents came. The students then performed their skit and two songs. We presented them with certificates and gifts for completing English Camp.
It was an exhausting 3 days, but it was full of fun, laughs, love and joy.
— Caitlin
