Faithful to its mission of developing kids between school years, the Summer Inspiration Program implemented popular trends in its educational activities, including its recently completed “Rocking Out with Rock Painting” camp at Putnam County Elementary School. Camp instructor Candace Wooten, who is a Special Activities in Gifted Education (SAGE) teacher at Putnam County Primary School, brought participants’ inner artists out.
“Kids love rocks. They pick them up off the playground; they bring them in; they love to look at the different colors,” Wooten said. “They want to know what kind of rocks they are, and they love art. And they absolutely love strategy games. Why not put it together?”
Every week, the campers made a different strategy game from a different country. Wooten explained they would paint small rocks for game pieces and then draw the game board on a small burlap bag. It was a self-contained game, complete with a carrying bag, she pointed out. Among the games, they made and played were tic-tac-toe, Nine Holes, Tapatan from the Philippines and Tsoro Yematatu from Zimbabwe. Wooten found most of the games online, but she said campers also could come up with game ideas of their own.
“My favorite was tic-tac-toe,” camper Ava Pope said.
They also painted larger rocks using different kinds of paints and techniques, including 3-D “puffy” paint and alcohol-based inks.
“And we took fingernail polish of different colors, dropped it into the water, and then dipped rocks in it so the color would adhere to the rocks,” Wooten said, describing the hydro-dipping process. Among other things, campers made designs of ladybugs on leaves, melting snowmen, and bees in a hive.
“It’s really fun,” said camper Charlie Cummings, whose favorite was using alcohol inks. “It was cool to see all the colors.” He said the games were fun, too, and he liked Tsoro Yematatu best.
“The games develop critical-thinking skills,” Wooten said. “Each week we got to do something creative, and the students now have a collection of awesome rocks and strategy games after attending Rocking Out with Rock Painting.”