3 Favorite Night Activities
With summer fast approaching, there is a lot of planning and preparing that takes place before campers and staff ever step foot on camp property. One important aspect of our summer camp program that we are gearing up for is night activities. Night activities are all-camp events where campers and summer staff get to have shared experiences with each other while unplugging and just having fun. These activities include a wide variety of events and traditions ranging from classic Messy Fights to our famous-famous (most famous) Wiffleball World Series. Our Program Coordinator for this upcoming summer, Hannah Sizemore, gives us an inside thought on “objectively, the 3 best night activities at Camp Huawni.”
Hey y’all! Hannah Sizemore here, and ready to break down my 3 favorite night activities at Camp Huawni. Please note that these are in order, ending with my most favorite night activity for dramatic effect. Celebration First up is one of our very last night activities that takes place during a two week session. Celebration is hosted out on the front lawn. I love Celebration for a variety of reasons, the primary one being that it just looks cool. Celebration is set up using every single string of lights Camp Huawni owns, leaving the front lawn glowing both with the lights and with laughter at the many carnival games strewn across the lawn. I also have a personal bias towards Celebration because I get to work at the cotton candy station, making cotton candy the size of some Band-Aiders (youngest campers!) heads. Lastly, Celebration easily made my list because of the joy that it emanates across camp for all campers and staff. It is a very fun and easy way to engage in the relationships that you have made with your fellow campers and staff over the past session in a relaxed and carefree way. Fishing Next up on my list is fishing! Fishing is hosted on both the Monday of a one-week session and the first Tuesday of a two-week session. Fishing is set up at Huawni Pond (check out our Huawni Pond project!) and fully encapsulates the Camp Huawni belief that “simple fun is the most fun.” Campers fish with cane poles and worms, and counselors entertain them by playing chubby bunny on the tractor trailer stage. We end the night singing together under the stars at sing song. Fishing at Camp Huawni is a can’t-miss-night full of fun, laughter, and maybe even eating a worm or two. Cookout + WildWoman Hunt I know you have been on the edge of your seat waiting for me to tell you what my all-time favorite Camp Huawni night activity is so here we go…. Drumroll please! Cookout + WildWoman Hunt! I have loved Cookout night since my very first summer at Camp Huawni. Cookout is hosted on the first Saturday of a two-week session and takes place on the upper half of the Front Lawn. Cookout involves lots of lawn games, eating one of the best meals you’ll have at camp (second only to Ms. Ada’s fried chicken) cooked by our very own Drake O’Bryant, and enjoying the slowing down in the piney woods. From there, campers are told the traditional Camp Huawni stories about Joe Shields, the Blue Wolf, and of course, the infamous Wild Woman. After storytelling, the campers split up and go on a search for the Wild Woman in hopes of catching a glimpse of her. The night concludes with all of camp coming together on the pool deck for sing song under the stars. Cookout will always and forever be my most favorite night activity at camp because it gives everyone a chance to slow down and enjoy the best parts of being at Huawni, with good food and good company.
Well there you have it, an inside look at “objectively” the best night activities at camp. We want kids to enjoy the outdoors and build memories that last a lifetime. Through night activities, campers truly get to unplug and have fun! We are so excited to see you all for Summer 2022!
What night activities are, and why they matter
At a traditional overnight camp, the day belongs to the activity rotation and the night belongs to the whole camp at once. Night activities are all-camp events — every cabin, every age, every counselor in the same place doing the same ridiculous thing.
They are the reason campers come back for eight summers. Nobody begs to return for archery. They come back for Tribal Competition, the hike to the Carving Trees, Skit Night, the Talent Show, the water balloon and shaving cream fight, and the Summer Tree on the last night.
Across a two-week Main session there are more than fifteen of them. The full list is on our special events page, and the daytime half of the schedule is on a typical day at camp.
It also matters that none of it competes with a screen. Camp Huawni is phone-free for the whole session — which is most of why a field full of kids playing capture the flag in the dark still works. More on that in what kids actually learn at an unplugged summer camp.
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Guides for choosing a summer camp
- How to Do a Screen-Free Summer with Your Kids A practical plan for cutting screens back over a summer without a war — what to expect in the first week, how to fill the hours, and why going all the way to zero for a stretch works better than moderation.
- Two-Week Summer Camps: What Changes in the Second Week Session length is the most under-considered decision in camp shopping. What actually happens in the second week, which campers are ready for it, and how the cost compares.
- Signs Your Child Needs a Phone Break Eight specific, observable signs that a child's relationship with their phone has tipped — and what to do about it that does not start a war. Written by a camp that has run phone-free sessions since 1965.