Campfire Fun!

There is something about a campfire that awakens memories of ancient times in us; we are drawn to stare into the golden flames, to reflect and imagine – at least that has been my experience from many campfire moments with adults and kids.

Storytelling comes alive as the flames flicker, and legends take on a whole new dimension, as well they should since many have been passed along on just such nights as this with everyone gathered in the glow!

I’ve shared some of my favorite stories and songs below, but here are a few fun ideas for campfire games too.  10 Campfire Games You Have to Play!  With younger kids the alphabet travel game is always fun.: you just go through the alphabet, each person choosing a different letter; start with a name, then a place and then something that comes from there.  So – my name is Alice and I come from Alabama and I am bringing apples, and so forth.

I find that just sharing personal stories can be a very moving and profound experience with children and adults.  We all have a story to tell and most good stories are the ones that recount the tale of an event in someone’s life.  Stories are as old as time and many cultures and indigenous peoples history is recorded only through their oral traditions.  Here is an interesting article  on storytelling.

Songs can add to the atmosphere, especially if everyone can join in and sing along.  Some of my favorite tunes to share with kids around a fire are the Mosquito song, Bats, bats, bats, and Slip Slitheree Dee.  I make up actions for my songs and that adds more fun for the kids – you can easily make up your own actions, or better still get the kids to!  You can fine all these songs on my MySpace page. 

  

Stories One of my favorite campfire stories is the Iroquois story of the Big Dipper.  Twice I have told this story and a shooting star has fallen at exactly the right moment! Amazing!  The legend of the Milky Way  is another good one.

I am back in Florida now, working on a brand new half-hour kids TV show for WGCU Public Media  We are in the midst of auditions, looking for children who will be our Curious Kids TV Hosts!  Due to this new workload my blogs will not be as frequent, but I will be posting from time to time and there is a wealth of information already written if you look through the archives.  Hope everyone is having a good summer (or winter, depending on where you are!).  Feel free to get in touch with me if you want a specific song back up on MySpace!  I will be launching a new website in the fall along with my new CD!

Stay tuned! In gratitude for life and this precious earth that sustains us all!

Rosie

  

Photo of Campfire Eric Dufresne