Written by Brandon Atiles
Last week, Wagner College hosted color wars for the children who attend the summer camps in the afternoon. Color wars are usually composed of planned challenges that have teams competing against each other. While they are usually structured in a way that only one team can win, Wagner’s take on the activity promoted teamwork, fairness, and above all, fun.
The week started off with the children making banners for their team colors—red, blue, and green. Each team took different approaches to designing their banner, causing each one to have a distinctive look and invoke certain positive feelings and attitudes. (See teams and banners below.)
Next, each team went on an environmental scavenger hunt that had the members of a team work together to find certain colored objects in nature, and then go into the oval to run around and play games with each other and the counselors. Though the week had just begun, everyone was already looking forward for everything to come.
Tuesday consisted of playing games in the aerobics room (where one of the older kids, Bruno, introduced me to the game Sharks and Minnows), making colorful portraits for their team photos, and then playing multiple games of soccer and Frisbee in the football field. When it was time for the parents to pick up their children, one girl, Natalie, began to pout and act upset because she did not want to leave yet. On Wednesday, the children had the option to design and make their own tie-dye shirts for them to wear during the remainder of the week. No two shirts were alike as each were made in different colors and patterns. The festivities continued onto Thursday where the children colored their initials in a myriad of their preferred colors.
The grand outdoor finale to the Color Wars was planned for Friday, but it rained on our parade—literally. The kids and counselors ran to the computer room to hopefully salvage a fun day for everyone, but the computer rooms were unfortunately locked. These two factors caused the children to be down, which the counselors would not stand for, so we had to use our secret weapon—karaoke. When everyone got back to the coffee house, the stage was open to anyone who wanted to sing, and the downed expressions on everyone’s face turned to those of wonder and excitement. Everyone got a chance to sing and star in the spotlight whether it’d be in a group or by themselves. Disney songs were a popular choice among the kids, but other songs such as “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys and “What Is Love” by Haddaway were also chosen. In the end, it wasn't a "war" at all. Many songs were sung, many laughs were had, and the red, blue, and green teams left campus smiling.