Parachute Games are fun for younger children and have been a hit at camp and in grade school gym classes for a long time.  They’re colorful and fun.

In this clip the campers are playing a game called “Sharks and Lifeguards.”  A couple of kids are chosen as “Lifeguards,” a couple are chosen as “Sharks, ” and the rest sit with the legs under the parachute.  The sharks stay under the parachute and try to pull players under.  Lifeguards run around the outside of the parachute and tries to “rescue” the people being pulled under by the sharks.  If the lifeguard doesn’t get there on time, the person pulled under then becomes a shark!  The game ends when everyone is a shark and under the parachute.

There are a lot of ways you can spend time with horses at Camp Tecumseh.

You can spend most of your camp day with Horses at Equestrian Camp.  You can choose to spend one of your clinic periods with them and sign up for Horsemanship Clinic.  Or, if you just want to spend a little time with Horses or you’ve never ridden before, then you can choose to go on a trail ride!

Trail rides don’t take any special skills and it’s a great way to see if you like riding on horseback.  Who knows… you might find that you, like so many, have a lifelong love of horses.

We have two videos from Opening Campfire Week 4!

“Welcome to the Family” has a special place at Camp Tecumseh.  Every week we welcome in the new first year campers and welcome back all those who have been here before.

“Baila Baila Baila” is a fun Spanish song about the names of the parts of the body.  Lots of actions and fun!  You might accidentally learn some Spanish by singing this song, too.

Remember you can see all of these videos in full size on YouTube! Please become a subscriber to our channel!

Roger Murphy and the Purple Band of Glory
by Christopher Kennedy

As the week draws to a close, many campers are saddened as they prepare themselves to leave camp. However, before they go, a unique Tecumseh activity takes place on Friday morning. Counselors whisper to awakening campers to put their swim suits on while the clock reads 6:00. Then, the select group of cabin mates who wanted to get up so early walk to the lake, sleep still in their eyes. Everyone suited up in life jackets line up on the beach and the sleepy feeling is quickly erased as everyone runs into the brisk lake.

And thus the Roger Murphy Challenge begins. Some people call in-cabin friends crazy for desiring to be awake at six in the morning, much less to be swimming across the lake at six twenty.

The real Roger Murphy was a counselor and a camper at Camp Tecumseh. He is considered even today as the epitome of Camp T’s “I’m Third” motto. He loved to work hard and legend says that he would get up every morning and swim the length of the lake. So, at around the turn of this century, Camp Tecumseh commemorated Roger Murphy with a challenge named in his honor, in order that campers would have the same opportunity as he did to push himself to do great things beyond what is expected of them. Each camper is given thirty minutes to swim from the kayak dock to a pier at the end of the lake and back. The campers are in the final stretch, they can see the beach, so with a final driving effort, campers arrive in. The prestigious prize for completing Roger Murphy’s feat is the illustrious, legendary purple swim band, which is the envy of many campers who behold them. With a sense of pride the band is fastened to its wearers’ wrist, the same sense of pride as they describe their achievement to friends and family back home.

Here are some campers playing and learning on our Optimist Challenge Course this evening.