Fun Horse Camp Activity With The Equine Chronicle!
Mention the phrase “horse camp” to any child or adult who has been lucky enough to attend one and, more than likely, they will instantly light up. More often than not they will respond by saying “I went to the best horse camp.” And every one of them is right.
There are thousands of horse camps all over the country, both day and sleep away. They are held at sleek riding academies, rustic wooded camps, small neighborhood barns and discipline specific training stables. Every camp seems to have its own distinct personality, but ultimately they all have the same goal: to provide each camper with a safe, enjoyable, and educational experience.
Besthorsecamp.com is a site filled with creative ideas for camp projects, games, crafts, contests, tributes to wonderful camp horses, and articles about featured camps. There are many ways for camps to share all the exciting things they are doing.
Besthorsecamp.com will also be a way for children who don’t have access to a horse camp to have the virtual experience. Yearly membership is $25 for individuals and $35 for camps. Our goal is to become the most complete directory of horse camps available.
BONUS: Fun Horse Camp Activity
HORSE MAGAZINE BINGO
You will need:
- Large white poster boards
- Scissors for every kid
- Glue stick for each team
- A large stack of horse magazines and catalogs
- Black Sharpie and yardstick – for measuring and drawing squares
The Equine Chronicle is a great magazine for this project because of the amount of large glossy pictures of beautiful horses it has in it every month. Stick a box in your barn and label it “Need Used Horse Magazines and Catalogs Please.” You will be shocked how fast it fills up.
This is a great game to have in reserve for a rainy day or when you have completed a couple of the Teaching Units. Take two (or however many teams you will break your campers into) large poster boards and divide and draw 4 by 4 squares on it. It should work out to 7 across and 5 down. I trimmed off the excess strip at the bottom.
Now, label the top of each square with the name of a leg or face marking, coat color, or a part of a horse, basically whatever it is you know your campers would or should recognize. We just hand printed the labels but have included a PDF for you to print out, cut up, and use as an example. The important part is to use the exact same labels on each poster board but change the order of placement on each board as much as you can.
Give each team their board, scissors, glue stick and stack of magazines.
Once you say “Go” the campers start to hunt for pictures to go in each square. They must be able to cut it to fit in the 4×4 square. It is ok to use a partial picture of a horse to show what they need. For example, “Palomino” can be a picture of a horse’s head and neck, as long as it clearly shows what the label is. In this case, the white mane must be evident as well as the golden coat.
After one minute, say “Stop” and then call out a Bingo-like formation. For example–
1. 4 in a row horizontally
2. 4 in a row diagonally
3. All 4 corners covered
4. 4 in a row vertically
5. 4 in a box
If any team has a formation and the other team doesn’t, that team gets a point. Then, say “Go” again. Every minute, say “Stop” and call a different formation.
As the game goes on, start asking for 5 in a row, then 6 (only possible horizontally or diagonally). The first team to cover the board completely yells “Bingo” and gets 2 points. (Check each square for correct responses.)
The greatest part of this game is that when you get finished you will have these beautiful posters to use for other games.
Check out BestHorseCamp.com for other fun projects like the Pattern Board- Bead Bracelet System (such a GREAT Idea!) or Jeopardy Game.
