Kids like lighting the fires, finding sticks for
marshmallows, and making them points with their Swiss army knives.
During the campfire
You can:
- Make Smores - Smores in Switzerland: Petite Buerre, think chocolate (Migros Budget bars work fine), marshmallows from the Turkish shop (Haribo has them with no gelatin, marshmallows from Migros and Coop have gelatin in them)
- Play games – just google “campfire games” “children” “large group” or any other key words and you will be overwhelmed! We will probably play "I can tap the stick just right" or "Make me laugh", "Categories" or "In the Pond" as versions of these I have played before in EN lessons (https://embracingthewind.com/campfire-games).
- Play games with light sticks (not very environmental, but fun): https://www.thespruce.com/glow-stick-party-games-2104656
- Sing songs: It’s always nice if someone can play the guitar and songs can be sung!! (I can’t so we will not do this!)
- Tell a story: https://koa.com/blog/kid-friendly-spooky-campfire-stories
Here’s the story I told, adapted for
ESL - https://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/the_fiftycent_piece.html
- Ask kids how much it costs to stay in a hotel / Air BnB nowadays.
- Ask them how they travel to places – train, car, etc….
·
Tell them this was a long time ago, it cost
about 50 cents to spend the night and that people traveled by horse and carriage.
50 cent piece
There is a story told in Bergün about a family returning home
from a trip to Chur – they travelled by horse and carriage. Can you picture all
the bridges and windy roads that you saw on the train today? Back then, there
was no such train line!! When they were somewhere near Filisur, or a few towns
before Bergün, it was getting really dark, so they needed to stop and find somewhere
to sleep for the night.
The husband saw a light through the trees and turned their horse
into a small path leading up a hill. A nice little house stood at the top, and
an old man and his wife met the family at the door. The old man and woman were
in their pajamas and were about to go to bed. (A long time ago, you went to bed
when the sun set!). They saw the family
and offered them a room (“Would you like to stay here tonight??”).
The old woman made them tea and served them cake (Smores!!). Then
the travelers went to their room. The family wanted to pay the old couple (Can
we pay you??), but the old man and old lady shook their heads “no”.
The family woke up early and tiptoed out of the house, leaving a
shiny fifty-cent coin in the center of the kitchen table where the old couple
could not miss it. They got back in in their horse and carriage and went to a
little restaurant on their way home to have some lunch.
The husband mentioned the nice old couple to the owner of the
restaurant and the man turned pale. "Where did you say that house
was?" he asked. The husband described the location in detail. "You
must be mistaken," said the restaurant owner. "That house was
destroyed three years ago by a fire that killed the Brown family."
"I don't believe it," the husband said flatly.
"Mr. and Mrs. Brown were alive and well last night."
After discussing this for a few more minutes, the couple and the
restaurant owner drove the carriage back out of town towards the place. They
turned into the path, which was overgrown with weeds, and climbed the hill.
There they found a burned out shell of a house that had obviously not sheltered
anyone for a long time.
"I must have missed the track," said the husband. And
then his wife gave a terrified scream and fainted into his arms. As he caught
her, the husband looked into the ruin and saw a burnt table with a shiny
fifty-cent piece lying in the center.
No comments:
Post a Comment