Camp Play All Day

The gates of Camp Play All Day swung open. Mom nudged Mae, and she took a cautious step forward.

“Welcome! I’m Natalie. Are you ready to play?” a woman chirped in Mae’s direction.

Mae looked around the yard and saw a mountain of cardboard boxes piled high next to the back fence. To the left, there were tables loaded with paint, tape, glue, paper, and what seemed to be every craft supply in existence. To the right, a boy was hanging from a dome climber by his knees. A haven of hammocks was partially hidden by a shed just beyond the craft table.

“Yeah,” Mae answered quietly.

“Come with me and I’ll show you where to put your backpack,” Natalie said.

“Bye, sweetie. Have fun!” Mom called.

Mae followed Natalie up on the deck, and set her backpack down on a bench.

“You can play on the climber, or in the hammocks, while we wait for the others to arrive. Once everyone is here, we’ll go over a few rules, and then we can start playing with everything else,” Natalie told her.

Mae followed her down the steps, and then frantically searched for a place where she could become invisible. She wanted to watch the others for a little bit before deciding if she would join in. 

Mae spotted some tall bushes along the side of the deck. She slowly backed up next to them and hoped that no one would bother her. The late June sun was fierce, and would only grow stronger as the morning went on. Beads of sweat already lined Mae’s forehead, and her skin crawled in all the places that Mom had slathered with sunscreen. Mae didn’t like sunscreen. She didn’t like anything wet, greasy, or gloppy touching her.

Mae counted 10 children in the yard. Some of them looked around her age, 5, but she was certain that some of the older ones had to be teenagers. Most of the other kids seemed to know one another. Mae wiped her brow and sat down between the shrubs. Just as she was settling into the shade, Natalie called everyone over to the middle of the yard.

“Now that we’re all here, it’s time to get started. We don’t have many rules at Camp Play All Day, but the ones we do have are important to know. First rule, the deck is for Lego only.  No mud, paint, glue, or anything messy up there. The other rule is don’t hurt people or property. Be kind, and have fun. It’s time to play!” she told the group.

The backyard erupted in activity. Several of the children ran to the pile of boxes. They dug around and pulled out large cardboard tubes, flat pieces of cardboard, and different sized boxes. 

“Look at all this junk!” one boy exclaimed.

Some of the children were rummaging through the art supplies.

“Let’s make a potion shop!” a girl suggested.

Mae pulled a large box out of cardboard pile, then stood awkwardly next to it in the middle of the yard.

“We’re going to make a fortress with the climber,” one of the boys that Mae was sure was a teenager shouted.

He pulled several large, flat sheets of cardboard over to the dome. Another boy came running over wearing 3 rolls of tape on his wrist. Together, they began to tape the flat pieces of cardboard to the climber.

Mae pushed her box back over to the fence and climbed inside. She pulled the flaps closed above her head. It was dark in the box, and hot, but she could peek out of the top when she needed a breath of fresh air.

From inside her box, Mae could see that the potion shop was open for business. The shopkeepers were busy stirring cups, bowls, and bottles of oozing, bubbling, fizzy concoctions. Every once in a while, they sprinkled powder or drizzled liquid into the containers.

The climbing dome was almost completely covered in sheets of cardboard. One of the boys who had been taping cardboard was now tying ropes on the bars of the few open sections. 

“Why are you doing that?” his friend asked.

“Because,” shrugged the boy who was tying the ropes.

Mae watched 3 girls crawl through the fort entrance. They were each carrying globs of air dry clay. Mae wondered what they planned to do with the clay. 

One of the boys who was building the fort dragged a large tube from the pile to the climber.

“Let’s use this to make a cannon!” he cried.

Both boys worked together to lift the tube on top of the climber. Then they tied it in place with the ropes. 

“We have to figure out how to shoot something out of the cannon,” one boy said to the other.

Mae pushed her box flaps open and stood up. She glanced over at the art tables and saw that some children were painting on large pieces of paper. They were using muffin tins to mix new colors of paint. One girl was painting her arms with purple and green. 

“Lunch time!” Natalie called.

The children who had been to Camp Play All Day before knew just what to do. They dropped what they were working on and ran to the outdoor hand washing station, then lined up next to the picnic table to get their lunch. The new campers followed behind them.

“You may eat your lunch wherever you would like in the yard, but you must throw your trash away when you’re done. If you spill, it’s okay, just clean it up the best you can. If you need help, let me know!” Natalie told everyone. 

Lunch was cheese quesadillas, carrots, snap peas, grapes, and strawberries. Mae didn’t usually care for quesadillas, but she was so hungry, she ate 2, while sitting next to the shrubs. Once she was done, she threw her plate away, and ran back to her box.

“Don’t forget to put some more sunscreen on, if your grown ups sent extra in your backpack,” Natalie reminded the group. 

Mae climbed out of her box and shuffled over to her backpack. She squirted some sunscreen into her hands, grimacing as she rubbed the goop into her arms, legs, and face. She shuddered as the slimy sensation coated her skin. She couldn’t get to the hand washing station fast enough. 

Once her hands were clean, Mae felt herself relax. She was about to run back to her box, but decided at the last minute to take a detour at the art table. She quickly grabbed a handful of craft sticks and a roll of blue tape, then hopped back to her box. She climbed inside and sat down, but this time, she left the top open.

The boys who were working on the fort were back at it. Mae watched as they blew up a balloon and pushed it into one end of the cannon, before letting go. The boys cheered as the balloon came sputtering out of the other end.

Mae picked up one of her craft sticks and began to wrap blue tape around one end. She wrapped several layers before tearing the tape off.

“What are you doing?” a voice asked from above her.

Mae looked up and saw a girl standing over her.

“I don’t know,” Mae answered, setting her craft stick down.

“Are you making popsicles? It looks like you’re making popsicles. Do you want to join our city? You can sell your popsicles,” the girl said.

“Where is your city?” Mae asked.

The girl pointed to a cluster of boxes near a different section of fence.

“Oh, okay. I guess I’ll join your city,” Mae said quietly. 

“I’ll help you move your house. Get out,” the girl instructed.

Together, Mae and the girl lifted her box and carried it to the city.

“She’s part of our city now. She’s selling popsicles,” the girl announced, as she set Mae’s box down next to the others.

“What kind of popsicles?” someone wanted to know.

Mae looked down at the blue tape wrapped around the stick.

“Blue razz!” Mae answered.

“Yum! My favorite!” the someone cried.

Mae and her new friends played in their city for the rest of the afternoon. They painted their boxes, and added on whatever they could find. The city was decorated with pipe cleaners, buttons, tape, string, balloons, and paper.

“Isn’t it cool that we get to play with all this junk? My mom makes us throw garbage away, even the good garbage. But here, we get to do whatever we want with it,” said a boy, as he stacked a tower of cylinder shaped chip canisters taller than his head.

Mae smiled from inside her box, surrounded by her popsicles. Amongst all of the trash, she had found some of life’s greatest treasures. She’d made new friends.