Hey, Kick Baseballers!

Kickball is a pretty big staple to any given recess session, gym class, and summer camp activity! Loved by many kids as their twist on America’s favorite pastime with ‘a little kick’ to it, Kickball came along about six or seven decades after the rise of baseball’s popularity in America. And it was all thanks to one man who invented it in 1917, named Nicholas C. Seuss.

Mr. Nicholas Seuss (who has no relation to Dr. Seuss) was the Supervisor of the Cincinnati Park Playgrounds in Cincinnati, Ohio. He saw kids in the park playing baseball despite being short on equipment. After all, back in those days, it was uncommon for everyone to have their own catching mitt, bat, and ball. Nicholas wondered how you might cut back on the equipment needed to play the game.

He introduced a new, oversized baseball to the park and taught the kids there a game he called ‘Kick Baseball’. It only took three years for it to grow in popularity and it spread like wildfire! By 1921, it started getting used by phy. ed. teachers in public schools in order to teach the basic rules of baseball to young students.

Through the early 20s, Kick Baseballs simply borrowed a ball from soccer or volleyball. And the rules weren’t quite the same as they are now to begin with; there used to be no pitcher—the ball was simply set in the ‘home base’ area waiting to for the next player to come along for their turn to kick. But as time went on, the name got shortened to ‘Kickball’ and changes were made to make it even more like baseball.

If you’re a fan of Kickball, get a group of your friends together for a friendly neighborhood game and let them all know about the inventor of the game, Nicholas C. Seuss. As always, thanks for reading, everybody! Till next time.


- John

Hey, Camp Shoppers!

We’re always looking for new means of comfort for your bunk area at summer camp and your bedroom at home as well. Here at Everything Summer Camp, the Maker of C&N Footlockers, we know that comfort means so much more to you when you’re away from home. It’s much nicer to curl up for sleep at summer camp when you have a nice warm bed and a nice cozy pillow or two for cuddling or good company.

It’s great to keep the mood light in your bunk area. That’s why we’re happy to offer some of the cutest pillows from iScream. We’ve been building upon our collection for the last couple years, broadening our selection. We have great options like the Boyfriend and Lounge pillows as well as microbead pillow options in the shapes of a video game controller, a baseball, an axoloti sea creature. And don’t forget about the scented, plushy animal pillows!

But our latest addition are the adorable iScream Bunny Cookie Furry Pillows.

Love it, squeeze it—just don't eat it! That’s not real fur and it’s not frosting either. What is it, you ask? It’s your Bunny Cookie Pillow! Pick your favorite personality among these pretty-colored pillows. A great companion for summer camp, you can cuddle this cookie during lounge time or when you curl up to go to sleep.

Made entirely of polyester with polyfiber filling and faux fur and decorated with glitter and embroidered details, the Bunny Cookie Furry Pillow from iScream is sure to make you scream and hop for joy!

Get acquainted with these cute characters—take a good look at them when you click right here. And, while you’re at it, you may as well check out the entire, awesome iScream selection we have available here on our online store. Just click here. Check out what you can find here at the Everything Summer Camp and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

Over the course of my eight years writing the Everything Summer Camp Blog, I’ve written a number of posts about honoring and celebrating Mother’s Day…probably eight! There are a handful of ways to approach Mother’s Day: consider all the things your mom does for you, think about what you can do for her, think about what you definitely shouldn’t do for her. Let’s review some of those valuable pointers from Mother’s Days past.

Why Mom Matters
Why does Mom matter?! Well, for starters, Moms lives are full of upkeep. They’re constantly cooking meals, doing laundry, running errands, changing poopy diapers, reading bedtime stories, etc. And they do it EVERY DAY! Second, her unconditional love for her kids gives them security and peace of mind. No matter what they do, Mom’s going to be there for them. And third, Moms have a way of setting the level of peace and happiness in the home! Help make your mom happy. You’ll be happy you did!

What to Do for Mother’s Day
It’s always customary to think of something to give to your mom for Mother’s Day. A thoughtful gift like a necklace or a sweet service like breakfast in bed are some of the more stereotypical ideas. Here are some more realistic ideas: 1) Design your own maze, word search, word jumbles or other fun paper and pen games. 2) Make your own card and/or Mother Coupon for chores to be done or doing something she likes for her. 3) Draw a picture for her or write her a poem…maybe make her some kind of craft.

What NOT to Do for Mother’s Day
In the end, the least you can do for Mother’s Day is help keep the peace in the household. That means no bickering with brothers and sisters if you’re prone to fighting. Consider messiness before you make any—don’t track mud through the house or leave things untidy after use. And don’t insult your mother’s cooking. She worked hard to make a nutritious meal for you and… Wait a minute!!! It’s Mother’s Day, don’t leave dinner up to her.

All in all, enjoy spending time with your mother today and show her the gratitude, happiness, and love that she deserves each and every day! Make sure she knows that too. And, as always, Campers—thanks for reading. Happy Mother’s Day!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

A hundred or multiple hundreds of children and teens having a blast doing awesome things away from their parents out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Summer camp is typically a rather safe environment, but definitely not immune to unfortunate illnesses or mild wounds. That’s why camps know they need to have a nurse on hand throughout their summer sessions. No strangers to dealing with tummy aches, bee stings, and all other inopportune ailments that may befall you, camp nurses are the best.

Camp Nurses always treat their patients with absolute care and empathy no matter what’s wrong with them. Summer camp nurses (and nurses in general) are so deserving of a day designated to honoring them which is why they have one—TODAY! May 6th is National Nurse Day. Happy Nurse Day!

A great day to show your appreciation toward the world of nurses, this day actually stretches out to an entire week, ending on May 12^th which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale. Born back in 1820, Ms. Nightingale is considered to be the founder of modern nursing. She first saw recognition during her time spent tending to the injured soldiers in the Crimean War during the mid-19^th Century between France and Russia.

Soldiers started referencing Florence as ‘The Lady with the Lamp’ as she typically made her rounds at night. That’s why her birthday is honored each year now when National Nurse Week reaches its end.

So, be sure while you’re away on your summer camp stay to thank your camp nurse for the assurance of your well-being and the ever-kind manner that nurses always have. On behalf of Everything Summer Camp, we send out a giant thank you to camp nurses, school nurses, clinical nurses, emergency room nurses, and all other kinds. You truly help the people of the world every day!

Make sure you show your appreciation of nurses that you might know in your life today—I know I’m acquainted with a few! As always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

There’s such an abundance of phrases and old sayings that are so woven into our everyday speech that, often enough, we won’t even realize it when we’re using them. These sayings are more specifically referred to as idioms or adages. Today’s featured saying is ‘Showing the Ropes’. When we say to show someone the ropes, we mean to familiarize them with the way things are done at a certain place.

New staff members at a summer camp are sure to be ‘shown the ropes’—and we’re not talking about the Ropes Course here. We’re talking a tour of the camp so newcomers are acquainted with the lay of the land and what responsibilities fall onto them during the camp season.

But what do ropes have to do with familiarizing people with layout and procedural information? Let’s start digging for the origin of today’s adage:

Many folks say that this adage most likely originated around the mid-1600s with maritime jargon as sailors would show newbies how to handle literal ropes that were used for operating the ship and the ship’s sails—an essential skill as you can imagine while out at sea.

Sailors raise and lower a ship’s sails by using ropes. They have a very specific way that the ropes are supposed to be tied to different parts of the boat. And sailors would use different knots for different purposes.

This all makes good, logical sense, however, there are some who object to this conclusion, proposing that the phrase was started, not in the nautical world, but on the stage of the theater. Stagehands would pull on ropes to open and close the stage curtains for the beginning and ending of each act. Both are possible origins, but people tend to associate the saying as a nautical turn of phrase.

Whatever ropes you may be shown in the future, enjoy a deeper understanding of why we say this in our cultural vernacular and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John