A little mystery, a dash of misdirection, and a whole lot of magic filled the air this week as Camp ROGA conjured up its Magic and Illusion week! Whether we were practicing levitation and wall-climbing spells, or pulling rabbits out of hats, our little magicians were pulling out all the stops for a grand magic show! So come one and come all as we give you a peek behind the curtain and show off just a couple of the spellbinding moments of this week!

Of course, before the magicians could cast any spells, they needed to craft their magical focuses. When making their magical implements, our magicians had a lot of options, and not just about what kind of spells they wanted to cast. On the one hand, you can not go wrong with a good old-fashioned wand. A quick implement, meant for speed of light casting, these wands were embedded with the powers of shooting stars! Made from popsicle sticks and sticker stars, these wands fit easily into the magician’s hands and would imbue them with abilities wrought in starlight. All they needed was a couple of magic words and a little belief to set them off. Of course, this also made for a lot of loud noise and flailing arms, as the magicians cast battle magic at each other, speaking gibberish and wildly gesticulating. Truly, it was a sight to behold.

Aside from just wands, campers would also come across two other tools to add to their arsenal. One was the Spinning Disk. This magical instrument was meant to beguile their foes and audiences alike with its rapid and mysterious spinning, and strange, arcane symbols carved on each side. The campers got very creative with this one. Some designed their Disks with spirals on one side to hypnotize any unwary passersby and get them to do their bidding. Some drew “terrifying” creatures on the sides to drive off any annoying mortals in fear. One student I saw also drew some actual Norse runes they had looked up before class on their disk, which were so far beyond my comprehension they made my head spin (he wouldn’t tell me what they meant). Another student would also use the seashells in the Camp ROGA flower bed to commune with the creatures of the ocean and ask for their wisdom. When they answered, though, the sea creatures sounded suspiciously like the Camp ROGA staff (who were whispering over their shoulders).     

When it came down to practicing magic, we decided to stick with the classics, and you don’t get any more classic than levitation spells. We are also, luckily, very well acquainted with airtime. Above, you can see some of the magicians’ early attempts to get themselves up in the air and flying around. One technique we practiced was the classic flying broom. This involved campers mounting up on one of the bars, usually the ones near the rec floor, and using them to fly through the air. This magical, propelled flying required focus and a great deal of dexterity, as well as the ability to avoid falling off their brooms mid-flight. When that happened, they had to hang on tight with their arms or legs to stop themselves from plummeting off their broom!

Another spell our campers practiced was levitating objects instead of themselves. This technique was not as intuitive, and our magicians had to explore a couple of different pathways to success. In one method, they switched out their wands for magic staffs, using them to propel balls through the air in a mighty display of magical prowess. These worked by using air spirits hidden within the staffs to suck the balls in then spit them out with great force. Other campers tried using telekinesis to hold up objects in the air with nothing but their minds. While initially unsuccessful, after much practice using the power of their minds, the magicians figured out that they could use their minds to control their bodies to go and pick up the objects, so we called it a win. And finally, one magician decided to conjure up some rings to hold up his objects. This was very successful, but required an incredible amount of patience and dexterity to accomplish. Above, we can see him in the depths of concentration on his levitation ritual, working with the skill of a long-practiced master to give the power of flight.

Of course, no magic show would be complete without mastery over one of the most classic tricks of all: pulling a rabbit out of a hat. In order to accomplish this, our magicians felt it was best to get into the mindset of a rabbit. Above, you can see the magicians’ efforts to understand their little furry companions, as they transmute themselves into rabbits and conjure themselves out of hats. One game where the magicians did this was called “Rabbit in the Hat,” where the transmuted rabbits would run underneath a hat, trying to escape before it came down around them. When the hat was lifted back up again, any rabbit still trapped had mysteriously disappeared, and the hat seemed to have gotten a little bigger. One pair of siblings decided to take the experiment a step further. They procured a mat and, with a wave of their wands, transformed it into a hat! Then they hopped in and made themselves disappear (from where the coaches could see them). 

Even magicians need food, so Camp ROGA conjured up some healthy and energizing snacks to keep their mana bars full and ready to keep casting spells. Here are just a few.

For one of the snacks, we decided to give the magicians another wand. The only difference was that this one was made of fruit, and the only spell it could cast was Power Word: Hunger be gone. For another snack, we designed a couple of magic carpets using fruit, yogurt, and Graham crackers to fly the campers all the way to Flavortown and back. 

This week, some wicked witches cast a weather spell on us and told us to BEWARE THE IDES OF–Thursday, so we had water day on Tuesday instead. This did not stop our magicians from taking control of the elements, mainly water, and harnessing them to their whims. They used their power over water to accelerate their magic carpets, riding them at breakneck speeds while still letting them off safely when they were done flying. They also harnessed their water elements into Battle magic, tossing compact balls of water to and fro, determined to hunt down the evil witches who had cursed the camp with inclement weather, though, they might not have gotten the right people in the end.

And with that final spellbinding spectacle, Camp ROGA’s Magic and Illusion week drew to a magical close.  From the magic wands to the sleight of hand tricks, it’s weeks like these that remind us that summer is truly magical. We hope you’ll join us next week for Camp ROGA Beach Bash week!