The Game of Village

In the Game of Village children and youth come together to build a community in miniature.  They begin with peeps, little people who have their own personalities and backstories.  These peeps have come together to forge a new town together.  At our summer camps in New Hampshire's Monadnock region this all takes place in meadows and forests -- but, following our inspiration, people also play Village in schools and in communities across the country and across the world.

Village's lessons in participatory democracy and community building are needed in our world now more than ever.  

Your donations will support campership funds that allow kids to play the Game who otherwise wouldn't be able to.  We also rely on donations to support our work with educators so others can learn to play the Game of Village.

Who We Are

Village Summer Camp: Exploring Big Ideas on a Small Scale

Village summer camp is a unique five-week community-making adventure for youngsters entering grades 4-9. In addition to traditional camp activities like singing, swimming and games, campers also play “The Game of Village.” Village is a role-playing game in which players create and explore community life on a small scale. Each camper becomes a Homesteader and creates a Peep (short for miniature person). Played in miniature on a scale of 1:24, everything tangible in a Peep’s world gets scaled down to a manageable size for youngster’s hands. Homesteaders create small-scale houses, clothes and furniture for their Peeps. With the help of a loan and a mini-acre of land, Homesteaders help their Peeps build their homesteads and their lives. Peeps may create their own businesses or apply for jobs at the Trading Post, Bank, Radio Station and Newspaper. They throw tiny parties and put on miniature concerts. Together, Homesteaders and Peeps build a small society that is similar, yet delightfully different, from life in the real world.

Beyond the tangible, life at Village is as big as it gets.Through their Peeps, Homesteaders explore many facets of civic and social life by living them. From decisions about their town’s government and economy to choices about what to air on their radio shows and what to print in the newspaper, Homesteaders work together to build their community and to find--and define--their roles within it.

A summer at Village is a creative way to have fun, make friends and learn about civic life. From the very first day of camp, Villagers experience what it means to build and take part in a community in which every life matters.