I will be teaching a week long programming course to kids between the ages of 11-18. Most of the kids have no programming experience. I'm looking for two things 1) General tips for teaching a camp class (how to make it fun when explaining the difference between int and float) 2) Interesting projects that the kids will be able to complete by the end of the week.

Unfortunately the language I'll be required to use is either c++ or Java which means that I'll need to spend more time on itty bitty details than I'd like in a week long course. I feel more competent in c++ than in Java. However if someone can show me that Java is much easier to learn I'll probably teach that instead.

My initial idea is to try something like "a game a day" with games like hangman, tic-tac-toe, guess-a-number, wheel-of-fortune, etc.

I'll try and update the question text as answers come in to offer more details

While there are other questions about teaching programming around I'm looking for advice and tasks that are useful for specifically a week long camp