The modern summer day camp for kids has come a long way from playground tetherball, tag and painting cast-plaster animal ornaments for mom.
From water sports such as stand-up paddling to workshop-style theatre creations and explorations in the world of science, the children of 2013 have an enormous choice for summer-camp activities.
Working parents who need something to occupy their children during the days of summer can pick from a wide selection of options.
For example, the University of Victoria, with a large supply of laboratories and bright, enthusiastic undergraduate students working summer jobs, has made a specialty of offering science camps for kids.
It has camps for designing and building a robot, computer programming and designing objects to be constructed with a three-dimensional printer. Biology and early-medical-school camps are also offered.
Astronomy camps are very popular this year, after Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield engaged people around the world with his Twitter messages from space.
Melisa Yestrau, director of UVic’s Science Venture, which offers the science programs for kids, said the days are long gone when summer day camp was drop-in at a municipal playground with one counsellor to keep order.
“Family dynamics are different now and parents are looking for high-impact, fun programs in the summer,” Yestrau said.
Parents, and even their children, want an intellectual element, she said. Even when a camp offers physical activity, it comes with work for the mind.
“So when we play a game, instead of just regular tag, we’ll play atom tag and put a little science spin on the activity,” Yestrau said.
“Kids can still be physical but be learning science at the same time.”
This over-the-summer learning doesn’t just keep children occupied during holidays. It can help get them ready for the next school year.
“There have been studies that show when kids continue learning during the summer, when they go back to school, they are more ready,” Yestrau said.
Today’s children present a new kind of challenge for science instructors, however. It’s no longer enough to wow kids with exciting facts, since those are easily available with the click of a computer mouse.
Children have to be introduced to concepts and reasoning, linking facts and demonstrating reactions and relationships.
James Tyrwhitt-Drake, a fourth-year biology student with an interest in astronomy, Earth science, art and photography, is an ideal Science Venture counsellor for computer-connected kids.
Tyrwhitt-Drake said he has used large-format posters, time-lapse animation of the Earth from space and social media to engage people with scientific concepts at a variety of levels.
“You can learn about biology in the context of Earth science and you learn about Earth science in the context of astronomy,” he said.
And his most fascinated students are typically children.
“Kids are natural-born scientists and explorers and I always get a really good response from them,” Tyrwhitt-Drake said.
“I can show them these things and they are really interested and they really want to learn more.”
It’s not just at the university where educators and childcare specialists are having to become more creative for today’s child. Municipal parks and recreation departments are digging deeper into their imaginations to increase variety and interest.
Saanich, for example, is offering about 200 day camps this summer.
Even smaller Oak Bay offers about 100 day-camp programs through its parks and recreation department.
Janet Barclay, Oak Bay manager of recreation program services, said the reality of modern families is that a department like hers will see the same children for several weeks in a summer. A variety of activities is essential or the kids will lose interest.
“We have more and more kids coming for more than one week of the summer,” Barclay said.
So while traditional summer activities like swimming and sailing are available, camp directors have had to stretch their imaginations.
A popular schoolyard game like Capture the Flag has become a week-long day camp called Forts, Flags and Forces. Participants are divided into teams and use their artistic sense, construction skills and strategy to design their own flags, build a fort and defend their turf.
Oak Bay also has several drama camps, where kids do everything from creating, directing and acting in plays to putting on a Broadway-style musical number. Always, the object is to give children a sense that the production is best if it comes from their own work.
“Any programs that are to be focused on creativity, we try to focus on making the kids feel like it’s a good thing if the ideas come from them,” Barclay said.
“We provide the service and the structure, but the children should have a chance to create the show themselves.”
Go online to find out more about summer-day-camps options.
• University of Victoria Science Venture: scienceventure.ca
• Saanich Parks and Recreation: Go to saanich.ca and click on “parks and recreation” and then click on “active living guide” for a full listing.
• Oak Bay Parks and Recreation: Go to oakbay.ca and click on “parks and recreation.”
Note: Other municipalities offer similar programs.
• Athletic camps:
The University of Victoria offers sport day camps through its athletics and recreation department called Vikes Recreation.
Go to vikerec.uvic.ca.
The Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence offers various sport and athletic camps.
Go to piseworld.com and click on community programs to find camps.
ASK QUESTIONS OF CAMP COUNSELLORS
Parents looking for a summer day camp for their children should be confident enough to ask questions of the counsellors, says a Victoria childcare expert.
“You should feel empowered,” said Belinda Macey, program co-ordinator for the provincially supported Child Care Resource and Referral.
“You are shopping for a service and there is nothing wrong with asking questions.”
She recommends parents ask questions such as:
• What is the emergency plan if a child is seriously injured, or if an earthquake strikes?
• What are the ages and level of training for the counsellors? Are they qualified to work with the appropriate age group?
• Think safety. Are the children getting breaks from the hot sun? Are there enough adults to watch over them if they go in swimming or near water?
• What is the backup plan if the weather is too wet to play outdoors?
Macey said parents can ask these sorts of questions any day, and inquire about upcoming activities.
But she also cautioned parents not to hover to the point where they interfere with a counsellor’s job.
A parent should arrive early enough to ask questions long before the day gets going.
“It can be a fine line between asking questions so you feel comfortable with the day camp and letting your child go off to enjoy the day,” said Macey.
— Richard Watts
