Adventure camps accepting participants
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
Strathmore Kids and Next are accepting registration into the Adventure Camps being held over the summer. The camps are for kids ages six to 12-years-old and are scheduled to begin on July 7.
The first week is one all kids will love, it’s Adventureland: Magical Worlds and will be a Harry Potter theme.
“You’re going to be seeing the kids playing Quidditch, we’re going to be doing potions and spells, we’re going to be doing a lot of food crafts, we’re going to be doing Hogwarts acceptance letters, we’re going to be watching the first movie, and a lot of the things we do on a daily basis are going to be themed directly towards Harry Potter,” said Courtney Beekman, camp coordinator.
There will also be a triwizard cup where the teams can compete for prizes.
Week two is Amazing Race: Around the World, July 14-18. Beekman said she and her fellow camp coordinators have picked five different countries and each day will do things to feature that country. There will be a different challenge, either a puzzle or a dance, the kids have to learn, or a game to learn from that country.
There will be roadblocks just like in the TV show that the kids have to do or they won’t be able to move on with their team. One will be becoming a human Connect 4 game. The kids will also learn some things about the countries they ‘visit,’ too.
Week three is Artful Antics July 21-25.
“That is one of the most exciting ones I am going to say. We’re going to use anything from our hands all the way up to plungers to paint and make art,” said Beekman
“We will be filling water balloons with paint and throwing them at each other in paint suits. We will be using fly swatters, dinosaurs, trucks, cars, anything we can get our hands on that you can put paint onto a canvas we’re going to use.”
The kids and staff will be making goo, and slime and things the kids can take home with them.
Brazilian Carnival is week four, July 28-Aug. 1. The kids will be learning about the rainforest, rainforest animals and about the carnival. The kids will be making masks, learning about the music and the culture.
Beekman is an EMR and for week five, Survivor Outback is Aug. 11-15. She will be teaching the kids basic skills and how to help someone if they are hurt. The kids will be making basic first aid kits to take home and learning how to read a compass, about different plants in the prairies, which ones are okay to eat and touch and which aren’t. There will be a challenge where the kids have to figure out how to find and help someone who has been ‘injured.’ Beekman said the kids will also learn about Australia, the aboriginals there, things they used to do in terms of old medical supplies they would have used.
Aug. 18-22 is when the Best of the Best week will take place.
“What that is right now is a blank page, because what happens is we’re going to go through our first five weeks of summer camps and the kids are going to pick their absolute favourite things they did and every week we’re just going to keep adding it into that planning,” said Beekman.
The final week, Aug. 25-29, is called Imaginarium: What will you Think of Next?
Beekman and fellow staff have been going to the recycling centre and to craft stores to collect things for the kids to create different projects with. The kids will be given the theme, to create the latest invention and they will then have to make it, pitch their idea to the staff, and have to be able to show the invention. It doesn’t have to be working but it does have to be there. The idea is that it will be sort of a Dragons Den style for the kids.
Beekman said she and the staff are hoping to plan one field trip, not sure which week exactly but it will be to Bassano outdoor pool at either the end of July or beginning of August. The cost is $170 per week and there is the option of before and after care at an additional cost. The regular hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.
Mondays will be at the Four Sisters Farm or the NEXT building, doing themed activities and themed crafts. Tuesdays there is usually a trip to the splash park, Wednesdays are the same as Mondays in terms of activities, and Thursdays will be at the farm, with a hot lunch provided. On Fridays the group will be swimming in the afternoon.
To find out more, or to register, go to www.strathmorekids.com, or contact Courtney Beekman at strathmorekids@gmail.com, 403-934-9430, or Claudia Penner at strathmorenext@gmail.com, 403-983-9433.