Summer Camp Happenings

With new social distancing measures and policies in place, we’ve come together to discover new and innovative ways to build our summer camp programs to ensure a fun-filled, yet safe camp for kids of all ages. It’s no doubt that current times may invoke anxiety and confusion. While we don’t know what’s around the corner in the coming months, it’s important to keep our children’s routine as uninterrupted as possible. Even as more solo activities become commonplace, that doesn’t mean less inspiring or exciting! Here are just a few of many awesome and inspiring activities happening at our centers so far this summer. 

The theme at our Birch Lane center in Davis this year is superheroes! The children are focusing on how they can be heroes in their everyday life while building fun superhero personas throughout camp!  

Our Rock Creek center in Rocklin has #WheelsWednesday each week. Wheels Wednesday helps encourage children to get outdoors and stay active on their bikes, and scooters, especially as we spend much more time indoors this summer.  

One of our 5th-grade students even learned how to adjust and fix her bike that was making noise. As a catalyst for emergent STEM investigations, Associate Teacher, Lakshdeep Bajwa, used it as a lesson in bike maintenance, design, and repair. The student learned how to care for the bike chain, what a wheel bearing is, how to remove the chain guard using screwdrivers, and needle nose plyers. She also learned how to make growth adjustments to the seat and how to put the chain guard back on while taking careful consideration of the torque needs of the screws. After the bike maintenance lesson, she returned to the Wheels Day activities, excited and proud of her newfound knowledge. 

The effects of COVID-19 have been enormous, some of our families have really struggled with income loss and thus having difficulties providing for their children. Our biggest priority is to our families and the communities we serve. Site Supervisor at Beswick CDC, Jackie Arenas, identified a strong need within the Tustin community and was able to gather donations to help 17 families in need of food and school supplies. It was a great success! 

With more individually focused activities, we’ve witnessed several amazing pieces of art from Nordstrom CDC’s Noah’s Ark Animal Workshop in Morgan Hill, CA. 

At Juanamaria in Ventura, our children participated in a variety of activities including cooking projects, Covid19 safety for our younger children Kindergarten-2nd grade, and a 100-mile challenge for our older kids, 3rd-5th grade. They completed their mileage goals as the staff tracked their progress by adding lines to their names.  

Freedom Crest in Menifee is taking activities virtual for our children not attending summer camp to allow them to be able to safely participate in the experience from home via ZOOM with a different theme each week. 

 

Our Korematsu center in Davis had an ocean theme where we are transported “Under the sea”.