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Though it has only just begun, parents may already be hearing the common summer refrain “I’m bored; there’s nothing to do” from their offspring.
There’s one solution: send them to camp.
In addition to a wide selection of sports camps, there are camps involving everything from tearing apart and reconstructing computers to acting, exploring nature, history and art.
Steve Cairns teaches a computer camp at the Immigrant Services building, 705 2 Ave. S.
“It’s hardware. We do very little with software, only the operating system and how to keep it running,” Cairns said just after giving a dozen students age 10 to 15 a demonstration of how to take apart a personal computer and then put it back together, and then leaving them to do it themselves. The computers were all donated by charitable organization Computers For Schools.
The 10-day camps run throughout July and August.
“If they take a computer into a technician who tries to do something he isn’t supposed to on the computer, they should be able to tell him,” he continued.
This particular group of campers expressed an interest in learning how to set up a network. While he will teach them some things about networking, the curriculum pretty much remains the same.
“The only rule is the computers all have to be working by the end of the session,” he said.
“One of the benefits is watching how easily they make friends with each other.”
The cost is $85 per student to participate in the camp. There are two sessions, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-4 p.m.
For children age six to 10 who want a little more variety, there is the Coulee Culture Camp, a collaboration between the Helen Schuler Nature Centre, New West Theatre, Be Fit For Life, the Galt Museum and the Southern Alberta Art Gallery.
“I wish I could go, but they don’t have a lot of camps for adults,” said Jessica Deacon-Rogers, one of the organizers.
Taking place July 25-29 and again in August, participants spend an entire day enjoying a variety of different activities relating to a set theme at each of the different venues.
The Helen Schuler Nature Centre’s theme this year is the five senses.
“It’s an opportunity to see a lot of different things and experience different types of activities,” Deacon-Rogers said.
“Some camps are all sports all of the time. At this camp, you get a variety of experiences, some theatre, some art, some history and some nature.”
The cost is $125 per child. The camp runs from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. each day. She said the August camp is already almost full as there is a limit of 15 campers, but there is plenty of room in the July camp.
If your child has ever had a hankering to act, New West Theatre has been running a popular drama camp for the past five years.
The camps are designed for students age six to 17. They take place Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Yates Sterndale-Bennett Theatre.
“Each camp is different but they teach the basics of theatre, so it begins with a tour of the theatre building, so they are familiar with it,” said New West Theatre general manager Jeremy Mason. The students learn the basics of improv, vocals, dance, movement, character development and creativity, because the goal at the end of each week is to stage a play the students wrote, directed, starred in and produced on their own, under the guidance of experienced New West staff including Mason, Grayson Ogle and Emma Sinclair.
One of the highlights is the opportunity to perform in an actual theatre.
“They build on these basics and then get into the fun stuff like improv and character creation. All of that comes together at the end of the week when they perform their very own play for their family and friends with sound effects and costumes in the Sterndale-Bennett Theatre,” he said.
“The good thing about this camp is whether they want to be professional actors or if they are shy and timid and are just looking for something fun to do, this camp fits their needs. It is not geared towards any one type of student,” Mason continued.
The camps are quite popular, usually filling their limit of 20-24 students each week. The first two weeks are close to sold out, but there is room in the other camps, which run until Aug. 19.
“These camps are just super fun. The parents like them because their kids come home completely exhausted from running around all day,” he said.
Both the YWCA and the YMCA also keep the kids active.
The YWCA has been running the Neighbourhood Play Program, a free drop-in program at venues all over the city since the mid-’80s.
There are two sessions (9 a.m.-noon and 1-3:30 p.m.) running Monday through Thursday at Agnes Davidson School, and Lakeview School in the South, Blue Fox Park and Park Meadows School in the north and Mike Mountain Horse and Dr. G.B. Probe School in the west.
“We play a lot of different games. It’s chalk cities this week,” Neighbourhood Play program supervisor Nicole Parkin said last week.
“It’s just a free drop-in program where we do a variety of active games, drama games and quiet games,” she continued.
Each week has a theme which they design activities around.
“We try to spend as much time as we can outside, though we do crafts inside and when the weather is bad,” she said.
They also hold a party in the park in Henderson Lake July 15 1-4 p.m. and Aug. 5 1-4 p.m. which everybody is welcome to attend and enjoy a variety of activities.
Go to www.ywcalethbridge.org or phone 403-329-0088 for more information.
The YMCA summer camps are enjoying their best year ever thanks to a slight reduction in fees and the university changing many of their programs due to renovations.
For the past 20 or so years, the YMCA has been running eight full weeks of summer camps. This year they are July 4-Aug. 26. They have three day camps and the residence camp Camp Impeesa near Beaver Mines.
“It’s not just a sports-focused camp. There’s lots of different things they do,” said Vanessa Kerychuk-Matus, YMCA Youth and pre-school department director.
The students do several different activities, beginning with a swim, plus crafts, games and sports.
“They do play sports, but it’s not sports focused. They seem to enjoy the water games the most. The kids are very rarely sitting down and being inactive,” she continued.
They also go on field trips to a variety of places including the Helen Schuler Nature Centre, the Galt Museum & Archives, the Whoop-Up Days parade, the coulee bottom, and across the street to the public library for puppet shows.
They run three different camps throughout the day and have a capacity of handling 100 kids a day.
“Enrolment has been very high, partially because the university is closed for renovations and also because we lowered our prices a little bit,” she said.
Some parents register their children for a week, others for the whole summer so organizers try to offer something different every week.
The residence camp operates under similar lines. They offer a variety of summer camp activities including sports, swimming, canoeing and zip-lining plus theatre and dance. It costs $325 for non-members, $300 for members for the week.
The day camps cost $130 for non-members of the YWCA, $110 for members.
The University of Lethbridge has a cornucopia of summer camps happening to appeal to a variety of different interests from sports such as fencing, basketball, tennis and soccer to arts. Plus, there are assorted science camps and the ever-popular multi-activity camps.
“Enrolment is down because they are renovating the pool,” observed Frank Huss, who has been co-ordinating the university camps for the past 10 years.
“Basically we do a wide variety of sports, gymnastics, art and a little bit of drama.”
They have had to adapt without having the pool, which has always been a popular draw to the camps. So this year, they have a gigantic slip and slide for all of the camp participants to use.
“We like it so much, we might have it next year too,” Huss said, noting he’s observed even the staff enjoying the slip and slide.
The sports camps attract approximately 100 kids age six to 12 per week, while science camps and fine arts camps draw about 60 each. But Huss said there is always room for more.
More information about the university’s camps is available at http://u4kids.cs.uleth.ca/ or by calling 403-329-2706.
The website is searchable by age, and subject of the camp your kids are interested in.
The camps run until the end of August. Costs vary per camp.
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