Summer Camp at RisingOaks | Oak Creek has gone through a rollercoaster experience since the beginning of July. Each week was an adventure for our campers exploring various themes, challenges, games, activities, and meeting different guests. Here are some of our favourite Summer Camp highlights!
Safari Week was a standout as we transformed our classroom into a colourful jungle with different animals around the room! Campers embraced the theme by dressing up as their favorite animals. One child dressed up as a turtle and one came in with a beautiful face paint of a deer. The excitement continued with an animal scavenger hunt, where children searched high and low for hidden animal foot prints around the room, learning about different species in a fun and interactive way. That week we also had a special guest called “Little Ray’s Reptiles” wherein we met different species of wild life animals that the children were able to touch and learn about!
Our trip to TNT Blueberry Farm is another highlight for our campers! They had a great time picking blueberries and working together as a team to fill a big bucket. After our hard work, we brought back a box of blueberries weighing 12 pounds! Half of the blueberries were used to make blueberry jam which we had with fresh waffles that we made in the centre. The rest were used to make lemon blueberry muffins that the campers helped in making and enjoyed after for afternoon snack.
Campers also engaged in different activities such as building a time machine wherein they all made their own special button, some wanted to travel back to the past and some made a button to a special destination! Later that week we had our talent show day that allowed the campers to showcase their talents! It was exciting to see some of our campers team up and work together to do their talent show which they prepared for weeks! That week we also had a special guest from McDougall Outreach and the guest speaker talked about the differences between traditions and cultures. He explained that traditions are specific activities or practices that families pass down, like holiday celebrations, while culture is a bigger idea that includes the way people live, their values, and their beliefs. It's important for children to learn about these differences because it helps them understand and respect the many ways people live around the world. By sharing these ideas, we can help children grow up to be kind, open-minded, and able to get along with others, no matter where they come from.
On some days, we spent our mornings going for walks to the forest exploring nature and making nature bracelets. On hot summer days, we had our water play days with exciting and challenging games for the campers to engage with.
Each week is filled with fun and exciting ways for the campers to experience. We learned how to work together as a team and respecting one another, lots of high fives, hugs, laughs, and a few tears were shared— but overall, it has been a busy and fun summer camp!
