2021 | THE SUMMER OF SMILES
So, after 180 days (give or take) of virtual, hybrid and NO snow days due to the fact that school can be run virtual now The expectations for summer camp are higher than ever and I am happy to hear that! Every year, we try to “up” our summer camp game and we accept the challenge for this summer with an excitement, enthusiasm, and energy like never before!
I am thrilled to see that so many families are registering for camp this summer and that we have a lot of new campers!
I feel like our children were “cheated” this year. Let’s face it, to a kid, the best part of school is seeing your friends in the hallway, having lunch with them, walking to the bus, recess, and passing notes in class. Those are the things that count as far as our kids are concerned about and it didn’t really happen for them. We understand this and every year, we try to “up” our summer camp game and we accept the challenge for this summer with an excitement, enthusiasm, and energy like never before!
We (the entire SMILE summer camp team) plan on Shining, Motivating, Inspiring, helping them Learn and Encouraging our campers in any way we can!
This motto isn’t only for our campers but it is about EVERYTHING we do at camp! On top of everything, we have FUN! NO electronics, no TV(except for the occasional movie) allowed.
We have our free art room, which was a HUGE success last summer! Campers can create anything their imaginations come up with using raw art materials. We have had campers build puppet stages, robots, skee ball machines and other carnival games. We also have other activities such as bracelet making and typically, there is an annual contest as to who can make the longest rainbow loom string.
In our courts, we play volleyball, steal the bacon, night at the museum, capture the flag, and inevitably, there is always a counselor versus camper game of poison ball. And a SMILE all-time favorite is the traditional Egg Drop Contest! Campers work together to create contraptions that will hold their eggs (I hard hard boil them...lol) while they are dropped (individually) from upstairs into a racquetball court. Miss Lindsey has been our MC for the past 6 years and has promised to continue the tradition. Upon inspection of the egg, once it has landed, our MC will give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” as the condition of the egg. This will result in 100 campers either screaming “Yay!!” or a low roar of disappointment. It is an all-time favorite here at SMILE summer camp!
Outside, there is typically a daily soccer game during pick up in the afternoons as well during the day, an art activity, spud, kickball, or obstacle course and last year, Mr Thomas introduced our weekly scavenger hunts which were a lot of fun!
Water Wars is a favorite on hot days!
In between all of these activities, we have Halloween Week complete with a haunted court, Guess What’s In The Box, and the Thriller dance taught to our campers by Miss Nicole. Our SMILE talent show is where our campers have 2 minutes to show off their talents with a special performance by Mr Thomas and some our counselors is always a great time!
And on the very last day of camp,ALL of our campers from throughout the summer are invited back to participate in our SMILE Carnival! I save the best for last and do not divulge any secrets on this one so it is ALWAYS a surprise!
We always sprinkle a few surprises in between but at the end of the day..it is all about having fun for ALL of us and if our campers leave here with a SMILE on their face, we have done our job!
