Where We Find Inspiration For Camp Activities

One of the highlights of summer programs for kids are the activities. Children love attending day camp or summer programs and being able to participate in crafts, sports and other activities. But how do camps create new and exciting activities to enjoy each and every year? Camp counselors and organizers need to find fresh and interesting ideas to keep kids interested in taking part in activities each and every year, but how is this accomplished? It’s all about finding your inspiration. Learn how to become inspired to create unique activities for summer campers below. 

Pinterest

Pinterest has become the go-to site for camp counselors to come up with new ideas for camp activities. There are hundreds if not thousands of interesting ideas that are posted at Pinterest that can be used or even tweaked to meet your activity needs. Use the search feature to find specific activity categories of ideas with keywords such as summer camp, outdoor kid’s activities and more. The options are truly endless. Use a variety of search terms, thinking outside the box, to try and find great new activities for summer programs for kids.

Stick with Tradition

It is important for a summer camp or program to stick to tradition. While having new activities on the schedule is always fun, you want to be sure to stick with the old favorites as well. If the children look forward to swimming and archery each year, be sure to keep these activities on the roster. Returning campers will expect to be able to enjoy such activities and will be disappointed if they are not made available. 

Counselor Consult

Another great way to find inspiration is to play off of other counselors. Get together with other counselors or summer program organizers to throw out ideas. Take notes of each idea mentioned. You may be able to combine ideas or think of other alternatives based on the suggestions made. Sometimes talking out activity ideas with others can be the perfect inspiration for coming up with new and exciting activity ideas for campers to enjoy. 

Combine Activities

Give life to old favorites by combining activities. For example, kids like to play kickball and baseball. Why not combine the two? Use a kickball to play baseball, giving children a bigger target to hit and a unique way in which to play the two sports. This is just one example. Consider how you can combine games or activities into a new way of enjoying time together. Use spray paint to create giant colored circles in an area of the camp on the grass to create a life size Twister game board.  Use materials commonly found in the kitchen to experiment with science, taking your work outside so it is okay to be messy. The options are endless as you can combine and tweak activities to make camp enjoyable for the kiddos.

To learn more about various activities often found at day camps for kids, contact Zodiac Day Camp. They offer several options for day camp including a long list of specialized activities. 

Family Camp Is A Great Way to Introduce Your Child To Camp

Summer camp is an essential way that children can stay active during the summer months. Day camps for kids allow children to play and have fun with others kids their age. While it is common for young children to be away from home during the daytime hours for camp or even on overnighters, many children are not so comfortable leaving mom and dad. For parents, this can be frustrating as they want children to be able to experience the fun and excitement of camp. A quality solution is to consider family camp. Go together to show just how fun camp can be to then provide a day camp solution for your child. 

What is Family Camp?

Family camp is a variant of summer camp where children go to camp with the entire family. Brothers and sisters, moms and dads, all go together and enjoy the experience. Campers can enjoy a host of activities and dining together during the day camp. By attending the summer camp together, children can get to know what camp life is like. Parents can show children just how fun camp can be so that when day camps for kids are available, the children will be willing to go. Every family camp is different, with specific options for activities offered. Campers may take part in outdoor sports such as archery or volleyball as well as do crafts or entertainment activities together. The goal is to allow families to spend quality time together in a camp like setting.

Getting Comfortable

As your child experiences family camp, they can get to know what summer camp is really like. For most children, it takes simply experiencing something to feel comfortable. Talk to your child about how they would need to listen to counselors and discuss all the fun activities they could do. Specific camps can be enjoyed such as swimming or strictly the arts, giving your child the opportunity to enjoy the activities they love with others their own age. Talk to your child about how they can make new friends and possibly attend camp with others they already know. This can also help your child to feel more comfortable. 

Discuss Day Camp Options

Once you have attended family camp, you can bring up the idea of day camps for kids. Show your child examples of the types of summer camp options available so they can decide what camp will be the most fun for them. After experiencing summer camp, your child will know what it is like and feel more comfortable being away from home. If you allow your child to be part of the decision making process in regards to going to camp, they will be able to become excited about going on a camping adventure. 

To learn more about summer camp and the options available for children of varying ages, contact Zodiac Day Camp. With years of experience in hosting day camps, Zodiac Kids can provide quality camp options for your children. 

Things Summer Camp Has Taught Us

When summer arrives, kids are ready to be done with school and just enjoy being a kid. Parents soon find that kids become bored once school is over due to the lack of activities or scheduling. It can be difficult for parents to find activities for children to do during the summer months based on work schedules. Thankfully, there is one option that can cure summer boredom, summer camp. Summer camp is the perfect way to cure children of boredom but also teach children several things such as how to get along with others and useful life skills. Read on to see just what summer camp can teach young children. 

Friendship

From day camp to weeklong events, summer camp is a great way for children to learn how to make friends. When attending focused summer programs for kids such as swimming, children are able to get to know others who have similar interests. Kids can play and learn together, all the while creating strong bonds of friendship. Children who are shy learn how to break through their shyness by being active and with the help of other children and counselors. 

Life Skills

Summer programs for kids such as a swim day camp will help children learn life skills that are very important. It starts with listening. If a child is learning a certain craft or activity, they have to learn to listen and follow directions. Children learn how to effectively communicate as well as work with others. When you start a child in a day camp at a young age, they reap the benefits of learning several skills as well as being able to learn the actual activity. With a day camp that offers such activities as swimming, your child will not only be gaining lifelong social skills but will also be able to be safe in the water.

Sense of Achievement

By attending day camp, children can gain a sense of achievement. Whether it is mastering a new task or earning a reward for good behavior, children feel like they have accomplished something when attending day camp. When a child is young and learns how to feel achievement, they want to continue to experience that feeling. Camp can instill a sense of drive in a child that they can carry over into other areas of life such as school or extracurricular activities. 

How to Have Fun

Perhaps you have a serious child who doesn’t know how to have fun. Summer camp programs are essential in helping your child to let loose and learn how to have fun with others. Allow your child to attend a day camp to see if they enjoy the activity and social aspects and you may be surprised at just how enjoyable they find the experience. 

To learn more about day camp and summer programs, contact Zodiac Day Camps. Options are available for children to enjoy time with others as well as learn new skills. Activities vary according to the age of the child as well as camp program chosen.  

Are There Health Benefits to Snorkeling

Snorkeling involves swimming while wearing a diving mask and normally fins. This is one of the fun activities that kids enjoy in summer camps. They dive in waters to find fish, crabs, and enjoy the underwater life. The kids move in groups and have private swimming lessons before going for practicals in the waters. Even then the instructors follow them and ensure they are safe. The kids are given snorkels, fishnets and crab trappings. Other activities that come with snorkeling include hiking, collecting marine organisms, paddle boarding, and skim boarding. There are numerous advantages of snorkeling. Some of them are discussed below:

• Breathing Easy

Snorkels improve oxygen intake which is important for aerobic respiration. Professionals argue that individuals who use snorkels in private swimming lessons improve the capacity of their lungs and increase their aerobic fitness. This is because there is little resistance to breathing,  thus ‘extending the lungs’. The swimmers develop a greater chest capacity that holds more air. During competitions they are at a better chance than the rest who keep coming to the surface to gasp for breath. Toronto swimming lessons incorporate the use of snorkels for this purpose. To dive below the surface, a snorkeler takes a deep breath and holds it as he/she dives. With time, the snorkeler will develop strengthened lungs and improved cardiac response according to the experts.

• Perfect performance

For the beginners, learning how to swim using snorkels is very important. If you choose to use snorkels for private swimming lessons your performance will be superb within a very few days. Front-mounted ones allow beginners to practice pulling arms and body positioning in the water. The swimmer doesn’t have to worry about having to turn or raise his/her head to breath. By staying underwater for a long time it helps to build lung capacity and strengthen the swimmer's’ legs.

• Joint mobility

Worried about obesity, joint pains, or stiffness? Then make snorkeling your resort. It conveys health benefits to your joints and all other areas as you exercise your body. There is reduced impact force that is associated with other cardiovascular trainings i.e. jogging. Therefore, if you can’t jog then you can try snorkeling and still improve your fitness. You can choose to start with one session per day and with time as you gain experience increase the number of times per day. Snorkeling enables those who suffer from arthritis to reduce the pain that is associated with moving their joints.

• Connect with nature

Apart from what we see on a daily basis, there are other amazing natural things hidden on the seafloor. These include corals, planktons and other sea wreckages. In Toronto swimming lessons, the divers wear snorkels and spend quality time under water looking at these marvelous sights and also collecting sea organisms. They encounter these wonderful creatures and their habitat, study their adaptations, and even get to take beautiful pictures under the sea. They also go fishing, swimming, and paddle boarding.

• Better mood

The experts say that snorkeling releases endorphins which raise the mood. However, this must be practiced. The swimmers must hold and release their breath rhythmically as in medicine, in a calm way. By doing so the feeling of relaxation and peace sets in.

• Overcome fear

For those who are afraid of diving, using a snorkel is a perfect way of reducing this fear. This is because you don’t have to go very deep and also you are able to breathe through your nose as you do normally, although there is a little resistance.

Zodiac summer camp is one of the best swim schools in Canada. The kids are exposed to snorkeling, paddle boarding, and other fun activities.

Learn The Art Of Synchronized Swimming In Day Camps

Would you like to watch your kid dance or perform gymnastics in water? Well, enrolling her in summer camp programs is the first…best step! The approach used is play-based which allows the kids to learn and have fun at the same time. Normally, girls are the ones who are involved in synchronized swimming. The swimmers perform synchronized moves in water which go along with music. Apart from swimming for recreation there are also competitions held. The kids are introduced to new styles of synchronized swimming and learn more about the aquatic life in a serene environment. In Canada, this is one of the most popular summer sports.

The swimmers get a chance to learn how to control their breathing, improve their skills in floating and how to propel forward when swimming. All these skills are part and parcel of the training programs. The aim is to produce excellent characters in synchronized swimming. Kids do not need to have acquired a certain level in swimming in order to enroll, though, it would be advantageous if one is already a pro. If not, the coaches begin by training them in the basics of swimming before they proceed to the actual activities.

There are some very delicate moves which are taught, therefore flexibility, precision and proper timing are very important. During lifts, around six swimmers form the base and one or two act as flyers. They aren’t supposed to touch the floor of the pool and yet expected to make amazing uplifts. It takes courage and great perseverance to perform these daring stunts. The kids move from one level to another in training and also in competition. All these levels help improve speed, strength, stamina and suppleness. Teamwork is also very crucial since everyone in the team has a contribution to make when it comes to performance.

To attend synchronized swimming programs, a swimmer is expected to be in full outfit for swimming i.e. swimsuit, swim cap, nose clip and goggles in all classes. The nasal clips prevent pool water from entering the nasal cavity during downward and upward movements. For competitors, they have an extra clip which is attached on the suit for emergency, in case the one they are wearing falls off.

The swimmers gel their hair with gelatin to help hold it together. Normally, the competitors are usually seen with heavy makeup on their faces. This is to portray the emotions in the music being played. There are some speakers placed under the water. This enables the swimmers to hear the music and respond appropriately. Also, during practice programs the coaches use these speakers to communicate with the trainees.

There are over a hundred swimming positions that are taught when they attend the synchronizing swimming programs. However, they aren’t expected to know all of them. Some of these positions include ballet leg, flamingo, bent knee, back layout, front layout and split position.

The swimmers follow certain routines during practice including leg movements and stroke sections. The routine normally involves throws or lifts such as throwing one person out of the water (lift). Swimmers are synchronized to the music and to each other. To achieve astounding scores impression, synchronization, patterns and skills are very important.

Zodiac Summer Day camp offers synchronized swimming alongside other fun activities for kids. This camp is one of the best having topped the list for 2015. In 2016 they have gone an extra mile introducing more fun activities such as science and magic in their programs.  You won’t want to miss out!