6/26/25

Week 1 kicked off camp with exciting discoveries of our planet! 🌎

🖌️For arts & crafts this week, campers painted their own mini Earth on ping pong balls, made alien skydivers out of air-dry clay, built mesmerizing kaleidoscopes with paper tubes and reflective paper, and made geodes out of aluminum foil.

🧬 For STEM this week, campers simulated a mini weather lab with shaving cream, water, and food coloring; constructed mini volcanoes; and tested their clay-alien skydivers’ parachutes by launching them from a staircase in our program center.

👟 A fun new part of our physical activity station this year is dance! This week’s dance exploration was ballet, and for other active games campers did an Animal Relay (race with different moves for the different animals called out), a Recyclables Relay (racing to pick up recyclable items), and gaga ball. Once the rain went away, campers got to enjoy their first pool times of the summer! 🏊

🧘‍♀️For Mind & Body, campers played conversation Jenga, did a “5,4,3,2,1” Grounding Walk (noting 5 things you see , 4 things you feel , 3 things you hear , 2 things you smell , and1 thing you notice about yourself), Growth Breathing (progressive breathing and stretching activity where campers “grow” from a seed into a strong plant with each breath), and played “Guess the Element” (items like moss, bark, or mud were placed into bins and our blindfolded campers did their best to guess what they were feeling).

🎉Ellafi Federal Credit Union is joining the fun this camp season by hosting a specialty station every Friday! This week, they led our campers in building and decorating crowns.

🚴‍♀️Bold Adventures visited Sacred Heart University in Fairfield to take a tour of their campus, explored Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, and embarked on a galaxy-themed adventure at Puzzle Theory Escape Room in Middletown.

NEXT WEEK – WEEK 2 “UNIQUELY ME” 💫🪞🦄

REMINDER: OUR CENTER WILL BE CLOSED ON FRIDAY JULY 3RD, IN OBSERVANCE OF INDEPENDENCE DAY.

THRIVING INSIDE AND OUT

Activities: Yoga, Dance sessions, Mindfulness, Nutrition and energy experiments, Fitness Challenge boards, Talent show

*For Dance activities this week, campers will be trying out Tap! Tap shoes are not required to enjoy the activity, but if your camper owns a pair, they may bring them to camp on Tuesday and Thursday.

Learning Focus: Physical activity, Wellness, Body Awareness, Mind + Body

Wednesday Dress-Up: Your Comfiest Pajamas  🧦🧸

FIELD TRIPS (UNIT 7/8 and UNIT 9+)

Bold Adventures (U7/8) Field Trips:

• Monday – NO TRIP
• Tuesday – Penthouse Pour (Hartford, CT)
• Wednesday – Hike at Sleeping Giant State Park (Hamden, CT)
• Thursday – Mattatuck Museum (Waterbury, CT)
• Friday – CLOSED, NO CAMP

Leaders in Training (U9+) Field Trip:

• Monday  – Hike at Sleeping Giant State Park (Hamden, CT)

Please make sure Field Trip campers pack appropriate items for the trips, including cold lunch, water bottle, a light jacket or sweatshirt, bathing suit (when applicable), towel, sunscreen, and closed-in shoes for all trips (flip flops can be carried in a bag).

SWIM SCHEDULE 🏊

REMINDERS:

• LOST AND FOUND
  • Please LABEL all of your child’s belongings, so we may reduce the number of items that end up in the Lost & Found. Please check the Lost & Found throughout the week for any items your child may be missing. Unclaimed items will be donated or disposed of at the end of each camp week.
• LATE PICK-UP FEE
  • In order to account for staffing and maintain smooth operations, families will incur a late pick-up fee of $25 if your camper is picked up more than 10 minutes after their scheduled pick-up time. We understand that delays can happen, and we appreciate your effort in picking up your child on time. If you anticipate being late, please notify us as soon as possible.
• SWIM LESSONS
  • Please be advised, that during free swim time, beginner swimmers do have the opportunity to use life vests. However, during swim lessons, our swim instructor does not allow use of them for the following reasons:
    • They prevent proper learning of swim skills and managing body position.
    • They create a false sense of security. It’s important during lesson time that they create trust with the instructor in the water.
    • They interfere with learning water confidence!
  • All swim lessons are taught with an Water Safety Instructor (WSI) in the water with the camper at all times, and a lifeguard supervising from outside the pool.
  • If your camper expresses that they are not comfortable getting into the water, our WSI always allows them to opt out when it is time for their lesson.
• FOOTWEAR
  • To ensure the safety of every camper, please make sure your child comes to camp with closed-in footwear (Ex: sneakers, Crocs in “sport mode”, fisherman sandals or all-terrain sandals). Flip-flops and other open-toed or open-back sandals may be worn for pool-time only; closed-in footwear must be worn for all other activities. 
• UNIT 7/8 and 9+ LUNCH
  • Unfortunately, lunch is NOT provided by Meriden Schools for Unit 7/8 or 9+ field trips for the duration of Summer Camp. Please send your camper with a cold lunch on their field trip days. Free lunch is available for their days on-site at our Center.
    • Unit 7/8 – Lunch provided on Friday ONLY (Field Trips on Mon-Thu)
    • Unit 9+ – Lunch provided on Monday-Thursday (Field Trip on Friday)