Picture above is of the kids enjoying one of the water activities during summer club
This past year, the push to go virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic extended its way to summer camps. The Kid’s Summer Club held in the township of Wellesley is no stranger to these challenges. The way Kid’s Summer Club has been hosted has changed drastically over the last two years. This year the program ran a blended model of online and in person summer club.
Over the course of the past six weeks, online and in-person events took place at four different community centers across the Township. The first week of Summer Club was held online. The club’s summer leaders planned and created Craft Kit’s that were delivered to families, then held four optional zoom sessions for participants to log in to and follow along.
Wellesley Village was the first location to host in person activities from July 19 to 23. With such a hot week, the club was very fortunate to be able to use the community splash pad to cool down. The St. Clements Community Centre was next, with Summer Club running from July 26 to 30. The St. Clement’s participants had a blast playing games like Cross Canada and Frog Zapper!
After St. Clements, the Summer Club hosted another week of online activities with new craft bags made and delivered. Next, Linwood hosted the Summer Club between August 9th and 13th. Our club had a lot of excitement in Linwood, with the Fire Department coming to rescue us from a Yellow Jacket Nest! Last, but certainly not least, Hawkesville Community Centre finished off Summer Club with a bang with activities taking place between August 16th to August 20th. The Club’s Olympics were a hit on the last day in Hawkesville.
The activities planned for the in person weeks varied from crafts and outdoor summer games to guest leaders who ran activities such as mandala art and yoga. Every Friday the township's local fire department would join our club to talk about fire safety and cool our participants off.
Pictured above is the Linwood Fire Department teaching fire safety in a very fun way to the kids of Summer club.
All of the events were facilitated with social distancing guidelines in mind. This years Kid’s Summer Club was open to children ages 5 to 13, with a limit of 28 kids per week to keep in line with COVID-19 restrictions. Although Summer Club had its challenges this year due to the pandemic, it was still a summer full of fun. Some of the participants were even overheard saying “I wish I could have a sleepover here” and “I wish I came to every week of Summer Club!” Having this blended model was quite supportive during these challenging times. It allowed for kids and their families to participate in what they felt comfortable with, and still allowed kids to have the freedom of being kids. To play with their friends, learn new things, and simply have fun. The Summer Club team is very grateful for everyone who helped make this year such a great experience. We hope to see all of our awesome participants again next year!
Pictured above is a summer leader pushing a lot of kids on a big swing