Now that week 1 is in the books and you have hopefully been flooded with stories of a positive start to the summer, I thought I would share a few thoughts based on my conversations with parents this week.

The transition from school routines to camp routines can take a few days to settle in but once they do, the experience is super-positive for both parents and campers. Here are four topics that I have consistently addressed with parents during the week. Some of these topics can be easily shared with your campers to reinforce what we are trying to do at camp.

Lunch

The atmosphere of camp; outdoors, things in constant motion and the heat can often result in kids being less hungry. This could cause a greater likelihood of campers not eating their entire lunch. While our staff work hard to promote and monitor peer interactions during lunch time they also ensure that campers are eating their lunch which can be challenging if campers don’t feel that hungry. Snacks on the go (such as granola bars, a piece of fruit, some crackers), to eat as they travel between activities are strongly recommended, to send along with their lunch. Aside from the end of day snack camp provides (which is usually a freezie on hot days or cookies or crackers), campers tend to dip into their lunch bag for some extra food before the bus ride home. We, of course remind and if needed, assist our campers in closing their lunch bags before heading to the bus. For everyone’s safety on the bus there is a no eating rule in place. On another note, many of you are already sending your camper’s lunch in an insulated bag with a freezer pack or my favourite is to use a frozen juice box which after keeping lunch cool could then be a slushy before the bus or when they get home!

Water bottles/juice and water at camp

We work hard to keep our staff and campers well hydrated throughout the day. The entire camp is on the move every 30 minutes and sometimes don’t return to the cabin until after swim. Unlike school, where students are within their classroom all day, campers at Robin Hood are in motion for the bulk of the day. It might be hard to carry around a water bottle for a long period of time but our strategically placed water stations are equipped with cups and we encourage campers to make a stop for water every time they pass one. Re-filling water bottles is encouraged if they have one on their travels and we even provide cold water in small cups (using bigger cups would result in more “pit stops” along the way!) for the bus ride home. Juice is a also available at lunch.

Sunscreen

We count on our families, rain or shine, to apply sunscreen to their kids before they are in their bathing suits or at least before their tshirt/shorts go on. We have a minimum of 2 times scheduled during the day where we reapply sunscreen to campers who have completed grades 1 and younger. Staff supervise and assist to ensure backs and hard to reach areas are well covered with sunscreen for campers who have completed grades 2 and up. We store all sunscreen of campers (which should be well labelled) in the sunscreen baskets kept in each cabin. As sunscreen bottles near empty, we will do our best to notify you.  We strongly recommend swim shirts/rash guards for kids to wear for our swim times. I would also like to emphasize that on hot active days campers may come home quite flush – especially campers that are fair – please give it some time for your child to cool down from the day. Often after dinner and a bath is a better time to make an assessment. Don’t forget to also look to see if the redness is outside of where their bathing suit straps or shorts are … if there is no difference between the areas covered by the bathing suit then it is more likely to be from being flushed rather than from a burn. I strongly recommend increasing to a higher UV sunscreen for even better protection and/or avoiding the use of tank tops on super sunny days.

Structure of the Robin Hood day

Like school, camp is organized on a timetable whereby periods change every 30 minutes. Given the age of our camper population and ability to move about the site, this appears to work quite nicely. Our day incorporates our two swims, change time, lunch, snack and a series of blocks to enjoy our specialties while also giving ample opportunity for our counsellors to do cabin focused activities just with their group. Sports Academy has a similar approach whereby sports instruction and game play are varied throughout each day.  We have plenty of indoor areas just in case the rain (aka “liquid sunshine”) disrupts our typical day and our