Lions and snakes and sharks, oh my!
30 June 2008 Lions and snakes and sharks, oh my!
How often do kids get to create jungle flowers out of glass, hold turtle races, build rockets, create musical instruments or learn about prehistoric sharks? Kinder Camp, a day camp for students entering grades 1 and 2, provided all that and more this summer.
The Colleges hosted Kinder Camp from June 30 Aug. 8, providing a fun and enthusiastic learning environment for children. Most activities took place in Winn-Seeley, the gym or surrounding fields. Students can attend by the day, week or choose to come for the whole summer. Kinder Camp includes daily academic activities, outdoor sports and games, swimming in the Bristol Pool and reading time.
At the end of the six-week sessions, there was a graduation ceremony for all campers. Each week focused on a new theme, including Shark Week, Welcome to the Jungle, Snakes Alive, Super Soaking Water Week, Up Up and Away and Music Mania Week. Many of these weekly sessions included exciting field trips to destinations such as the Corning Museum of Glass, the Seneca Park Zoo, Roseland Water Park and the National Soaring Museum. 
This summer will be Patti Harlings second time directing Kinder Camp. Harling has taught in the Penn Yan School District for 10 years and currently teaches 8th grade. She holds a B.A. in both elementary education and Spanish and a masters in literacy.
Parents will be impressed by the camps educational value. The kids dont just play; they learn while theyre having fun, said Harling. She has a plethora of educational and entertaining activities planned for the week, including visits from a comedian and WOWEE (World of Wildlife Education Encounters). We move from activity to activity so quickly that kids dont even realize that theyre learning, she said. I dont want any of the kids to be bored; I want to hear, Mrs. Patti, can we do this again?
For more information, please visit http://www.hws.edu/offices/conferences/kinder_camp.aspx or download the brochure at http://www.hws.edu/offices/conferences/pdf/kinder_camp.pdf.