Archives: ‘Camp’

Fort Ward Museum and The Lyceum Now Registering for Day Camps

This summer Historic Alexandria museums are offering three history-themed camps, including a new single-day Curator Camp.

In the summer of 2008, Matthew Carroll decided to work as a counselor at a traditional American summer camp in upstate New York. This trip to New York quickly turned into a journey of discovery. Having just finished University in his native country of Ireland only one week before, he thought a couple of months working in a camp would assist in his pursuit of avoiding the real world. It was exactly this mission that made him realize what the world could learn from summer camp.

The City of Alexandria’s Jerome “Buddie” Ford Nature Center, located at 5750 Sanger Avenue, will offer a weeklong nature day camp for youth ages 7 to10. The camp is scheduled for April 6-10, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. Campers will participate in fun, nature-based learning activities, including woodland hikes, live animal exhibitions, journaling, story time, and nature games and crafts. Campers may be dropped off at 8:30 a.m. The camp fee is $275 for City residents ($300 for nonresidents) for the entire week. Registration is ongoing, and advance registration is required for all campers. Space is limited.

There’s no doubt that summer camp is fun. Kids get to sing silly songs, play funny games, swim in lakes, and tell spooky stories around a campfire. This is the image of camp that has been captured and memorialized in films, books, and television programs for the past fifty years. But there’s much more to camp than just a good time. In addition to fun, parents should be aware of these five reasons their child needs camp.

Most parents were well aware of the recession long before the official announcement in late 2008. Many families have taken steps to trim any “fat” from their budgets – the purse strings are simply pulled too tight to factor in a night at the go-cart track or that family trip to the Grand Canyon. Parents may not realize that even with tightening budgets, the life-changing experience of camp is still within reach.