The City of Martensville once again has been offering their School’s Out for Summer program which started the week of July 7. The program runs for six weeks on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9am – 12pm until August 13th. Kids have the option to join this Day Camp for a few days here and there, a couple weeks, or for the whole summer.
The first two weeks and the last two weeks of the program are run by the Sportball Organization. This multi-sport activity focuses on physical literacy for kids with a specific activity every day such as lacrosse, tennis, volleyball, soccer, basketball and baseball.
Instructor Kayla Heck is currently helping with the next list of activities with themes that include ‘Nature Day’, ‘Science Day’, and ‘Outdoor Play’. “Some of the activities we have done so far include pond exploration, forest exploration, scavenger hunts, park play, science experiments, dinosaur bone digging, volcano building in the sand, chalk, bubbles, water play, group walks, and more. The first week was fantastic,” said Heck. There are a maximum of 15 students attending the program each day, with herself and a helper.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program had to reduce their numbers from 30 to 15 this year. They followed strict rules to keep the students in a safe environment. Students were asked to sanitize when they arrived, and throughout the day. The city also provided enough materials for each student to use their very own shovel, bubbles, chalk, etc. so that the students were able to avoid cross contact on materials needed for planned activities. “Students were also able to bring their own materials from home which worked out nicely. We promoted safe distancing whenever possible, and kept all materials clean for each new day,” stated Heck.
As an instructor, Heck noted that she was pleased to hear that people are eager to enroll in these classes. “Most of these students have not been around groups of children this large since they were in school because of COVID isolation, so it gives them some sense of their old normal, with all the new safety guidelines. At the end of each day, when we have time, we do a “Spotlight Circle”, and each day I have heard from a few students that their favorite part of the day was “meeting new friends”, and that is what it is all about. It is meant to be fun, with some structured activities, and it gives everyone a chance to meet new people!” said Heck.
