The Oak Lane Summer Camp

For the first time in decades, Healthy Family Solutions provided the Oak Lane Summer Day Camp to children ages 5 to 15 years. This service was a direct result of hearing the pleas of desperate parents eager to have their children off screens, out of the house and playing with friends. Parents expressed that their children were fearful and suffering with social anxiety due to being isolated at home for so long. As we all continue to ride the Covid wave a year and a half later, our children have missed out on important developmental milestones in their physical, social, and emotional health.

     To provide healthy solutions to these parents and children, I considered the idea of running a day camp experience. Immediate preparations were underway with social media posts created announcing dates, times and costs. Supplies were gathered and appropriate activities planned. We received an overwhelming response. Working parents wanted camp for their children. By design, we offered 3 one week, day camps. Camper enrollment numbers were kept low so each child could receive the time and attention needed to gain confidence reengaging with other children and adults. It was also decided that this camp would be for boys only. The 3 main objectives of summer camp were: Children would meet and interact with other children. Children would spend time outdoors being physically active. And children would try new activities.

     Wow! What a super active summer. Summer camp was a huge success. It was awesome to see the progress each camper made from day one until the final day of camp. I wanted to share some highlights and some alarming findings from time spent with children at Oak Lane Day Camp.

     The first day of anything is always an exciting, scary time for children as they embark on a new, unknown space with unknown people. It’s normal to see children clinging to parents as they are desperate to hold tight to their safety net yet know they must let go. With some kicking and screaming, we were off. Some campers engaged in nervous talk while others were tight lipped and wouldn’t make eye contact. After introductions and a social ice breaker, we were off on our first of countless camp activities.

     Oak Lane Camp consisted of the usual things found at summer camp: Arts and crafts using wood, clay, plaster, paper, and paints. Obstacle courses, kick ball, swimming, nature walks, wading through shallow streams of water, fishing, charades, science experiments, cooking projects, cards, board games, puppetry, campfires, and ping pong. Surprisingly, for most of the children, all these activities were a new experience. My partner and I had to teach, show, explain and assist with every activity. I was surprised that the campers were never taught any of these typical childhood past times. While at home during the last year, children spent large amounts of time doing schoolwork on the computer, playing video games, reading, or watching TV.  Active physical activity was not part of their day-to-day covid life. One of our first physical activities was the obstacle course which was a combination of scooting on a skateboard, walking across a balance beam, jumping through rings, throwing balls into hoops, dribbling a soccer ball, crawling through a tunnel, tossing bean bags, and running back to start. For everyone, this fun course quickly turned into an impossible feat as everyone was too out of breath to complete the activity. Lesson one – campers are out of shape and cannot handle too much physical activity. When it was time for kick ball, we had to teach all the children how to play. Most had never played ball before. Many experienced frustrations when they got tagged out. It was a shock to their fragile self-esteems. Losing and failure were just not options for these children. One child expressed that everyone should win and that getting out was not fair. We experienced quite a few melt downs and temper tantrums during our kick ball games. Croquet was another game the children learned, loved, and practiced their coping skills when they would lose a game.

We played these games repeatedly so they could practice coping and managing their frustrated emotions. By camps end, the children were beginning to master their emotions. Lesson number two – Coping with emotions is learned by having children repeatedly play games, having adults take time to teach, correct and support while a child works through troubled emotions.

     One alarming thing witnessed was how some children were struggling with the effects of dopamine withdrawal. Some campers came to camp addicted to video games which cause a steady drip of the hormone into their system. With no screens at camp, dopamine was missing so campers struggled daily with depression, lethargy, raging, and irritability from being tired.

We learned that boys love charades and puppets! Other highlights included taking the campers to a creek, wading in the water, and discovering crawfish and other underwater creatures. Experiencing the joy and pride in a child when they find and pick up a crawfish for the first time is a great reward.

Also, watching a child go from swimming only in the shallow end of the pool; to jumping off the diving board and swimming the length of the pool by peer motivation and sheer perseverance was a gift to witness.

Without camp, children don’t get to experience meeting and engaging with other children. Camp is also designed to expose children to the great outdoors. Spending time in nature invites children to discover natural wonders, slow down and use their imaginations in beautiful and creative ways. Camp also provides fun activities that children don’t normally experience during the academic school year. Hopefully, children will remember the summer of 2021