Camp Kidville

My favorite memories as a teenager are spending the summers with some of my closest friends and traveling around the country for summer camp. I was able to spend weeks away from my parents {at the time that was exactly what I wanted} and do incredible things in a part of the country I had never experienced before. We stayed up way past our bedtime and told ghost stories at night while laying in our bunk beds. I repelled down mountains in Colorado and water skied on the lakes in Central Florida. They were definitely summers to remember!

Although Harlan isn’t traveling hundreds of miles away to get away from me {not yet at least,} she is heading uptown for her first summer camp at Camp Kidville. Just shy of two years, this little girl is meeting new friends and experiencing an hour and a half of gym, arts and crafts, and music!

When we first got to camp they gave her the cutest T-shirt to wear with the rest of the campers. She loved it as soon as she put it on!

Camp started in the gym where she was able to climb, dance, and let loose on the trampoline track. The thirty minutes were packed with the counselors and campers running around the room and getting out some much needed energy. Gym time ended with a favorite of Harlan’s, the parachute. She was the only one screaming with joy as the parachute went up and down over her head.

One of my favorite parts of camp, and probably the cutest was they way the counselors lined all of the kids up to move from room to room. Each child had to grab a part of the mulit-color rope and hold on as they walked to the next room. The first couple times were a bit of a disaster as you saw little ones tripping over one another and dropping to the ground. But after a couple tries they marched together to the rooms singing a song about their group name, The Starfish.

After gym we marched over to arts and crafts where we found little tables covered in paper to color. Harlan is a huge fan of coloring and loved being able to color anywhere she wanted without me telling her to stay on the paper.

Coloring on paper was only the beginning of arts and crafts time. There was an actual craft for Harlan to do. I was a little nervous about what the craft was because she has never really had any instructional art time before but they were appropriate for her age group and she loved it. On the first day of camp we made a butterfly and the next day Harlan was able to paint a treasure box {it was her first time using paint and managed to only get one little dot on her.}

Once craft was complete, most of the kids had worked up an appetite and it was time for snack. Harlan gulped down the cheerios and water and was super excited to see what was in store next. Music!

Harlan is very musical and loves to dance and sing to just about anything. She followed along as they sang, “If your Happy and you Know it” as well as some classics for the parents.

Camp Kidville exceeded my expectations. The counselors were hands on throughout the entire camp and really got involved with each and every child. I was merely there to supervise Harlan and let her become more independent with her new friends and counselors. This is exactly the type of programs she needs to get ready for pre-school in the fall. Not only can Harlan not wait for next week, but {secretly} I can’t either.

{Disclaimer: A Mommy in the City was not paid for this post.}