Campers galore: 55-day YMCA camp kicks off this week

Camp counselor Maddi Euhus (face not pictured), 17, helps her campers form and untangle a “human knot” Tuesday morning. The team-building activity is meant to foster cooperation and communication among the kids. (Carrie Frillman - cfrillman@daily-chronicle.com)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

Madelyn Marshall was anxious last year about attending kindergarten – that is, until she went to summer day camp at the Kishwaukee Family YMCA.

“I wasn’t so afraid of the shots at the doctor, because I already got them for camp,” the 5-year-old said. “And I made lots of new friends I didn’t have before.”

This summer’s 55-day-long camp kicked off on Monday, and Madelyn – dressed Tuesday in a grass hula skirt – said she wouldn’t miss her second year for the world. About 140 campers scampered about the grounds of the DeKalb fitness center Tuesday. Counselors expect that number to, at some point, exceed 200.

“We tend to get more sign-ups as we go,” said Parker Johnson, youth and family director at the YMCA, who noted Sycamore Schools were still in session Tuesday. “Our peak weeks are in July.”

Separating participants into six different age groups makes the 23 counselors’ jobs easier by allowing them to plan age-appropriate activities, Johnson said.

He considers the YMCA camp a place where kids can see old friends and make new ones. It is also a vehicle to infuse in them the fitness center’s core values of respect, honesty, care and responsibility.

When children exemplify any of the values, they earn a bracelet. Once enough bracelets are accumulated, campers can exchange them for special prizes from counselors. Madelyn was sporting a bracelet she earned Tuesday for picking up litter while playing outside.

“It’s good to show them that they’ll be rewarded for making those positive decisions,” Johnson said.

Activities at day camp vary throughout the day but include craft making, sports, aquatics and field trips. A “book nook,” or special children’s library at the Y, provides materials for the kids in hopes that they develop a love for reading.

“It’s meant to promote reading as a hobby, not a chore,” Johnson said, noting the program is new this year. “They can go curl up in a shady place and really enjoy themselves.”

Campers also spend three hours each week participating in, “camp track” activities. Some of the 10 tracks are gymnastics, ninja power, drama and dance.

“It’s nice when they have free time while doing structured activities,” said said Lesley Feyerherm, assistant director for the “Camp Cowabunga” group of kindergarten through third graders. “It gives them a chance to chit chat with their friends and really connect.”

Full day campers range in age from 5 to 15, counselors said. Those 3 1/2-5-year-old kids have the option of participating in a partial day camp.

Camp hours are flexible, which makes scheduling easy for busy, working parents, Feyerherm said.

Parents can drop their children off as early as 7 a.m., and pick them up as late as 6 p.m., she said.

“The hours are phenomenal for parents,” Feyerman said. “If they do get here at 7, we have early morning crafts and games for them, so we keep pretty busy.”

Collin Lloyd, 6, loves to stay busy. He ran around the sports center at the YMCA on Tuesday, making friends and playing games.

“The friends are fun,” he said. “But the swimming is even better.”

Know more

For more information about camp, or to sign up, click on the “child programs” link at www.kishymca.org.