This is the camp that we’d been looking forward to all summer. It is by far the easiest camp for parents… you buy day passes and show up on any day or location between 7:30-6:00 (no need to pre-book). They supply everything including food, supplies, and entertainment. What day passes you don’t use are refunded at the end of the summer. Easy. Peasy.<\/p>\n
There are two huddles a day where the kids decide what they are going to do. Workshops include sewing, knitting, style, animation, music, lounge, dance, baking, building studio, water slide, bouncy castle and park. When I left La Ni\u00f1a<\/em> on the first day, she was already hanging out in “the lounge” with her feet up and a contented look on her face.<\/p>\n The surprise hit was the sewing workshop. Every day La Ni\u00f1a<\/em> came home with homemade pillows… and a backpack to hold said pillows (made by her friend Francesca). Also, my independent divergent thinker did well because there was no attempt to control her activities during the day; she did exactly what she wanted when she wanted. This seems to be the secret to success.<\/p>\n Under the surface, there were a few adjustments that we needed to make for this camp to work. Because of La Ni\u00f1a’s<\/em> corn allergy, she couldn’t eat the food. Too many packaged foods contain corn (or derivative) in the US. So, we packed a lunch every day… no problem. <\/p>\n Also, drop-off and pick-up times are busy\/chaotic so we tended to avoid peak hours to avoid this; in their defence, the computerized wristband system is rather efficient and I think every other childcare centre or play park in the world could learn a thing or two from this camp. Only Stanford has them beat (at Stanford drop-offs and pickups were like going through a drive-thru window).<\/p>\n Overall, even though on Day 1 La Ni\u00f1a<\/em> was so excited for the camp that she could barely breathe (she watched these videos<\/a> the day before), by the end of the week she thought it was “ok.” There was nothing that really stood out for her.<\/p>\n I took no photos from the camp. However, La Ni\u00f1a<\/em> made a stop animation video that we uploaded to Vimeo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"