Monday, 29 July 2013

Halfway Through The Summer Already - Full Speed Into Week 5!!

Dear All,

Wow! Time flies so fast at Camp Heidelberg - it seems we just began our 2013 camp season yesterday!  And, this week we are at the halfway point of our day camp season! 

This week we once more are offering two very exciting streams: 'Camp Heidelberg Games' and Campfire Cooking!!  Campers choosing the 'Games' stream will be playing the all-time favourites of 'Gaga Ball', 'Camouflage', 'Man Hunt' and will also try some leadership games as well.

Those campers who are aspiring to be 'campfire' chefs will try their hands at safely building a campfire and then cooking Choco-Bananas, Orange Brownies and Apple Spice.  Lunch on Friday will also be prepared by the campers who chose this stream. 

In addition to the streams, we will also try archery and crafts as well.  With respect to crafts, this week we will be making 'Goo', 'Tie Die Shirts' and 'Charcoal Pictures' in addition to 'Name Tags', 'Friendship Books' and 'Friendship Bracelets'. 

A quick reminder: please send along a hat, a water bottle, sunscreen, bug spray and shoes in which your camper may enjoy the many active games we play at the camp. 

Thank you for your continued support of Camp Heidelberg.  See you on Thursday, at the campfire.

Teddy and the Camp Heidelberg Staff Team :)  

Thursday, 25 July 2013

The sights and sounds of Camp Heidelberg during Week 4! :)

Dear All,

We hope that your camper(s) and you enjoyed your week with us at Camp Heidelberg. 

We also hope that you are enjoying our blog, and find it informative.  Our campers are able to earn points for their teams if they are able to - with your help - answer questions about the blog at the campfire tonight, and all throughout the rest of the summer. 

See you all soon. 

Teddy and the Camp Heidelberg Staff :)

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Here is our week, in pictures.

Some of our individual crafts ...



And, our team crafts ...



Archery ... with a twist ...

A camp wide ...

And, our sign ...

Monday, 22 July 2013

'Navigating Nature' and 'Hoop'-ing: Week 4 Here We Come! :)

Dear All,

We hope that you had a wonderful week 3 with us.  The warm weather did not stop us from enjoying some of our camp favourites, such as 'egg drop', Gaga ball, schmuck the staff, team banner scavenger hunt, camouflage, and Man Hunt.  The 'tri-sports' stream took part in some 'epic' three-legged races, tug-of-rope competition, and, of course, archery was enjoyed by all. 

This coming week, we will be exploring nature and working on our basketball skills.  Hopefully the temperature will be a bit cooler, so that we can spend as much time outside as possible.

Just as a reminder: please send a hat, sunscreen, bug spray, and a water bottle with your camper. We schedule two snack breaks and a lunch break; please pack food items for all three of these nutrition breaks.

Thank you for your continued support of our day camps.  We wish you a wonderful week, and hopefully see you at the campfire on Thursday evening - weather permitting.

Teddy and the Camp Heidelberg Staff Team :)

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

A Quick Peek at Week 3!

Dear All,

Here is our week in pictures. Enjoy!

Teddy and the Camp Heidelberg Staff Team :)

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Which letter is missing?? :)

We are 'building' a nest for our egg drop competition ... version 1!

Egg nest ... version 2!

And, version 3!

Morning show on Tuesday - 'bobbing for apples': Teddy is out (dental issues) ... and M&M (second in picture) almost fell in! :)

The staff are getting ready for a 'doughnut eating contest' on Wednesday - are we stretching, perhaps?? :)

And, what is Dino up to?  Curious head gear...or is it perhaps something else? :)

See you all at the campfire! :)



Week 3 In Full Swing - And, Keeping it 'Cool'! :)

Dear All,

We hope your campers and you are enjoying the week with us at Camp Heidelberg. 

Both of our streams are in full swing.  The 'builder's are working on a Camp Heidelberg sign, and the 'tri-sports' campers have been 'tri-ing' a number of different, challenging events - weather permitting. 

We have been drinking a lot of water at the camp, and have been putting sunscreen on as well.  We are encouraging our campers to drink water as often as possible.  We will also be having regularly scheduled water breaks as well.  In addition, we will be spending the majority of our time in the shade and inside, which includes an air conditioned building. 

Tomorrow, Thursday, we will be having a campfire and a sleepover - weather permitting.  The permission forms and the sleepover letter which has a list of items campers should bring to the sleepover can be picked up at the sign-in/out table. 

Please note that on Thursday afternoon, we will be bussing the campers back to their Ys for the afternoon swim, and we ask parents to drive them back out to the camp.  Gate opens at 7:30 and the campfire starts at 8:00pm. We have maps and directions for you to get to the camp.  They too are available at the sign-in/out table.

Friday's lunch will be a pot-luck lunch - regardless if campers slept over or not. We will be roasting hot dogs on Friday so we ask that you send a small item - a desert, salad, or a drink - with your camper.  The bottom of the sleepover letter has a small sign-up sheet attached to it.  Please fill it out and leave it with us so that we have an idea as to what type of food items we will be receiving.

Thank you so much for your continuous support of our camp.  Hope to see you at the campfire.

Teddy and the Counsellors :)



Sunday, 14 July 2013

Let the 'building' and the 'sports' begin!!!! :)

Dear All,

We hope you had a terrific weekend, and a great week with us last week.  Last week we welcomed 72 campers at Camp Heidelberg, and had 50 campers sleep over on Thursday evening.  It was great to see so many campers enjoy our camp site. 

We finished week 2 with a great campfire on Thursday evening, and a pot-luck lunch on Friday.  You all were so so generous with your food donations!  Thank you so much for that! :)

The campfire itself was made possible with wood donated by a parent; we are so so thankful for this parent's, and all the other parents' support of our camp.  Speaking of parents: on Thursday evening during the campfire, four unsuspecting moms were challenged to the 'Human Table' challenge!  They did absolutely fantastic; we just hope they will come back again to try it one more time! :) Interestingly enough, the dads shied away from it - but perhaps next time they will try it too! Challenge accepted? ;)

This coming week we will be organizing two new streams: 'Build It Up and Break It Down', and 'Tri-Sports'.  Please stay tuned to the blog - and, of course, the stories from your camper - about what will  take place during the week.  We might - just might - created a large 'Camp Heidelberg' sign out of wood chips and scrap wood! :) And, we could potentially have a 'mini marathon' as well.  Stay tuned for the details! :)

Thank you for your support of our camp.  We wish you a great week - perhaps in the shade as it will be quite warm this coming week.

Take care all,

Teddy and the Camp Heidelberg Day Camp Staff :)

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Week 2 is in FULL SWING! :)

Dear All,

We hope your week has been great; our week has been absolutely AMAZING at Camp Heidelberg!

This week we welcomed 70+ campers to our camp site!  On Monday, the campers quickly chose between the 'Camp Heidelberg Record Books' stream lead by 'M&M' (Mel), 'Fin' (Robyn) and 'Teddy' (Laszlo), and the 'Net's stream lead by 'Kiwi' (Willow), 'Dino' (Queran) and 'Daisy' (Laura).  So far we built structures out of newspaper and straw connector sticks, expolored the forest, collected and then sketched leaves found on the ground, took part in two increadibly camp wide games (lead by M&M and one of our campers), and took part in an amazing morning show organized by Daisy and Kiwi.

What we do no the bus rides to and from Camp Heidelberg, you might ask? We sing, and we sing a LOT! :) We sang - or screamed, maybe ;) - songs like the 'Tarzan' song, the 'Bubble Gum' song, the 'Pizza Man' song and the 'Green Grass' song.  Our busdriver, Daz, has been very, very patient with us so far, and might have even joined in at time as well! ;)   

On Thursday we are holding another campfire lead by our very own Camp Heidelberg campers, supported by Dino and Teddy. The festivities will be followed by our second sleepover of the summer.  We just can't wait!!

Please pick up a permission form, and the letter about the sleepover and the campfire on the sign-in table tomorrow, Wednesday, evening, or Thursday morning.

Thank you for your continued support of our camps.

And, now, our week in pictures.... :)

Monday's craft...

And, another one...

Lunch on Monday...it was quite hot and humid! :)

Morning show on Tuesday...

Craft on Tuesday...

And another 'batch'...

And, we have two new friends at camp: Fred, the frog, and Sally, the grasshopper! :) 

See you all on Thursday! :)

Teddy and the Camp Heidelberg Staff :)

Sunday, 7 July 2013

Week 2 - Here We Go!!!

Dear All,

We are more than excited to begin week 2 of our camp tomorrow, Monday, July 8th.

The 'streams' next week are 'Camp Heidelberg Record Books' and 'Nets'.  We are all looking forward to these exciting streams. 

Tomorrow, we will be making 'name tags' again.  Last week they turned out great! Those campers who made a name tag last week should bring them back, and we will 'update' them.

For reminders for our parents about our camps, please copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.ymcacambridgekw.ca/en/daycamp/ymca_day_camps_waterloo_parent_information.asp 

Thank you all so much, and see you soon!

Teddy and the Staff :)

Thank you all for an AMAZING week 1!! :)

Dear All,

We had an amazing week 1 at Camp Heidelberg!!  A special thank you goes out to our amazing campers, volunteers-in-action, and staff for an exceptional week.  We also would like to thank our parents for their support, especially during our Thursday night campfire! 

A bit about the streams: the campers choosing the 'COOKING' stream learned how to build a campfire, learned about camp fire safety and had the opportunity to help make 'choco-bananas' and 'orange brownies'!  Please see our yummy creations below! :)  And, with respect to our campers choosing the 'GAMES' stream, two games come to mind: 'Gaga Ball', and 'Man Hunt'! Enough said! :) Our campers will be more than delighted to share how much fun they had playing these games ... again, and again, and again, and again ... :)

Thank you once again, and see you again soon.

Teddy and the Staff :)

P.S.: Teddy did get 'schmucked'!  But that is OK ... maybe during week 2 we could 'schmuck'...Dino or Daisy??? ;)


Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Camp season 2013 has begun at Camp Heidelberg! :)

Dear Parents, Guardians and Caretakers,

On behalf of the staff - Fin, Dino, Daisy, Kiwi, M&M -, our Volunteers-In-Action, and our 'behind the scenes' supervisors 'Q&A' and Hayley (that's her actual name!) I would like to welcome you and your participants at Camp Heidelberg!!

This week we are gearing up for many exciting activities!  Today, Tuesday, we tried archery, we created a craft (which is still drying), we played an amazing game of 'Capture the Flag (not to mention, 'Gaga Ball' - an all time favourite), and learned about camp fire safety!  Tomorrow, Wednesday, we will be continuing to play those amazing Camp Heidelberg games - including 'Manhunt' - and will try our hands at making Choco-Bananas!! :)

Thursdays ... mean ''CAMP FIRE' and 'SLEEPOVER' at Camp Heidelberg!!!  Don't forget to pick up your permission form, and ask our staff for further information, including driving directions to the camp! Please remember that the camp fire starts at 8:00pm; the gate opens at 7:30pm. 

Friday, we will finish with a few camp favourites, including...(*drum roll....) SCHMUCK THE STAFF!  I wonder who will be 'Schmucked' this week - I hope it's not me!! :)

Thank you once again for sharing the first week of your summer with us.  We are looking forward to meeting each and every one of you.  Please check back during the week for updates about our exciting activities at Camp Heidelberg. 

Take care, and have a great week! :)

Teddy, and Staff :)