Afterschool: Dynamite Day Camp

This summer is shaping up to be loads of fun! Campers will be out of the building two to three days a week on field trips. Look for letters to come home with all of the details on each trip and what your camper will need. Every day campers should come in wearing sunscreen and bring hats and sunglasses as we are outside a lot.

August 5 – 9 – World Travel We are so lucky to live by the largest river in the United States and as a result have access to really interesting locations like the Riverwatch Research Center to visit. We will be learning all about why the Mississippi is so important and has an impact on every aspect of daily life. We will also learn what we can do to help with water conservation and preservation of the wetlands in the Riverbend area. This week our book is Around the World in 80 Days.
August 12 – 16 The World of Sports As the summer winds down we are looking at the wide world of sports and ways that we can get active and live a healthy lifestyle. We will be hosting the Dynamite Day Camp Olympics. Once again this week we have picked a book from the Magic Tree House series with Leprechauns Don’t Play Basketball. As all of the campers head back to school over the next few weeks be sure and pick up their summer journals and DDC t-shirts and we hope to see you back next summer when our theme will be Splash Into Summer

X marks the spot: This month we will be using Pirates as a theme for our activities. The children seem to enjoy this exercise in fantasy. One of our important topics will be the use of the “Jolly Roger” to signify danger. We will be on the look-out for this sign and also Mr. Yuk, the more modern counterpart of the pirate flag. Just in case we find a treasure map, we are also working on left and right so that we can follow the map and find the treasure. Many of our activities will be done outside each day, check your calendar. We will be using the pirate’s treasure for many of our classifying activities, if you have any old “junk” jewelry which you could donate for our activities we would appreciate it. Also, we will be using medicine droppers, seashells, and rocks for many activities, If you have any of these to donate, we will put them to good use.

A Treasure Chest of Skills

Beginners: Pirate treasure will be used with size, numbers, sequencing and placement words like on/off and in/out. Fingerplays are lots of fun and beginners will use them to add to vocabulary and develop self-confidence as they use motions and join in on at least a few of the words. Learning their parent’s names and starting on addresses is the first step in personal safety. Independence in the bathroom is always encouraged but they will be working especially this month on pulling up their own pants. Children are considered potty trained when they have fewer than 6 accidents a month.

Preschool: As pirates, counting out treasures will give children lots of practice with money and numbers. Children will also be working on putting their numbers in sequence (just another pattern). Just in case they get lost at sea, they are also working on personal information like parent’s names, addresses including zip-codes, and practicing self-help skills like snaps, buttons, zippers, and knots. Children will be busy with opposites, rhymes, utilizing placement words and recognizing and working with patterns, a good lead-in for starting an accumulation of personal and standard sight words.