Socially distanced activities at SPARC (Photo courtesy SPARC)
Kevin Tobin, camp director of Passages Adventure Camp, remembers how meaningful it was last summer when kids came to kayak, rock climb, mountain bike and hike after holing up at home for months during the COVID-19 lockdown. As an entirely outdoor camp, Passages was one of the few summer programs still operating in person last year.
“Camp seemed to me to have a greater urgency,” Tobin says. “Things have been taken away as a result of the crisis. It made us appreciate socializing, getting out of our comfort zone and having fun.”
Tobin says parents seek out the program because their kids especially like or want to engage in these physical activities out in nature. “Kids want to be kids,” he says. “They’ve been cooped up this year so much. … Now more than ever, parents and kids are feeling they want to be more engaged and be out of the house. Being completely outside is absolutely a draw.”
The hunger to engage with others and get out of the house is so intense that by early May, Tobin says, Passages had a record-breaking number of campers — 900 — registered for summer.
Pottery making at ArtVenture (Photo by Sarah Der courtesy Visual Arts Center of Richmond)
Safety Guidelines
This year there are many more options for campers and more clarity on how camps can operate safely by following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance for operating summer camps during COVID-19, which encourages camps to monitor COVID levels in their area, develop mask policies for campers and staff, establish protocols for physical distancing with cohorts or pods, handwashing, cleaning, disinfecting, and limiting shared objects.
At a minimum, the CDC is asking camps to encourage vaccinations and modify camp activities to promote outdoor and other lower-risk activities and improve ventilation for indoor activities.
Riverside Outfitters’ camps will keep their groups outdoors all day. Drop-off and pickup will be in a park, and campers will walk from one activity to the next rather than being transported in buses. Everyone will wear a mask if they need to transport a group for safety reasons, such as during thunderstorms.
The Visual Arts Center of Richmond tested out having children back in its building during a spring break camp. This summer, its popular ArtVenture summer camps will offer workshops similar to years past, but changes will include smaller classes so campers can spread out and campers will eat lunch in classrooms. End-of-the-week art shows will be virtual.
“We’re excited to see students back making artwork and being social,” says Tesni Stephen, ArtVentures director. “A lot of people are craving it.”
SPARC, like many other camps, is shrinking the size of its summer camper groups to help with social distancing. Though campers will meet in person, their end-of-session shows will be presented in an online format. Campers must also pass a health check every morning, most instruction will occur outside, and face coverings will be required. By early May, SPARC’s summer camp programs were nearly sold out, and Paul S. Major, director of summer programs, says staff was already planning to offer more spaces for campers.
“[COVID-19] guidelines have challenged us to be more flexible and engage in creative problem-solving, something that we as theater artists are used to doing,” he says. “They have also allowed us to expand the way we think about our programs, maintain our impact in the community and create new partnerships around the city. The performing arts are such a collaborative thing that I think being in person this summer will help our students to reconnect with one another in a very meaningful way.”
City of Richmond Parks & Recreation will host free Summer Fun Pop Ups at seven locations across the city for children ages 6 to 12 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. with the opportunity to eat breakfast and lunch. The outdoor programs will include games with minimal contact.
“We’re excited that we are able to bring the kids back into our spaces,” says Tamara E. Jenkins, public information manager for the City of Richmond Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. “It’s been a long year due to COVID, and we are ready to have some fun this summer.”
Goochland Parks & Recreation campers can choose from art, tennis, football, preschool, basketball and a Junior Deputy Academy Camp at the Central High Complex, where campers will stay in pods.
“Parents are looking for something for kids to get engaged in, be active and be out of the house, whether it’s theater or on the ballfields,” says Jessica Kronberg, Goochland County director of parks and recreation. “There’s excitement. Kids are agreeable to being outside because everyone has been so cooped up because of COVID.”
