Sylvan Lake’s Flipside Youth Centre is rolling out a modified summer day camp schedule.
The Flipside Sunbuster Shakedown will be a half-day program with a total of eight kids in each of the sessions.
Krista Carlson, FCSS Youth Services Supervisor, will welcome six to eight year olds in the morning from 9-11:30 a.m. with the afternoon group running from 1-4 p.m. for those aged nine to 12.
Each session will be the same group of kids for an entire week and will be accompanied by two staff as well as a youth volunteer from the Leaders-in-Training program.
Carlson explained the summer camps will still feature fun weekly themes such as Flipside Olympics and a kindness week.
Additionally, this year a teen program called the Flipside Summer Surge Program will be running on Wednesday afternoons from 1-4:30 p.m. for 13 to 18 year olds.
This program will also run on a week-to-week basis with pre-registration and will feature themes such as “Ninja Warrior” and “Weird Science.”
“We’re not going to have the two groups in the same space so on Wednesday’s our Shakedown kids will be spending the whole day in the gym or outside,” explained Carlson.
This summer the summer camps will not be taking field trips or be inviting in guest speakers, says Carlson. The youth centre will also be modified to ensure social distancing.
“… Ice breakers, circle games and crafts and those things can all still take place in our space and then again utilizing our outdoor space as much as possible too and getting out and playing some field games,” she added.
Right now the programs are all capped at eight, but the number could increase if it becomes apparent they could still be manageable with more.
Registration for the camps can be done online through sylvanlake.ca and in-person at the NexSource Centre once it reopens on July 5.
The Sunbuster Shakedown kicks off on July 6 and is $50 per week, per child. The shortened week of Aug. 4-7 is $40.
Flipside’s new Summer Surge program starts July 8 and is $10 per week, per youth.
Children and youth are able to pre-register for more than one week if inclined to do so.
“I encourage people before they register to take a look at the parent information package that’s on our website because it has all of our safety protocols in there,” Carlson said.
“Our drop off and pick up procedures are very structured and we have to ensure the staggering of kids coming into the facility and ensuring we do a pre-screen with the kids before they come into the facility,” she continued.
Parents are responsible for taking their children’s temperatures each morning and must accompany them to pick up and drop off.
Youth interested in the Leaders-in-Training program, ages 13 to 18, can register at sylvanlake.ca. There is no cost for the program.