Racing Through Week 3!

With Fourth of July weekend over, campers came back refreshed and ready to have some serious fun!

As campers gathered for the Morning Circle, the weather was nice and clear. Counselors talked about what was happening for the day and got the campers excited for the rest of the day. Along with this new week comes a new region as well. The East North Central Region takes center stage this week as campers learn all they can about Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Once campers broke off into their respective camps, Discovery stayed outside and decided to have a good old fashioned game of Ultimate Frisbee on the field. Before starting, counselors talked to the campers about the rules and the proper way to throw a Frisbee. Safety always comes first. Afterwards, campers had a blast tossing the Frisbee from one person to the next while trying to get over the goal line. 

No I in Team!

MVP campers took the opportunity to take a quick walk down to Community Park for their Track and Field Day! Campers took turns competing in their versions of famous track and field events. Campers got to the starting line and sprinted to the finish for their team.  They ran and ran but that was not the end of the field festivities. Counselors then set the kids up for shot put and the discus throw. The heavy ball and discs were replaced with softballs and Frisbees. Campers went one by one to see how far they could throw each one. Kids took their best poses and launched them with all their might. No matter what happened, these campers tried hard to make them fly as far as possible. As an extra challenge, counselors threw their own shot put and discus to see if any of the campers could match them. Try as they might, they couldn't reach but they still had a great time.

Getting ready for the throw!

A new week also welcomes a new Specialty Camp: Camp Chefs! To start the day off, campers did some nice arts and crafts projects. Once that was over, counselors showed the campers how to make baked bananas in a toaster oven. It was a nice, warm treat to get the kids excited for the rest of week and everything else they’re going to be learning. They can barely wait for all of the delicious times ahead.

Today, the All Camp Activity focused on Ohio and a special place in Cleveland. Can you guess what it is? It’s the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! To celebrate the wild and crazy world of rock and roll, campers got to dress their counselors like famous rock stars. With a couple of fake tattoos and face paint of every shade, you could not tell who was a counselor and who was a rock and roll legend. They even got cardboard guitars to sell the look that much more.

Week Three is just beginning but today was a great way to welcome the campers back and to keep everything rolling! 

Science Specialty Camp

Miles covered in the leftovers of his experiment!

Today the Science Specialty Camp got slimy and gooey as they did a paper tie dying experiment with shaving cream and food coloring. Who would have known the cool designs you could get from shaving cream! While making Slime, it oozed everywhere and  it also came out in some cool colors. It only took three ingredients to make: glitter glue, water, and Borax. Lastly today, we were visited by a chemist, Matthew Wasserman, from Church and Dwight Co, Inc. He showed the Specialty Camp how to make gummy vitamins. The ingredient used to make gummy bears chewy is called Carrageenan, which we learned is an element of seaweed. The kids were shown how to extract it by boiling certain types of seaweed. Once the mixture was ready the campers got to pour the mix into their own personalized molds. Mr. Wasserman left some citric acid or souring agent for the kids who were brave enough to try it. The campers were able to enjoy their gummy treats as a special dessert at lunch. The Specialty Camp is set for a scientific field trip this upcoming Friday.

Campers learn how to make gummy bears!

Go Bananas!

Even though Monday started off with nothing but rainy weather, you wouldn't even know it if you were under the tent with YMCA campers and counselors! Instead of letting the stormy weather keep them down, John, our Youth Director, led the campers in the Banana Song. Getting on top of the center table so everyone could see, John led the silliness as campers repeated his singing and dancing.

Kicking Off Week 2!

Camp this week jumped out to a bang as Thunderstorms chased the campers inside for their daily activities, but not before they had some fun under the tent. Campers started this mornings session with introductions of names, groups and favorite desserts which spanned everything from broccoli to warheads. Even though rain pattered around the tent it could not keep the campers down as they engaged in the upbeat and wacky song “Go Bananas”. Continuing with our road trip theme we are paying a visit to the mid-atlantic. This week there are three groups: Discovery, MVP, and our Super Science campers.

Discovery camp got off to a musical start as they played musical chairs in the gym. Campers rushed around the ever decreasing amount of chairs in the middle, laughing and giggling the whole time. This week for arts and crafts the campers will be making lots of 4th of July themed projects to bring home. Due to the rain, campers gathered under the tent and designed their own fireworks!  (Don’t worry, they weren’t real)

 

Our awesome campers having fun under the water!

Today MVP’s theme was Ultimate Frisbee. In case you didn’t know, Ultimate Frisbee is a game played with two end zones like football and players must pass back and forth in order to advance the frisbee to the other end zone. The campers get a great cardio workout while still having a great time! They also played several variations of dodgeball!

This week the theme for Specialty camp is Super Science! Today’s theme for the science camp is Acids and Bases. They were also working on tie dying lab coats to keep their clothes free from the experiments that they will be doing all week. Campers saw what happens when acids and bases mix, they even learned how to make their own lemon powered rocket! The campers have plenty of cool experiments lined up. There is even a BIG field trip to the Liberty Science Center planned for Friday.

            For today’s all camp activity the theme is The Boardwalk. Campers will be participating in some great carnival games including Corn hole, peg the counselor, and ring toss! These celebratory games model our very own New Jersey boardwalk; the only thing we were missing was the Ocean!

Week One Winding Down

The day began with a competitive game of “Inchworm” where three pairs of campers, with interlinked legs and hands, raced to the finish line. Explorers, Voyagers, and MVP campers faced off against each other! The race began with the Voyager and MVP campers darting forward, leaving the Explorers in the dust! Voyagers and MVP were tied for first place. However, the Voyagers made a small mistake with their footing, giving the victory to the MVP campers. The next game of “Inchworm” consisted of two pairs of counselors from MVP and Discovery. As the race began and the campers pumped their hands into the air with excitement, the MVP counselors fell to the side giving the Discovery camp the upper hand! As the Discovery counselors reached the finish line, MVP campers, the counselor race concluded with victory to the Discovery camp counselors.

Friends help each other smile!

During the rotation and field activities, the camp played “Dodgeball” and “Capture the Flag!” The dodgeball game began with campers running to the midline picking up balls to get the upper hand (the balls were extra soft to prevent any injuries). The campers played “Capture the Flag” battling for the opponents flag and defending their home turf. If campers got tagged before they could reach the flag, they had to go to jail. Most visits were very short lived as their teammates freed them to continue the game and steal a win!  

Camper prepares for dodgeball.

For Arts and Crafts today, the campers were having a great time making paper birds. They could decorate them any way they wanted to and some campers just wanted to decorate their counselors. All shapes and sizes were made and the campers had a blast making them. The campers folded paper into parts of the bird and painted them with their favorite color. The different varieties of birds were then hung on the trees around the camp. Don’t be surprised if you see some flying your way!

Campers decide to decorate their counselor.

Along with all of the activities at camp, there is always time for a swim lesson. Princeton Family YMCA has a long history of teaching kids how to swim, and our campers are keeping the tradition alive one splash at a time. Whether they are learning about safety or proper form, the campers had fun and could not wait for more. Even campers not completely comfortable in the water had a blast with their counselors helping them. They also had floaties for even more support. Once free swim kicked off, the campers...kicked off! They splashed from one another and showed off their best tricks under the water. Backflips, somersaults, and even the occasional handstand were no strangers during free swim. The campers could not get enough of the water and were sad to leave. On the bright side, they’ll be right back in tomorrow.

Practice makes perfect!

After swimming things got sticky with the All Camp Activity as campers made apple cider popsicles in honor of New Hampshire’s state drink. The campers made them with the counselors and froze them for tomorrow. Talk about anticipation! Too many popsicles is never a bad thing and after making them, the counselors led the campers in the Popsicle Song.

"The Gibberish Song"

Today camp got off to a silly start as the campers took part in “The Gibberish Song!” John, our Youth and Family Director, led them in the call and repeat song. True to its word no sense was made but fun was definitely had, as the campers pumped their arms, jumped, and screamed. As the campers got ready to board the bus to the Trenton Thunder game, they reviewed proper field trip safety.

Day 2 of Summer Camp!

This morning opened with a great big community meeting!  Everyone aced their first quiz by remembering the YMCA’s four core values: Respect, Responsibility, Honesty and Caring. Campers performed a camp song that they learned yesterday and several campers were given the privilege to help lead it.  Everyone had a blast!

Discovery Camp’s summer theme is a Road Trip Across America. This week the campers will be adventuring through the New England Region: visiting ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT all in one week!  Today the campers visited Massachusetts and Maine where they learned about old traditions and events from the Boston Tea Party to the first Thanksgiving. 

Mr. Paul starting off camp in the morning

Did you know the first Thanksgiving celebration was in Massachusetts?  For today's all camp activity,  counselors dressed up as turkeys and played games with the campers. The counselors celebrated Maine’s official dessert, digging their faces into blueberry pie to try and pick out the individual blueberries. Did you know that blueberries in Maine look and taste different than the ones grown in New Jersey?

Our campers painting Hannah, one of our counselors!

For the Discovery Camp Week One kicked off to a great start as the campers improved on their fundamentals in soccer!  The sports and games rotation started with World Cup Soccer.  The campers burst onto the the field, each representing a different country.  At the field activity rotation, the campers worked in teams to get through an obstacle course, jumping through hoops, throwing frisbees and hitting baseballs. They learned the importance of teamwork and perseverance to push their team to victory. Discovery campers continued the theme of interactive learning by making their very own tea bags in memory of the Boston Tea Party at the arts and crafts rotation.  These works of art will surely be coming home soon!  Campers are looking forward to a big day at the ballpark tomorrow, as they will be traveling to Trenton, NJ to see the Trenton Thunders, a Yankees triple A minor league baseball team.

Pioneers Camp (4-5 yrs) practicing their soccer skills

MVP Camp kicked off their first Tuesday with basketball and spent their morning practicing the fundamentals! They began the practice session with a simple dribbling drill. The MVP campers all dribbled their basketballs in place for 1 minute. The next exercise improved the camper’s handling of the ball. They were required to run 2 laps around the gym while dribbling. The campers also practiced passing and defense drills. This was all a good source of exercise, skill improvement and teamwork  while being fun at the same time!  During their break and the afternoon session they were able to put their new skills to work on the court outside, showing off their fancy new tricks and improved fundamentals.  They could really see their hard work paying off.

 

Dance Party at the Princeton YMCA!

Later in the day, the campers had their afternoon swim. The kids could not wait to “cannonball” into the water! However, before the fun, our certified swimming instructors had to give them an important swimming lesson. The older campers practiced proper techniques for backstroke, while the younger campers practiced fundamental skills for swimming like proper breathing technique by blowing bubbles.

The campers have already had quite an exciting week and have much to look forward to in the coming days. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to get all the updates about what’s happening at the YMCA camps this summer!

Week 8: A Review

The campers started week eight with a blast. This week's theme is The Greatest Movie, so Discovery Camp is making an awesome music video that is sure to impress. They even made paper guitars to help them out! Yesterday, Campers played a game of capture the flag against the YWCA that ended with a Discovery camp victory! Campers also played steal the bacon and Indian chief in Field and Activities, and The Pioneers had fun making props to help make their video even greater. Tomorrow, campers will get to choose what movie they want to see by donating school supplies to Christine's Hope For Kids! Each group will also have the chance to show their own movies. It's sure to be an eventful day!
And the Oscar goes to...?
 

This week, our specialty camp had great camping experiences in Kamping Kids. On Monday, campers made posters demonstrating their knowledge of safety skills. The kids enjoyed eating alongside a beautiful lake while hiking in the Mountain Lake Nature Preserve on Wednesday. Today, campers had a blast at Sahara Sam's indoor water park, where they got to go down thrilling water rides and hang out in the pool, followed by an overnight camp back at the Y. Campers will even get to sleep in tents they set up by themselves! Tomorrow, Kamping Kids will join the rest of the camps for a delicious barbeque to end their fun-filled week.

Olympian Jamie Redman speaks to MVP

As this great week of camp is winding down, the campers at MVP went on a competitive, fun-filled Scavenger Hunt today through the park, using magnified pictures as hints to find the objects on the trail. Once each of the groups met in the park, they settled down and had a picnic with more games to come after lunch. Although this alone sounds great, the MVP kids encountered an even better experience on Wednesday when Olympic Rower, Jamie Redman, came to visit them.  What a day! Tomorrow, MVP will have an all camp barbeque, a perfect ending to another remarkable week of Sports Camp. It is true that we still have one more week of camp, but we are always looking back on the great times we have had throughout the summer. Camp is almost like a journey, and this year, the campers at MVP completed it to the fullest. .

The campers in MVP Specialty Camp, Lacrosse, have been giving their all this week to enhance their skill in the game. Campers learned how to catch, throw, cradle, shoot, and more. Just after one week, the improvement in each and every one of the kids' gameplay has definitely shown. 

The counselor and teacher of the Lacrosse campers says "their progress is already beginning to show. When we started, some of the kids didn't even know how to hold the stick properly, and now they are starting to throw the ball and get into the other fundamentals." This camp has been a great experience for the kids. Campers learned many essential skills, and have truly improved at the sport!

This week, Leadership Academy continued to make an impact in the community and interact with each other. Not only did they help collect school supplies for Christine's Hope For Kids, but today they were also able to discuss gender roles in society, leading to an engaging debate among the campers. Yesterday, campers watched the movie Invictus, which led to an interesting discussion on racial prejudice versus unity within a community. Once again, Leadership also helped volunteer and distribute food at the Crisis Ministry Food Pantry. This summer, our teens have strengthened their roles as leaders and fostered their own social and interactive skills, reinforcing their confidence and individual identity. We at the Princeton YMCA can't wait to see their roles in the community as they develop into accomplished adults.

A Look at Week 8: The Greatest Movie

Along with all the other camps, Discovery had a great first day! Campers participated in many different and exciting games, played on the grass, in the gym, and even in the Arts and Crafts area, where campers learned about creativity and imagination from a teaching artist from McCarter Theater. The groups acted out various animals mentioned by the kids and created imaginary transitions between them. In addition to swim-time throughout the day, the campers played games such as World Cup Soccer, Freeze Dance, and a "Getting to Know You"activity in the morning. Relating to this week's theme, "The Greatest Movie", Discovery will be helping Christine's Hope for Kids by bringing in school supplies for donation to local familie.  For each item they bring in, the camper gets a ticket. The kids can then use these  tickets to vote for one of five Pixar movies.  The winning movie will be played for all of the campers on Friday. The movie that will be watched is currently unknown, however, whichever movie is chosen will serve as the perfect ending to an amazing week.


This week's Specialty Camp is Kamping Kids. During this week at camp, kids will learn about the environment and how to take care of it. Campers will have fun while learning about how to be safe around fires and other potential dangers. They will be learning about various ecosystems and the critters that inhabit them.  Throughout the week, Kamping Kids will have fun learning about orienteering, or the study of locations using a compass. The Campers will be making posters that demonstrate their knowledge of safety skills. The campers will have have an exciting time on Wednesday, when they will be paddle-boating before having an awesome overnight camp. Kamping Kids is a great experience for campers to awaken the inner outdoorsman within themselves.

Although the summer will soon be coming to an end, we still have two more fun-filled weeks of camp at MVP, and these will be by far the best ones yet. With a whole new week of camp comes a whole new set of games and sports for the Most Valuable Players to take on. On Monday, August 13th, the campers will be playing Disc Golf, a game that is very similar to ordinary Golf, using a frisbee, instead of a ball. Tuesday, the kids will be playing a compilation of various Base Games, where they will be able to play many base-oriented activites, aside from baseball, all in one day! Wednesday will be slightly different than the other days earlier in the summer, because the MVP kids will get the oppurtunity to try Orienteering, otherwise known as Navigating, (or sometimes as Geocaching.) These exercises and activities will be fun, and they will teach them resourceful life skills which are crucial to know. Thursday will be the camper's Field Day, where they will participate in a series of field games, including the egg toss, potato sack races, and maybe even a two-legged relay. On Friday, MVP camp will enjoy an all-camp barbecue at the YMCA, the perfect ending to what will be another great week of camp.

This week, MVP's specialty is Lacrosse Camp. Step by step, the Specialty campers will be learning the essentials of Lacrosse, eventually working their way up to more dificult skills. It will be great to see how far the kids have come after a week of improvement.


Leadership Academy campers started off a brand new week with a trip to the Princeton Public Library, where they engaged in a Myers Briggs Personality Test and learned whether they are extroverts or introverts. Later, campers did another exciting team-building activity called Magic Stones. Campers also worked on making their own colorful posters advertising movie choices for Discovery campers. Leadership will promote a fundraiser to collect school supplies for Christine's Hope For Kids throughout the week, along with other team-building activities. Leadership kids at the Princeton YMCA are approaching the end of summer by helping the community, making a difference in other kids' lives, and having fun!

A Look at Week 7

Campers are sailing through this week and having fun with pirate-themed arts and crafts and activities!

Discovery had a grand old time this week with their theme Ahoy Mates! Campers had an exhilarating time in Arts and Crafts with Ms. Carissa where they made parrots, treasure maps and other things that aaaaaaaargh very cool. The kids had fun playing Ultimate Frisbee and Castleball, a game where the objective is to knock down the opponent's castle made of hula hoops. Campers also got to play fun games like a basketball relay race, and they got to take a day off and go to the beach yesterday. Today, they are having fun playing a treasure hunt made by the Leadership Academy. Tonight, Discovery and MVP camps will have their overnight camp, where they will get to play games and go swimming after hours and after camp closes! Then, tomorrow, the kids will get to race their boats that they have been making all week. It's been an exciting time so far this summer at the Y, and next week, their theme will be The Greatest Movie, where they will get to make their own films. Let's continue to have an awesome time for the rest of camp!

Overnight Camp Schedule

As another marvelous week of camp is coming to a close, MVP campers are continuing to display their sportsmanship to one another in their Tag Day, consisting of an array of tag-like games. Yesterday, they also got to join the rest of the campers at the beach for a great day in the sun. However, these are only minor events compared to what we have in store for them tomorrow. Along with the other campers from Discovery, the MVP kids have been putting the finishing touches on their cardboard boats, preparing for boat day on Friday, where they will race their final products against those of the other teams, and be rated on their speeds, ability to float, and their general design. The most important thing is the speed of the boat, so hopefully it'll be a good race! Though they have been playing a variety of numerous sports throughout the week, it all comes down to this, where the winning team will be crowned. The campers at MVP have focused on respecting each other during games all week, but the main purpose of the lesson is to carry this quality into their lives, where it can be used to the fullest.

With four new campers, Leadership Academy started a new session this week. On Monday, They did a "Getting to Know You" ice breaker and then talked about their ideas on the meaning of leadership. Campers also discussed what type of leader they saw themselves as and along with this exercise, they created their own Time Magazine covers, featuring themselves, to illustrate the type of leaders they are. On Tuesday Leadership campers volunteered at the Presbyterian Church to help with the church's food drive. For Christine's Hope for Kids, Leadership brainstormed ways that people could bring in school supplies for the kids in need. Campers spent a fun day at the beach on Wednesday, which was great opportunity for some team bonding. Throughout the week, to go along with the camp's "Ahoy Mates" theme, Leadership thought of a Pirate scavenger hunt for one of this week's all camp activities. On Thursday, campers are doing a team-building exercise, with ropes and buckets, that require that they use teamwork, which is an important quality of a leader. Later today, they are attending the play "Much Ado About Nothing" at Princeton University's McCarter Theater. This is a great first session and week for Leadership Academy.

Next week, the Y has specialty camps once again! Discovery's specialty camp will be Kamping Kids, our camp returning by popular demand! For this week, campers will get to learn the basics of camping and become close with the great outdoors. At the end of the week, campers will get to participate in an awesome overnight camping adventure! MVP's specialty camp will be Lacrosse Camp, where campers will go in-depth with the basic rules and skills of lacrosse. They've had a great time playing it so far this summer, so we're sure this will be a popular camp!

As always, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@PrincetonYCamps) to stay updated about all of our camps' activities.

Is there anything else that you'd like to see written or posted here? Email us (the social media interns) your suggestions and we'll do our best to accommodate!