Education


A Peek at Camp Gardner 2017

Education | July 10, 2017
camp gardner graphic

If we were to take a poll, summer could easily win for a child’s favorite season of the year. Summertime brings family vacations, outdoor play, and fun summer treats. At Camp Gardner, preschoolers get the opportunity to continue The Gardner School’s fun, educational programs they experience throughout the traditional school year, but through an even more hands-on, academically-focused 10-week program. Learning takes on a more relaxed, summer camp environment. With creative weekly themes, visitors from the community, and exciting outdoor activities, every day is an adventure at Camp Gardner. Here’s a peek at some of the Camp Gardner fun across our schools.

Themed Learning

Each year, Camp Gardner takes on a new theme, in which all activities are centered around. This year, the Camp Gardner theme is “Happy Camper.” During the ten weeks of camp, students will explore activities inside and outside of the classroom that are inspired by the “Happy Camper” theme.

  • Let’s Go Camping—Students get a glimpse into camping-related activities
  • Wild Things—Focuses on animals and wildlife that one might see while camping
  • All-American Fun—Takes on an American, patriotic approach to the camping experience
  • Under the Boardwalk—Highlights water-related camping experiences
  • Fly Me to the Moon—Sheds a light on camping at night
  • All You Need is Love—Drives home the overall theme in ways that help students appreciate the quality time and service-focused elements involved in camping

A distinguishing factor of Camp Gardner is that each day’s adventure is focused on STEAM (Science, TechnologyEngineering, Art, and Math) learning concepts. These activities are carefully coordinated along with the weekly themes with a healthy balance of educational topics. From craft projects to learning stations to the creative classroom décor, the “Happy Camper” theme is front and center all throughout the school facility.

Fun Attire

The themed Camp Gardner fun also gets incorporated into the summer dress code. While older students wear uniforms throughout the traditional school year, Camp Gardner has a more casual dress code, as students wear their Camp Gardner t-shirts on Fridays and special dress up days take place at certain times of the week that correlate with the weekly themes.

Outdoor Play and Learning

Outdoor play is an important part of the learning experience, especially during Camp Gardner. This year’s “Happy Camper” theme was the perfect fit for taking some of the Camp Gardner learning outdoors. Students not only get to explore the outdoors during a time of recreation, but they also learn about outdoor life, the set-up of a campsite or picnic, and water-related activities that go along with the theme.

Special Visitors

A major highlight of Camp Gardner is special visits from community members such as firefighters, police officers, and local zookeepers, just to name a few. With the “Happy Camper” theme, preschoolers have been wowed with wonder through various hands-on presentations. Some presentations have been from local zoos that bring exotic animals that the students get the opportunity to touch and see up-close, local scientists who have performed mind-boggling experiments along with the kids, musicians who have serenaded the students and staff with special campfire melodies, and so much more.

Summer Treats

Our “happy campers” also look forward to Camp Gardner’s delicious summer treats. Starting with special camp kick-off events, students and their families enjoyed a taste of the fun to come through “Happy Camper” themed snacks that have continued throughout the summer. Several schools have partnered with local food vendors to bring along tasty summer treats like sno-cones, popsicles, and ice cream during specific times during Camp Gardner. Our school chefs also incorporate some of the camp themes into daily meals that our students look forward to each week.

All these reasons and more are why Camp Gardner is one of our favorite times of the year. If you’re looking to continue to the camping fun at home, here’s our list of camping ideas and fun tips you can do together as a family this summer. Our world has so much to explore, so don’t miss the opportunities for new adventures all around you!

four camp gardner preschoolers on a playground

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