District Summer Day / Twilight Camps

Scout Day Camps

     There are so many different Scout camps out there. You have your big camp sites that are there year round. You have your pack camps, like in Fall and Spring. AND you have your summer day or twilight camps.

     I would suggest that all scouts be put in your local District Summer Day Camp. I did it last year for my son and he loved it. 4 days of Summer fun scout activities. You know, my son is very outgoing ( insert sarcasm here)! Who am I kidding, I have tried all kinds of sports and he hates it all. His obsessions consist of  You Tube Gamers. He will sit for hours, if I let him, watching people play video games on the net. It's aggravating and a little unsettling. So Day Camp was a must, just to get him out of his room. The plus side was that he loved it and couldn't wait to go again. 

     In the summer of 2016, we had the Western Day Camp. The summer of 2017 was Safari Day Camp.This year, 2018, is going to be Passport to Adventures. 

     So, I wanted to blog a little to give new scout parents an idea of what Day Camp is like. For most of you, you will drop off your child in the morning and pick him up in the afternoon for Day camp. Or drop him off around 3pm and pick him up again around 8pm for Twilight Camp.I cant give you exact times since all districts have different start times and end time. But it felt like 9-2 or something for us during the day. Your child will get a shirt that he HAS to wear everyday, for 4 days. And let me tell you, when you pick them up, they will be sweaty, dirty and hungry. I live in Texas and the summers are HOT, HOT, HOT here! So, yes, sweat was a big factor. But when we got home, I would start a load of laundry, throwing in the offensive, smelly T-Shirt, socks and whatever else he wore that day, that way he would smell like Ocean Breeze and Bounce for his mornings/ afternoons at camp the next day. That was probably the ONLY downside I had. 

     So, remember when I said that most of you will just drop off your child/children?For my 1st year,  I was a lucky volunteer at our Summer Day Camp, meaning I taught several classes of wolf scouts about "AIR of Wolf". It was a blast! ( I also had to throw my clothes in the laundry everyday too!) The district provided everything for our classes, including a schedule of what I was doing everyday. I had kids that were quiet, shy, loud, inquisitive ( my fave), and I even had some that would act like they didn't want to be there, until I busted out my craft/experiment for the day. Sorry, getting off subject.
    My next year, I signed up for a den leader. Den leaders need wagons, so I went out and bought one from Academy for $50. I decorated it like a jungle/safari theme. We want the kids excited about coming!. I also made each kid a necklace out of wood, with our theme on the front and their name on the back. And at the end of camp, I made each kid an award out of wood, that I thought they deserved. Like most athletic, most enthusiastic, bear-tastic, ect. They loved it.I also took pictures of the kids all day, I would put each kids pic into a photo collage with the date and send them to their parents. That way they knew what their children were doing all day.

     So why do I say that Summer Day Camp is awesome for all our scouts and their siblings?

1. We typically work on 2 of the electives that are in your scouts new handbook. In the past, we had wolves working on Finding you way and Air of Wolf. Bears last year worked on Balloo the builder, Marble Madness, whittling badge, and Make it Move.  Webelos made their own camp chairs that folded up one year and a side table the next. These kids spent 4 days working on them, it was so cool. Others painted a fence board like them in their Boy Scout uniforms, that they turned into a post.  It was helping them advance in their ranking and the kids had fun.
2. Kids had sports class and obstacle courses built with wood and ropes, so a lot of physical activities. They also had bows and arrows and BB guns were for Webelos .  The instructors keep track of bulls-eye and mark the kid's shirts for each one. Gives the kids a sense of practice makes perfect. Also, at our camp, the kids received beads for any accomplishment they did, be it answering a question right, or helping to pull the dens wagon. My son came home with a whole string of beads that he has proudly displayed next to his 1st place Derby medal. 
3. Get patches! My son loves his patches. He received one for marksmanship, he got the shooting sports patch and one for day camp.Those along with his Best wagon puller ribbon, his best buddy ribbon, his bear-tastic award and his beads are all proudly displayed. 
4. There is plenty of water breaks, bathroom breaks, and someone came around with Popsicles multiple times a day. So hydration was a big thing and the kids got rewarded for it.
5. They make friends with kids their ages, in their rank. My son would come home telling me about what so and so did, or how this kid was awesome in what they did.
6. Your kids will Love-it!

And for any Cubmasters out there, think of using the Day Camp as a incentive for popcorn sales. Our pack has it to where if you sell $600 in popcorn sales, they pay for his Day Camp. Or for coupon books, make it 1st place gets to go to camp free. Parents will work a little harder getting the kids selling, so that they don't have to pay for camp. Meaning more sales/money for your pack!

And Parents, I know that in our area, the camp registrations start in March. You can find the registration on your Area Council's website, with dates and times. Have Fun!

Here are some pictures, hopefully these will help: