Our first week of camp is nearly complete, the time has just flown by! We were overjoyed when the campers arrived and moved into their cabins. We have four cabins this session and each has brought something special to our camp community. New friendships have been blossoming all over camp, the hammocks are alive with giggles every rest hour and the partner jumps off the dive tower are incredible!
In a typical camp fashion, we have explored a multitude of activities this week. Swimming has been a highlight, the lake is incredibly warm! Whether it’s an early bird swim or a morning swim practice, the campers have been eager to improve their technique and grow as active individuals. Every cabin has also participated in a canoeing lesson. Our older campers have practised steering the boats and have successfully completed the canoe over canoe rescue skill. Our younger campers assisted the counsellors in paddling for the swimmers during one of our early bird sessions. Other highlights include volleyball practice, the tennis tournament, and water polo!
On Sunday we held the Colour Run! The campers warmed up with a groovy dance party then tied up their shoelaces and headed out on the course! They ran five kilometres and were splashed with colour every kilometre. After the run, we all ran down and jumped in the lake to cool off and wash off all the colour! That evening we refuelled at our first cookout of the summer. Our amazing chef Samson, barbecued burgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers and the campers enjoyed eating outdoors on the field. We concluded the day with a campfire. The sing songs were incredible and the campfire cake was the perfect way to wrap up a perfect day.
This Monday we held our first-ever Mindful Monday event! Head staff introduced the topic of mindfulness to the campers and explained that the programming would allow for them to choose between activities centred around well being and mindfulness practices. Some of the campers chose to go on a nature walk where they practised engaging with their senses and talked about strategies to help ground themselves in the present moment. The girls finished their nature walk with a nature-based meditation practice. Another option was to attend yoga! The girls were offered a faster-paced Flow class and a more relaxed Yin practice. It was a very zen day here at Ak-o-mak.
On Tuesday we had a bit of rainy weather which gave the campers the perfect opportunity to create their cabin lip-sync dances. The performances were very entertaining and well-coordinated! The girls also had the option to swim in the rain or head to the pavilion for strength training. It was awesome to see part of the group swimming and singing in the rain and equally amazing to see the strength of the other part of the group as they completed a challenging dryland workout!
What an amazing first week of camp! We can hardly wait for all the fun events to come.