No lazy days allowed
Joshua Sowell, 6, pushed the paint-covered football stamp hard onto what would become a "do-rag" for his father for Father's Day.
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A pupil paints ceramic pieces for a wind chime during summer camp at Arts a Way.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
"Perfect. Perfect. Perfect," said Joshua, a rising first-grader at Stevens Creek Elementary School, after picking up the stamp to reveal an image of a football on the cloth at an art summer day camp Friday at Arts a Way on Furys Ferry Road. "I'm going to make one for me and one for my Dad so we can look like twins."
With nearly two months of summer until school starts back, Columbia County children have lots of options to better themselves and have fun at summer day camps throughout the county.
Jessalyn Pearson, 12, said she's no artist but wanted to explore something new at day camp instead of the gymnastics camp she normally attends.
"I can't draw, but I like to do art," said Jessalyn, a rising Lakeside Middle School seventh-grader. "I like working with clay"
At Arts a Way camp, Jessalyn has made wind chimes, fruit bowls and sculptures from clay and learned about famous artists.
"I didn't know the clay ones would be so popular," said Mary Morris, the owner of the store Arts a Way, who had a full calendar of events planned for the 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. campers through July. The daily camp, which is closed July 4-8, offers children a variety of projects from ceramics and sculpting to painting and ending with a publicly displayed art exhibit of their works.
Julianna Wren (left), 8, and Elizabeth Morris, 11, work on ceramic wind chimes at the summer camp at Arts a Way on Furys Ferry Road.There are several camps children and parents can choose from this summer, ranging from arts and crafts to social skills to gymnastics.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Children have choices in summer camps that range from the artistic to the theatrical to the athletic.
Teresa Belchyk, a special education teacher at Evans Middle School, has combined her years of experience and knowledge into a Social Skills Camp for young people who have problems with social situations.
"Social behavior is not easy for everyone," Belchyk said, adding that her camp helps children from ages 6 to 16 who are normally dubbed shy. The camp, she said, helps them deal with situations from politely declining a second helping at dinner to asking to borrow a pencil.
Belchyk uses acting and role-playing techniques in the camp to draw her students toward better communication and social skills.
"It's all about personal growth," Belchyk said. "It's fun to them. We laugh a lot."
The camp is offered in weeklong, two-hour-a-day sessions through July 15.
The summer also brings with it camps designed for gymnasts. Chris Skinner, the director of Gymnastics Gold's Camp Flip Flop, said no gymnastics experience is needed to enjoy the camp, which has a different theme each week.
Children watch the ball carefully during a game of dodge ball at Gymnastics Gold during the summer camp program. Gymnastics is a focus of Camp Flip Flop.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
"They just come and play," Skinner said while watching young campers catapult off a spring board with a flipping or twisting trick into a pool of foam. Skinner said campers get to enjoy rotations on all the gymnastics apparatus including balance beam and vault, before partaking in the camp's special day events such as crafts, movies or swimming.
The themed weeks, which extend through July, include Sports Week, Survivor/Fear Factor Week, Olympic Week and Beach Week, Skinner said.
Columbia county camp offerings include:
- Arts a Way
For: Ages 5-15
When: Camp runs through July 29, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Arts a Way, 231 Furys Ferry Road, Suite 204
Cost: $150 per week; $30 per day. Cost includes lunch.
Contact: 855-1432
- Social Skills Champ Camp
For: Ages 6-16
When: June 27-July 1, July 11-15, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.
Where: The Ballroom Dance Center, 525 Grand Slam Dr.
Cost: $70 per week
Contact: 631-9633 or socialskillscoach@yahoo.com
- Gymnastics Gold Camp Flip Flop
For: Ages 4 and up
When: Camp runs through July 29, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where: Gymnastics Gold, 124 Cedar Lane (behind Dollar General in Martinez)
Cost: $85/week, $25 per day
Contact: 650-2111 or www.gymnasticsgold.com
For more camp listings, go to http://newstimes.augusta.com/stories/050105/new_4017786.shtml