CRESTLINE — School is out for summer break, but many Crawford County children are still learning and doing so in an interactive, and sometimes muddy, way.
The Crawford Park District began the 2019 edition of its summer nature camp at Lowe-Volk Park on June 10 and will continue them into August. Each session is one week long and is broken up into weeks for age groups for 5 and 6 year olds, 7 to 9 year olds and 10 to 12 year olds.
According to Crawford Park District Naturalist Abby Ditomassi, the goal of the camp is to simply get kids out into nature.
“A lot of these kids may not have woods or wetlands or ponds to go to every day, so we want to expose them to the natural world,” she said. “We also want to have fun and learn while doing it.”
At times, that fun includes getting wet and muddy.
While the most recent camp has the chance to enjoy the sunshine, previous camps had to endure rainy conditions. But that did not stop operations.
“Honestly, if it’s not storming, we’ll go out in the rain. (Last week) we were out in the rain, getting wet. We always encourage people to dress for the weather,” Ditomassi said. “We actually avoided most of the rain last week, but it was muddy out in the park.”
She said that was just fine in the opinions of the 7- to 9-year-old campers.
Ditomassi said every year’s camp has a theme, with 2019’s being snakes. She said a child or the child’s parent being afraid of snakes may keep them from learning how the creature affects the environment without the encouragement of the nature center and the camp.
She added the shirts and hats for the campers are snake themed, and the campers get to hold the snakes at the center to better acquaint them with the reptile.
While some activities, such as the animal meet and greets, are appropriate for all age groups, Ditomassi said there are a few activities for the older age groups only, such as canoeing, fishing and archery. She said the 5- and 6-year-old campers also only attend the camp from 9 a.m. to noon instead of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. like the older age groups.
Despite having eight weeks of camp for the different age groups, there typically is not room for all who try to register. Registration begins March 1 and traditionally fills up quickly.
“We filled up for this year’s camp by the third day,” Ditomassi said. “I don’t think we even completed a third 24-hour cycle.”
She encourages those who were unable to register for the nature camp to take advantage of the multiple other events the park district hosts. Events include animal extravaganzas, nature at night hikes, night sky viewings, canoeing, archery and more.
More information and a complete list of events may be found on The Crawford Park District website.