The Souris Valley Museum has already started the in-person summer camp season but they are still accepting registrations for July and August programs.
The first camp, School's Out, saw kids celebrating the end of the school year, playing and doing crafts at the museum last week. After having a year of virtual programming, executive director Mark Veneziano said they are looking forward to seeing their patrons in person more this summer.
"The museum is really excited that we're able to offer our summer camps in person this year. We were grateful for those who took part in our virtual camps last year. And we're really, really excited to have in-person camps this year, allowing kids to come out and socialize in a safe environment, play games, make some crafts and learn a little bit about the history as well.
"Our goal here is to make history fun for the kids to really enjoy and learn," Veneziano said.
The museum has a jam-packed summer with eight weeks of camps of different themes and for different ages. Programming is suitable for children ages three to 15. The first camp started on June 29, and the programs will continue throughout the rest of the summer.
The registration for the remaining camps is still open through their website at sourisvalleymuseum.ca or over the phone. Currently, the groups go as big as six to eight participants.
Camps are filling quickly, but if some people are interested in something and it isn't available online, parents are encouraged to call the museum to check if they can already accept more students.
"We encourage everyone to give us a call and we can maybe put them in later on."
The second camp took place July 5-7. It's called Little Time Traveller and allowed younger participants to check out the museum's time machine and learn about the past of the region. Another analogical camp will be offered August 3-5.
Wild Wild West Camp for kids ages six to 10 started on Monday as well and will have participants learning about the challenges that pioneers faced daily. A similar camp will be offered again Aug. 3-6.
July 12-16 and Aug. 9-13, the Rock'n'Roll camp will send students ages six to 10 on a musical trip through time and genres. July 12-16, the museum offers Camp Rewind, another program for six to 10-year-old kids that will allow participants to put life on pause and rewind as this camp is for those who are interested in how things were done in the past.
This season the museum offers a good mix of popular programs and new products.
"Kids love dinosaurs, so we have actually introduced two new camps based around dinosaurs, which are Paleontology Camp Junior and Paleontology Camp Senior. So they're going to be learning about dinosaurs and what a paleontologist does."
"We have some brand new camps as well as some old camps resurfacing. A few years ago, we did offer Rock and Roll camp. It is back for the summer actually by popular demand, a lot of people were asking about it. So we are going to be rocking through the ages and decades in this camp. That one is always a fun one," Veneziano said.
Paleontologist Camp Senior will take place July 19-23 and Aug. 16-20, and will see kids ages eight-12 participating, and the similar camp for juniors is for kids ages five to eight and is scheduled for July 26-30 and Aug. 23-27.
On July 19-23 or August 9-13, Wizards and Warlocks camp will see children ages six-10 learning about wizards, witches, and warlocks from old tales. On July 26-30 and Aug. 23-27, the museum will offer an I have a Green Thumb program for kids ages six-10, where students will learn about the value of gardening and gardening practices of pioneers.
Moving Through History camp for students ages nine to 15 is scheduled for Aug. 19-20. It will allow campers to move through history by learning about how people travelled either by walking, boating or driving. Campers will have a chance to learn about the vehicles in the museum's collection and to create the car of the future.
All camps assume a good mixture of games, crafts and learning through indoor and outdoor activities. Instead of using the activity room, the museum now has camp participants using the main area of the museum to allow for better spacing to ensure that everyone's safe.
"It's going to be a really fun, fun summer," Veneziano promised.
