As Camp is running a little differently this year the children were able to choose what activities they wanted to do, some chose to do an activity a couple of times while others preferred to try everything that was on offer. 

A popular activity involved avoiding comets (dodgeballs), while one session needed to avoid both the comets and the rain! Lots of children also spent some time learning a dance that saw them travelling to Venus. 

We saw lots of children bring their artistic skills to camp today as they created paper mache planets, alien masks and even giant rocket ships! Make sure you check out our Camp Photo Gallery to see some of the amazing things we have made throughout the day!

We also spent some time putting our Space knowledge to the test as we had our very own Lumen’s Summer Camp Out of This World Quiz! Some children also created their own coded messages to send to outer space and decoded messages from aliens! 

Tomorrow’s theme is Enchanted Forest - as we venture inside what magical creature might we see? Don’t forget to bring a cardboard box for some of our arts and crafts for tomorrow!

The sun was shining beautifully today, so we went outside to make use of Walton Oak’s field to play a variety of games. We put our running skills and speed to the test in Enchanted Forest Dash and crept up on a Gnome to try and steal his treasure hoard. 

The children have been busy in the Arts and Crafts room creating their own enchanted creatures including fire breathing dragons and galloping unicorns. Some children put their creative skills to the test and made their own dragon masks! 

After exploring the enchanted forest some children created their own dream catchers, using feathers and wool - these really do look incredible!

Make sure you follow our Facebook page as we regularly share messages and updates. Today we shared that some of our activities can become a little messy and while we endeavour to have washable paint, aprons and adults supporting all children, sometimes children can come home a little messy. Please can we ask that you send children to camp in clothes that can get a little messy and if you would prefer you are more than welcome to send your child in with an oversized t-shirt that can be used as an apron. We also suggest that jumpers and coats are labelled, so they will be returned at the end of the day.

As we engaged in a whole range of activities today we saw our superheroes take on the villains in a game of Kwik Cricket! We also saw our superheroes challenged in a game of musical superheroes and superhero says! Would you be able to take on the challenge?

Throughout the day, the children were engaged in the arts and crafts activities, making their own superhero cuffs and masks while some children made their own superhero puppets to create their own superhero stories! Some children took to the playground to create their own superhero scene, drawing around their bodies to create a superhero shape and then drawing the city to fly through and protect.

Tomorrow’s theme is Mission Impossible - don’t forget to bring in a Tupperware container!

Finally, did you see our facebook post yesterday? We shared that we would like to have an opportunity for children at camp to play a variety of games and create their own scenes and scenarios. Do you have any board games or construction toys that you would be willing to donate to school? If you do please drop them into camp when you drop off or collect your children (at Walton Oak or via the minibus).

In arts and crafts, children created their very own spy goggles and wristbands, which they were able to use to communicate with other spies to give out secret messages. Whilst some children were getting their gadgets up and running, others were completing their spy training in order to graduate from spy school! They had many different obstacles to overcome and had to work as a team to complete the course. Are you daring enough to give it a go? 

One very popular activity for today was slime making! Children made the most of getting their hands mucky and mixing many different colours to create some gloopy delights. In dance, children moved their bodies to the mission impossible theme tune, following some excellent moves and performing their routines for the rest of Summer Camp to see. 

And finally, for spies to be the best they can possibly be, they need to be able to escape rooms and crack codes as quickly as possible. Children worked together to find the clues, read the muddled messages and figure out the secret word of the day. Thankfully, all of the children involved made it out safely and in time to go home! 

Tomorrow’s theme is Kings and Queens - who do you think will build the best castle?

Thank you so much to those who have already brought in donations - it really is greatly appreciated! If you do still have donations that you haven't been able to drop off, don't worry we are still gladly accepting them!

In big art, the children have worked together to produce a giant cardboard castle, complete with turrets, windows and even a drawbridge. The model, although not quite lifesize, was based off of a real life castle and contains all the features a real one would. 

Out on the field, children have competed in some Royal Hockey - trying to score points for their team. Who do you think won? Do you think a real king or queen has ever played hockey? As well as this, children enjoyed a range of circle games in the hall, including: knights around the table (wink murder) and kings & queens rock, paper, scissors. 

In arts and crafts today, children have worked on their very own crowns and princess hats, styling them in a variety of different ways and choosing lots of different materials to decorate them with. On a much smaller scale but equally as brilliant, children also had the chance to create their own castle collage, using different cut out pieces to put together a picture of a castle. The ideas were creative and imaginative, taking on many different styles from different periods of time. 

Monday’s theme is around the world, which will see us on an awesome adventure to many different countries - who knows where we’ll end up! 

Don’t forget to check out our facebook page for the latest updates and news on camp! 

Happy Friday - here’s to a great weekend.

A favourite activity of Summer Camp is a Scavenger Hunt and today we searched the whole Walton Oak site, including Woody Oakes for a range of flags from countries all over the world. Some children challenged themselves further by matching the flags to a country without any clues! When the rain began to pour over Walton Oak we moved this activity inside and completed a range of crossword puzzles, flag matching quizzes and much more!

Utilising the theme of Around the World we played the world’s most popular sport, football, pitching countries against countries. The children thoroughly enjoyed playing football, bringing all their favourite skills to Summer Camp. 

We also went outside to explore orienteering, as we travel around the world we have to think about navigating ourselves from one place to another. Children challenged themselves to navigate themselves around the course as quickly as possible. 

In the Arts and Crafts room, children have been creating their own globes and hot air balloons to explore our wonderful world! We have also been busy creating paper cut molas, a beautiful style of art from Panama! 

Please remember that this week we have children with severe allergies in camp, we have sent out communication to ensure no pack lunches have no fish or shellfish! We also have children with a severe sesame allergy which can be found in foods such as hummus, buns and cereal bars.

Whilst some children conjured up mysterious potions, using all kinds of gruesome ingredients such as dragon's blood and unicorn tears to make their magical mixtures, others went in search of the perfect wand to be decorated to the needs of each individual witch or wizard. To really make sure they felt prepared, children also made themselves their very own hats and miniature witch and wizard models, racing them with each other across the peculiar skies of Walton Oak! 

In addition to this, children took on a range of challenges in the Wizard relays, competing against each other to win the title and be crowned the number one Wizard. Don’t be fooled, these challenges were far from easy, making even the most fearless of people quiver in fright. Once children had shown their skills in the relays, they could be sorted into different houses in a game of four corners, travelling on their broomsticks to get from one place to another. 

All in all, it really has been a mysterious yet magical day here at Summer Camp. What weird and wonderful spells can you think of?

In arts and crafts, children thoroughly enjoyed making a range of different animal masks, choosing their favourite animal to design - adding tails, whiskers and other key characteristics. We also crafted some split pin creatures, using different shapes and colours of paper to make moveable animals that looked just like real life! 

The rain didn’t stop us from getting our bodies moving today. In the hall, children took on the challenge of becoming different animals and racing against each other to try and get to the food. They swished their tails and hunted their prey before finishing off with a boogie to some funky music. In our specialist dance session, we learnt how to get down with the music to crocodile rock. We worked in small groups or with partners to create our own, imaginative moves whilst also following some super cool choreography. Children were then able to perform their dance to the rest of camp this afternoon. 

Children also looked into different habitats and where certain animals around the world come from. They used various resources to create some very life-like models to show where an animal might live and the kinds of things they would need available to them in order for them to survive. Take a look at some of the photos to see just how incredible these were! 

All in all, it was a great day at camp today!

In today’s big art, we worked together to build a mighty ship that could withstand the roughest of seas and strongest of winds. We ensured that we had our trusty pirate flag attached to let people know exactly who we were. Even the mermaids couldn’t stop us. 

In sport today, the mermaids and pirates challenged each other to a game of mermaid vs pirate tennis. Balls flew through the air as the children showed off their excellent racket skills, a spectacular on court battle. On the field, we enjoyed some target practice, firing cannonballs to different targets, where some were even moving!  

During arts and crafts, children used paper plates to show off their creative skills and design magical mermaids. They used many different colours, designs and patterns to model their tails and long hair. As part of our nature art, we went out exploring in the woods and found different sticks, twigs and leaves to make pirate ships that were ready to set sail into the distance. 

Unfortunately, due to technical issues we have been unable to take any photos. We are looking to get these resolved as soon as possible so that we will be able to share photos of all the amazing things happening at camp with you all. 

Tomorrow is the Lumen Summer Camp Olympics - children better get their running shoes at the ready! 

On the field, children competed in a variety of track and field events which included racing over hurdles, working as a team in relay races and launching javelins into the air amongst other events. For some, competition was at the forefront of their minds as they tried their hardest to beat their friends. For others, it was all about taking part and enjoying all that was on offer. Continuing on with the sport theme, a range of football games took place across the day. With teams set to score as many goals as possible, we saw some amazing ball skills from everyone, with some excellent passes and goals, but also some amazing defending and goal keeping. 

In the hall, children shook their hands to the music as they learnt some super cheerleading routines. They worked together to pull off some amazing moves, doing well to keep in time to the music whilst remembering what move came next. At the end of the day, lots of children put on a spectacular performance for the rest of us to watch. 

No Olympics would be complete without the famous Olympic Torch or a full stadium to cheer on the athletes! In arts and crafts, children created their very own torches and stadiums, putting their own spin on what they thought they should look like. Children also designed their very own medals and laurel crowns that they could wear to show that they had been part of the Lumen Summer Olympics. It was a fantastic day that was enjoyed by everybody! 

We are kicking off next week with a super cool and gruesome theme - Horrible Histories! 

We travelled to Ancient Egypt for one of our crafts and made our very own King Tutankhamun headdresses using a variety of resources. We used this as inspiration to also create our own headdresses inspired by the other pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. For our other craft, we travelled to Medieval times and created our very own shields. Using cardboard to create the structure and making our own designs and patterns on the front, these shields are ready for battle!

Out on the field, we travelled to Ancient Rome and went chariot racing! Using our ingenuity we made our very own chariots in small groups and then raced them around a small track! Many children showed a great deal of perseverance going back to this activity to develop their chariot and ensure it could go further and quicker. Do you think you would be able to take on the challenge?

We also travelled back in time to the origins of Canada, playing the hundreds of years old game of lacrosse. Lots of the children had fun playing a new and different sport. 

A popular activity today involved creating a castle - however unlike many of the castle ruins we still see today, the children were challenged to use sticks and packing peanuts to create their structure. The children were ingenious in the shapes and structures they created. 

Tomorrow one of the most popular themes returns and we hope you are prepared as it is Backwards Day!

Backwards day of course! Today was all things backwards, as we put ourselves into an upside down, Topsy Turvy world. There was lots to explore at camp today, starting with backwards Zebras, where we used lots of vibrant colours to give them a bit of a makeover and a change from their usual black and white stripes. Continuing on with our arts and crafts theme, the children created some portraits of themselves as well as others, taking on an abstract approach to produce some excellent pieces of work. 

Children further showcased their superb creative skills by creating their very own, upside down worlds. There was lots to talk about and plenty of ideas shared amongst campers as they had people walking on the roads and cars driving on the pavements, whilst others turned houses upside down and had bedrooms in the garden! 

Today was another magical dance day in the music studio where children bopped along to the music, showing off their backwards moves as they created a performance to Backwards by Rascal Flatts! 

In the hall, children took it in turns to have a go at shooting hoops backwards through different targets. It was super tricky to try and get the ball on target, but the children worked really hard and showed great perseverance through the whole activity. 

Despite the soggy weather, we still made the most of backwards day in sports and had fun moving around (or not) to the music in a game of backwards musical statues. When the music played, children had to stand still but as it stopped they had to show off their best dance moves! Alongside this, children also played backwards Simon Says and backwards Rhythm Master.

As part of big art, children worked together to create their very own Super Mario Kart, using a variety of resources to model and then paint their spectacular cars. Some worked on the wheels, others took on the interior and the day was finished off with an excellent paint job by the final group of the day. It was certainly ready for the likes of Bowser’s Castle and Rainbow Road!  Another arts and crafts activity that the children took part in was creating their own Super Mario characters, some children used the original characters while other children used their imaginations to invent their own characters. 

Using Super Mario skills the children took part in an obstacle course, pretending they were in a Super Mario game - who wouldn’t want to take part in this activity? The children also immersed themselves in the Super Mario world by playing dodgeballs, pretending the balls were the ominous turtle shells. Another physical activity that the children took part in was curling; we created a Summer Camp Rainbow Road to battle out and see who would remain victorious by avoiding turtle shells, bananas and Bowser. 

What a wonderful day we have had as we entered into the magical world of Mario!  Tomorrow, we will be venturing into the Wild Wild West as we travel back in time to practise our sheriffing!

During our sports session we played games that involved collecting gold and going up against different teams to see who could collect the most. The cowboys worked together to complete a number of set tasks in the time given and without the sheriffs catching them - not an easy feat when up against the best sheriffs in town! 

For one activity we developed our cowboy skills by lassoing 'tennis balls' with small hoops, practising our aim of tin cans and panning for gold. We ventured down to Woody Oakes and using our frontier skills panned for small pieces of this precious metal, many of us struck gold and found small pieces!

As part of our arts and crafts session today, children went about creating their own wanted posters to help catch some on the run criminals, cowboy hats that they could show off around camp today, and sheriff’s badges to show they really meant business! It was great to see such a wonderful variety of craft. 

We all had a great deal of fun learning some country dancing moves in our performing arts workshop and we also played the part of cowboys and cowgirls in a fun circle game. 

In the hall, the children had the opportunity to work with one of Lumen’s dance teachers to practise their routines and to learn new and exciting moves. There was also an opportunity to practise circus skills, from gymnastics to juggling out on the field. Many of the children used this as an opportunity to really develop their performance ready for the talent show later in the day. Out on the MUGAS, children let their hair down as they took an opportunity to practise their sports skills by taking part in a variety of workshops. We had football, tennis, rounders and lacrosse all running as mini sessions throughout the day. There was some serious talent as children spent time showing us how awesome their skills are!

In our Arts & Crafts session, many of us created microphones to help our voices spread loud and clear, which again were used in our performances in the talent show. We also crafted our very own bunting and signs to cheer on fellow campers as they sashayed about the stage.

It has been a fantastic end to our 2023 Summer Camp, and we want to take a moment to thank you all for coming along throughout the last three weeks. We wish you all a lovely summer and look forward to seeing you next year. For our children heading off to Secondary school in September we wish you all the best and don't forget you can still come to Camp as an Assister next year!