Running a camp for children during a Phoenix summer is no easy task. Many of the activities normally available to children during summer months are off limits. Due to excessive heat and sun, they can’t spend long days involved in the kind of outdoor activities many of us did in our childhood. When I was a kid, we played outside all day, from morning till evening. Early in the day we’d play freely in a field adjacent to our house, then head off on our bikes to the swimming pool until it closed for a dinner break. After dinner we went back outside to chase fireflies in our back yard as the stars came out.
So far this summer, we’ve been able to manage our days with the heat. Children have time in the morning before 9:00 to play outside when it’s cooler. Our new shade screen system has helped immensely as the sun travels across the sky. The toddlers now have a new little sand box with moveable umbrellas to offer them shade as they dig in the sand. Older children have access to water as they play with sand and mud under the sand circle shade structure.
A long standing summer camp tradition is Friday morning water play day. Toddlers have their own setup with shallow splash pads, bubbles, and water tables full of toys. Preschool and elementary students have a multitude of options on the big playground. For example, we have a new piece of equipment that has a set of metal racks with plastic half-tubes that can be arranged in different configurations that allows water to flow from one to the next, somewhat like a marble run. There are small sprinklers set up in various parts of the grass for children to get as wet as they want. A new addition this year is a collection of large cardboard boxes that children can paint with liquid watercolors if they choose to engage in less water-immersive activities. And of course, there is an option to run, splash, and slather mud on their bodies for those who prefer a more full-on approach. Kids of all ages enjoy this time outside.
One of my favorite parts of these summer days is the warmth I see amidst friends who were once younger Seedlings, and now have returned for a few weeks of being with old friends. Friendships that began as preschoolers are still flourishing. They are taller and more worldly, as they exchange stories of their recent schools. Yet they also still hold the essence of the young children they were who once co-created imaginary worlds with friends under the shade trees on the Seed playground.
Some who return are slightly older, often fully in the throes of adolescence. These are our summer interns, the 12-15-year-olds, who come to gain experience working with children. They inhabit the in-between world of being more than a student, yet still learning how to be a teacher. It’s so interesting to see which children come back as interns, and how they offer themselves to the younger students with whom they work. On occasion an intern will eventually become a staff member, which is the case for two of this year’s summer employees.
It’s easy to focus on how hot it is during the summer. I find that when I think about how hot it is too much, it spirals into a non-productive cycle. Instead, I try to be an example for others of looking for ways we can celebrate these summer days, high temperatures and all. We continue to seek ways to protect our students from the sun’s heat, yet give them opportunities to still have the freedom of being a child. It’s a constant dance of making the best of these summer days.