Exercise your brain this summer
If your kids have an appetite for learning, try sending them to mini-university camps for the summer.
Mini-u camps can give kids a taste of education yet to come and the various career and recreation opportunities life has to offer.
At SAIT, camps take their cue from actual course offerings. This summer, there are seven new camps for a total of 35, for kids age four to 12.
“Some of the new ones we have are outdoor survival and first aid, where kids learn CPR, first aid and how to use a defibrillator,” says Greg Michaud, dean of the Centre for Academic Learner Services at SAIT.
Kids can also learn how to become entrepreneurs with Perfectly Pets, which helps them start their
own pet-care business. There’s a jewelry-making camp, a robotics camp, and Dramatic Kids, which helps kids build self-confidence and creates presentation skills, Michaud says.
“We take some of the skills we’re teaching at SAIT and put them in a context that young people will have fun with,” he says. “So, they’re learning a practical skill and having fun in the process.”
SAIT also offers free before and after camp care, available to parents who may have difficulty scheduling morning drop-offs and pickups.
SAIT also offers bursaries for families who can’t afford to send their kids to summer camp. These types of camps balance learning with fun, says Nicole Carrington, lead supervisor at MRU Kids. This summer, you can enrol your child in Mount Royal’s Conocophillips Youth Science Academy for some serious brain food. The day camp covers four subjects including biology, chemistry, engineering and physics, taught by university-level teachers majoring in those subjects. Your mini-scientist will design a roller coaster, build a bridge, combust gummy bears and extract caffeine
from tea, Carrington says. “It’s very hands-on,” she explains. “We like to engage our campers and it’s really good for those kids who want to pursue science when they go to university.” Mount Royal offers 17 other summer camps, which run for nine weeks starting July 3 and ending Aug. 31. The new Leaders in Training camp is for 15- to 17-year-olds, and teaches teens a variety of skills including leadership training, volunteerism, university life, resume building and public speaking. MRU Kids camps are unique in that they have a curriculum, learning outcomes and directives like university courses, Carrington says.
“While we have a curriculum, we also make the camps lots of fun, engaging and hands-on,” she says. “But it is educational, because we want kids, even if they’re off for the summer to have active minds and bodies so when they go back to school they’re ready to go back.” Keeping those busy minds active
over the lazy, hazy days of summer can be a challenge, but not at the University of Calgary. The university offers mini-university camps each summer, teaching kids science, arts, sports and film-making. Camps are varied, with built-in grade specific Alberta Learning curricular objectives, physical activity and fun.