By Lisa Carolin
Going back to school can be a tough transition for kids, but the transition from school to summer camp is usually seamless. That was in evidence at Chelsea Community Education’s Camp Gabika, which kicked off its third summer season on June 20.
Dozens of kids and counselors began the day with gardening followed by a vigorous game of scatterball. Then after a short talk about finding art materials in nature, campers took a walk to collect those materials and then turned them into works of art.
“Only gather what you can carry,” instructed camp counselor Krista Bradley. “I don’t want any live creatures coming in.”
Every week of the camp has a theme, and week one it was “Out and about.” Every Friday the camp offers a field trip that connects to the theme, and the first Friday it was a trip to Sky Zone Trampoline Park in Canton.
Bradley enjoys being a counselor because, “I love being with kids and enjoy exercise and being outdoors.”
Abi Shott, a counselor and co-director of the camp says, “I love working with kids and the camp is so much fun.”
Camper Drake Baldwin, 9, says his favorite activity is playing scatterball.
“I like seeing my friends and the snacks,” said Zoë Hammig, 11.
GABIKA stands for Girls and Boys in Kool Adventures and the camp is open to kids ages 5-12.
Andrew Thomson, adult/youth enrichment coordinator for Community Education in Chelsea, says that the camp offers “a safe, fun place to be during the day. Because we have such a broad variety of activities and events we engage in every day, we keep the campers engaged and busy all day, while providing a service that parents believe is a value.”
Camp Gabika runs through Aug. 26.
