For most, the start of June marks the onset of summer weather and, of course, the end of the school year. For those in Ledyard this also means the beginning of the summer camp programs offered by Ledyard Parks and Recreation.
Most towns in the area offer some type of a summer camp program, and many offer the obligatory sports programs, from football and basketball to soccer. Ledyard Parks and Recreation, however, goes far beyond the norm and offers a huge array of programs from sports to science and even performing arts.
With summer program registration beginning Thursday, June 5, from 5 to 8 p.m., Ledyard Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Kim Lavigueur said one of the more popular summer programs is the playground program, which runs daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from June 23 to Aug. 8. Program participants are split into three age groups of 4 to 6, 7 to 9, and 10 to 14, and will take part in a variety of activities including arts and crafts, games, sports, water days, talent shows, and field trips each week.
“The preschool playground program usually fills up,” Lavigueur said. “In years past we offered it as a half-day program, but at the end of last year we ran a trial program and ran it all day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and we had good feedback so that’s what it will be this year. So that will probably fill up quickly, but that is a mail-in registration and we choose participants like a lottery. We used to have a line of people around the building waiting to sign up for that.”
Lavigueur said another popular program that was first offered last summer is the U.S. Sports Multi-Sports Camp and the U.S. Sports Squirts Camp. For kids ranging from age 5 to 14, the program offers an introduction to and instruction in more than 15 sports including baseball, basketball, football, netball, handball, rugby, soccer, and volleyball. In addition to instruction participants will also get to experience each sport in a real-game-time situation.
For those more interested in focusing on a specific sport, Lavigueur said Parks and Rec. is also offering a variety of sports camps and clinics, including swimming classes (toddler to age 6 and older), horseback riding lessons, the Pete Vincent Basketball Clinic, soccer camp, the Ledyard Soccer Club, Ledyard youth football, golf, tennis, track and field, and even pole vault.
However, if sports are not on your agenda, Lavigueur pointed out that there are a number of unique summer programs, including a performance arts camp, a plethora of Mad Science camps, and two new programs: Lego engineering camps and a detective camp called Camp Scene Investigators.
The Lego camps are split into two age groups, 5- to 6-year-olds and 7- to 9-year-olds. Designed for everyone from novices to “Lego Maniacs,” this program explores basic design to concepts of physics and engineering and is described as a hands-on and minds-on camp.
Camp Scene Investigators, or “CSI” as Lavigueur referred to it, offers a fun and involved program for kids in grades six through eight.
“CSI is a new one for us,” Lavigueur explained. “It’s done by a group we’ve never worked with before, Community Camps, Inc., but it sounded very interesting to me so I thought we’d give it a try. It’s for a little bit of an older age group which is nice because we don’t have a whole lot for the older kids.”
With more than 400 annual participants in just the playground programs alone, Lavigueur said she anticipates a very busy summer for the Ledyard Parks and Rec. Department.
For more information, visit www.ledyardrec.org or call Ledyard Parks and Recreation at 464-9112.