Lots of summer camp options in the Southeast

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This article was published 05/04/2024 (395 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New this year to the summer camp roster is the RM of Hanover which is providing five weeks of fun themed activities.

“There are so many other surrounding towns and communities that do summer camps and we wanted to bring summer camps to the communities of Hanover, to give them an opportunity to have it within their own town,” said Tayleigh Giesbrecht, recreation programmer.

Every LUD in the RM will have a different theme with different activities that range from arts and crafts to science experiments to learning about nature. The cost is $150 per week and children are asked to bring their own lunches and water bottles. The camps will run Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To register visit www.hanovermb.ca/p/recreation-1 or call 204-326-4488 or email rec@hanovermb.ca. Registration opens April 23. Dates for each camp are as follows: Mitchell July 15 to 19; Kleefeld July 22 to 26; Blumenort July 29 to Aug. 2; New Bothwell Aug. 12 to 16; and Grunthal Aug. 19 to 23.

For more information refer to the RM’s social media or call the RM office at 204-326-4488.

Steinbach Arts Council

The Steinbach Arts Council is once again bringing back its summer arts day camps where children can make art, cook, dance, and act with a different theme every week.

“We have some new themes that we’re trying out this year,” said Camila Funes-Giesbrecht, assistant arts instructor coordinator. “We have the holiday camp that’s new that we’re trying out for the summer. Basically, what this themed week will entail is that every day assistant directors and directors will have a theme of a holiday so one day it can be Christmas and the next day it’ll be Valentine’s Day and the next day St. Patrick’s Day. Fitting in a whole bunch of holidays into four days. They’ll do activities based on those holidays and those themes.”

A theme that is coming back this year is the Wild West. Funes-Giesbrecht said it was brought back with a fresh new take. She said theme weeks are a chance to get kids to do something different every week.

Last summer, more than 250 kids attended the camps. There’s a cap of 20 kids per week but more spaces can become available based on demand. Registration opened April 2. The camps run from July 2 to August 9 for ages five to 12. The fee is $150 a week plus a SAC membership. To register visit steinbacharts.ca/sadc/.

For parents who have trouble affording the fee, they can apply for SAC’s Steinbach Dodge Creative Kids Bursary.

RM of La Broquerie

La Broquerie will hold camps from July 8 to Aug. 30 at the HyLife Centre.

“We’ll have different themes each week. Like art week, sports week, outdoor adventure week, kids in the kitchen week. We’re doing a holiday themed week – a Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween…there’ll be eight different themes,” said Ian Dickey, leader services program lead.

The themes will also have guest instructors. Last year, for sports week, the RM had guests from Athletics Manitoba, Island Breeze, and local rugby, soccer, and basketball teams come and teach the kids.

Each child will have to bring their own lunch, snacks, and water. It costs $100 for the week. The camp runs from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The RM is currently looking at offering an early drop off and late pick up to accommodate parents that are working. To register visit www.labroquerie.com/p/leisure-registration. Registration opens July 2.

If anyone has any questions, they can email Dickey at lsprograms@rmlabroquerie.ca or call 204-424-5251.

Town of Niverville

Every year, the Town of Niverville hosts summer camp and this year they’re visiting Harry Potter.

“We’ve added the school of wizardry which is going to be a lot of fun with wand making and potions and a field version of quidditch. I had a lot of fun planning them. As well, we’ve taken one of our camps which is about creation and turned it into more of a drama and theatre camp so we can look forward to a camp specific to that this year as well,” said Teresa Mistelbacher, supervisor of camps and recreation programming.

About 300 kids aged three to 13 come to the nine weeks of camps in Niverville. Mistelbacher will bring in special guests and field trips to make it a memorable camp experience. She said popular camps such as the culinary camp, girls and boys adventure camp, and science and space camp will be back again this year.

The town has a resident price of $200 per week of camp and a non-resident price of $250. Camps for children aged six to 13 run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with after hours care provided for a fee. And camps for children aged three to six run from 9 a.m. to noon. Children are asked to bring their own lunch and snacks and water and to dress for the weather.

To register visit online at nivervillerec.ca/programs/childrens-camps/summer-camps/ registration opened March 1. For questions about the camps or for help in registering, email recreation@whereyoubelong.ca. The camps will run from July 2 to Aug. 30.

Mennonite Heritage Village

For campers looking for a pioneer experience, look no further than the summer camps at MHV.

“Spending time outdoors and learning about some of the pioneers’ skills that the community was built on is something that’s really special,” said Robert Goertzen, program manager.

Camps will run from July 8 to 12 for ages five to seven; July 15 to 19 for ages eight to 10; July 22 to 26 for ages 11 to 14, which is an apprenticeship camp; August 12 to 23 for ages seven to 11.

“The apprenticeship camp is for older campers who would like to get extra opportunities to explore and develop their heritage skills whether it’s blacksmithing or working in the windmill or learning more about the baking or things like that. It’s a bit more skills learning than just exposure to various activities. It’s a great camp for anyone in that age category or middle school years,” said Goertzen.

Campers will also interact with the animals on site, playing games, and doing crafts.

Camp will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Children will need to bring their own lunch, but snacks and beverages will be provided by MHV.

The cost for members is $148.50 per child while non-members pay $165. Registration is now open and payments must be received by June 28. To register visit mennoniteheritagevillage.com/summer-day-camp-registration/. For more information, email Shaquel at shaquelz@mhv.ca.