What To Expect
THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE SUMMER CAMP SPECIFIC:
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PARTNERING WITH PARENTS ZOOM CALL
Two weeks before the start of summer camp, we will host a family orientation zoom for returning and new families. You will receive a text or email with the exact time and date but expect it to be around Mid-May in the evening. In this meeting we will review our camp expectations and general policies, announce our theme of the summer, and share all the new things happening for our camp this summer. We will be available to answer all your questions and make sure we are all prepared for an awesome SUMMER together!
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FAMILY MEET N GREET!
On June 3rd from 4:30PM-6:30PM, we are hosting an Family Meet N Greet open house on campus. We encourage all registered families to attend and get a chance to meet our staff, ask questions, and tour our facilities. You can also pick up your campers Summer 2025 Tshirt, purchase additional merch if desired, and get pumped for camp with your kiddo! Please RSVP for this free event to: magic@campmakerie.com
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A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF A WEEK AT CAMP! (SUMMER)
That first day of camp is run in a VERY INTENTIONAL structure, and we URGE parents to make sure your child can attend on time that day. Missing other days of camp are less detrimental to their incorporation into the team we are building with them, but Monday is a very important day in our process. We are helping kids get to know each other, get to know us, and let our staff see how kids work and interact together, so that when we get to Tuesday (the first day of our project build) that we know who needs extra support making a friend and connecting to the team, or with following to instructions when we hand them tools that require following specific safety rules). The main objectives for that first day is to start the group formation process, help kids to find at least 1 thing in the group or their planned project that connects and excites them, and to make a plan together for their build of the week.
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Campers arrive on the first day and are told which Color Crew they will be in that week. We have a full rainbow at Camp Makerie. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple Crews! When they join their crew they are greeted by a counselor who will help them settle in with a name tag and a cubby for their stuff. All groups have free play stations set up in their rooms as campers arrive. This free play time allows campers to ease themselves into their environment at the level they are most comfortable, and gives our counselors time to get to know them and watch their dynamics together so they can make sure each kid feels part of the group. At 9:30 groups will circle up go over our Camp Expectations! Then they play a name game (the first step to making new friends is learning their names!) and choose a group name and crew call to use for the week together. Camp crews then meet up in our central room for camp assembly and a very silly skit introducing the camp staff team, reviewing the camp expectations, and introducing our storyline and them for the week. The story of the week is a HUGE part of our camp. We immerse in a magical world of make-believe called Makerie, it is silly and ridiculous, and full of crazy adventures. Guided by our fearless leader Toadwart, a magical toad who sends us letters through the Makerie Fairy Mail System, we take on missions, trap villains, help others in need, and get really really silly. Please Check out our CAMP LORE page to catch up on the backstory of our world, so you might have some idea of what your child is talking about when they tell you they were terrorized by the Evil Goose that day.
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In the middle of the day the campers will eat lunch in our picnic area and get time to play on our playground and game field. We also have designated Chill Times after for our younger groups when they can choose board games, books, or drawing/coloring things and decompress from all the excitement and reve back up for the afternoons activities.
Campers will also be introduced to our Challenge Of The Day, where they can earn character building buttons to take home at the end of the week. Then the day will wrap up with a crew campfire that each team sets up together and gives them an opportunity to each share something about their day and helps them connect their individual moments with the teams shared experience together.
ONCE YOU REGISTER FOR CAMP
You will receive an emailed copy of our Camp Makerie Family Handbook (either the SUMMER EDITION or SCHOOL YEAR EDITION depending on what camp you registered for) filled with a ton of information that will help you and your camper prepare for their time with us at Camp. This handbook will answer a lot of your questions that you didnt even know you had.
Every morning's structure is the same to help kids build confidence and trust with us. We make sure to keep consistency for our campers as much as possible so they know what to expect to a certain degree (with some moments of fun surprise to mix things up - you never know when a villain might show up or a marshmallow fight break out, this is summer camp after all!)
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On Tuesdays and Thursdays we Build our Big Project in the morning and then a rotation of Free Choice Activities in the afternoon (these will change week to week and be various kinds of fun activities like: arts and crafts, music, sports, STEM, Pokemon or Magic Cards, NERF, Archery, and lots more.
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Wednesday is typically our Water Day which takes up a full afternoon, with inflatable slides, water shooters, water games, foam bubble play, and a Slip n Slide.
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Friday is our wrap up day, where the groups complete their project of the week and show it off in the week's big event. This is also when we will do a big wrap up of our storyline for that week. There is always 1 big over arching storyline for the summer that continues through each week, and each week basically concludes a chapter in that journey. On Friday, campers will bring home their buttons that they earned, a themed memento from camp that represents the chapter in the story we just concluded (in the past this has been different colored sands, or plastic gems, or an ingredient for a "potion" we were gathering all summer).