Registration Opens for Youth Summer Day Camps in Stearns County Parks

(KNSI) – Half-day and full-day camps for kids ages 4 to 13 are coming up this summer in some Stearns County parks. The camps, facilitated by HIKEHoppers, will happen on June 7th-11th at Mississippi River County Park and August 2nd-6th at Warner Lake County Park.

HIKEHoppers co-owner Stef Rothstein says there will be COVID-19 precautions in place.

“We limit our camps, that’s first and foremost,” Rothstein said. She added that last year, they limited camps to 12 kids, with one adult supervisor per every six to seven youth. But with additional interest this year, Rothstein says HIKEHoppers is looking to bring on more adult volunteers.

“Like last year, we made homemade buffs or masks and we tie-dyed them,” she said. “If kids are using anything that’s shared — our older camp kids actually get to use tools such as loppers and pocket knives — we created a system where as soon as it was used and touched, it was placed on a surface where we would have to go clean.”

Rothstein said different camp groups have plenty of room to socially distance in the parks, too.

While there are some structured activity times during the day camps, Rothstein says part of the Park Play Camps model is unsupervised playtime.

“We make sure that there is learning embedded within, but what we first and foremost want to do is we want to bring back the idea and understanding that play is the foundational piece of learning with kids,” she said. “And so what better place to be able to provide an opportunity for any and all kids other than in the outdoors where they can learn more about what it is that inspires them or that they’re curious about?”

Half-day camps are $75 and full-day camps are $150 per session. Rothstein says HIKEHoppers, which as been in business since 2017 and has hosted camps in Stearns County parks for four years, is looking at ways to provide financial assistance.

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