Press Room

Summer on a Shoestring
by Rita Cruickshank

Summer is a most exciting time for school-age children and staff. The quality time that can be spent strengthening relationships and creating adventures and projects is phenomenal. Unfortunately, when it comes time to discuss the upcoming summer program, the first concern may be that there are not enough funds for an abundance of trips, specials visitors and so on. There are, however, many program concepts that can be implemented for optimum program success -- and they don't have to cost a great deal of money.

Factors Influencing Program Plans

Number of Children – Survey parents to get an idea of their holiday schedules and the number of children you can expect on a full-time or part-time basis. While waiting for forms to be returned (and very likely not all forms will be returned), look over last year's attendance record to get a sense of what happened last year. Know when your daily routines are the busiest and have the highest number of children for transitions (e.g., lunch, snacks, outdoor time, trips).

Space Availability – What space can you count on using for the summer program? When are special areas (e.g., gym, library, playground) available and can you negotiate their use? Is there a neighbouring centre or program you can visit or arrange to share activities, such as pen pal exchanges, baseball games, mini tournaments or movie matinees?

Number of Staff – Staff up and schedule the busy times (opening, closing, lunch breaks) for efficiency and consistency. Use volunteers to help with outings and activities keeping in mind that they cannot be responsible for staff functions. Check out your local unemployment office for applications for subsidized government programs.

Budget – Be realistic and practical. What can we do for free? What can we do with other centres or programs? If there is a project that you want to do that is beyond the budget, submit a proposal to your supervisor and/or board of directors. Show how the proposed activity will be funded (e.g., fundraiser, thon event, professional activity day event). Poll parents to see how much they can contribute to the project.

Schedules – Design a program schedule with a variety of activities and themes. Develop a routine that is similar to the already existing routines, to allow transitions to occur smoothly. Assign regular days for special events (e.g., trip days, swimming days, leader-in-training days). This is not only great for the children, but also for the parents; if they decide to take an impromptu day off, they have an idea of what the schedule may be.
Schedule staff lunch breaks so that they provide the least interruption to the program.

By mid-June, provide parents with a list of special events, themes, dates of trips, special days. Include all forms needed and an easy-to-understand schedule for their refrigerator or home bulletin board. Parents will appreciate the advanced notice and even if you must make changes to the schedule at a later date, you have a good base plan.

Closing the Gaps on Your Program Plans

Once you have completed all your preliminary plans, you will be ready to fill in the gaps with other interesting activities. Below is a list of ideas that I hope you will find helpful.

Journal Writing – Using scrap paper, invite the children to create personal journals on a once-a-week basis. Type up final copy on the computer and create a book or newspaper at the end of the summer. Journal writing can be extended into a pen pals activity.

Reading – Set aside one hour per week for quiet reading time. Have older children buddy up with younger children. Set up a reading program with the preschoolers in your centre.
Include all the children in a read-a-thon.

Leaders-in-Training – Invite older school-age children ( 8 or 9-12 years) to be leaders-in-training (LITs) in the younger classrooms in your centre. You might arrange a rookie program one morning each week and an advanced leader program two mornings a week or even one full day per week. Set up contracts between teachers, parents and children so that everyone is committed to the LIT program. Hold an awards presentation at the end of the summer to congratulate LITs on work well done.

Thon Fundraisers – A skip-a-thon can be done through the Heart and Stroke Foundation; they provide pledge sheets, posters, incentive awards and ropes. Call your local chapter. You might consider holding a triathalon that includes walking, aerobics and swimming. All events can happen in one week. Include all ages. There is no overhead and all the money goes straight to the centre.

Weekly Themes – Brainstorm with your staff about themes that could be popular with the children. Look for themes that have not been studied throughout the year. Let the children be part of leading or teaching the theme.

Variety Show – Stage a variety show as a finale to the summer. Invite a neighbouring program, parents and others in the community. Charge 25 cents for admission and sell popcorn. A variety show is great way to end to the summer and the children can be involved in all aspects of the preparation.

Nature Walks – Explore a series of nature walks where the children can learn about their outdoor environment and run off excess energy at the same time. Collect different items along the way. Set up a collection table or area where other children and parents can learn about the collections too. Have the children research their items, present their findings to the group and display their findings. Scavenger hunts are popular nature-walk activities.

Mini Olympics – Introduce the children to the history of the Olympics and involve them in the study of an aspect that is particularly interesting to them. Have each child or small group develop their own Olympic sport (e.g., bunny rabbit hopping) and present it to the rest of the group. Hold an Olympic try-outs day where the children can learn how to do the various events and find out what activity they might prefer. For information on running a mini Olympics, contact your local Royal Bank branch about their Junior Olympic Association; they may be willing to provide awards, ribbons or posters.

The two most important elements in your summer program are fun and safety. Remember, some of the best ideas will come from the children themselves. Your enthusiasm and positive attitude about all your summer activities will be contagious. Be sure to program a short down-time after each special summer event to give the children and you a chance to catch your breath and reflect on the fun you've had together.

Rita Cruickshank is president of the School-Age Care Association of Ontario (SACAO) and après school supervisor, Rainbow Village Child Care. You can contact her at SACAO, 1300 King Street East, PO Box 31087, Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 6N9; phone (905) 571-7946.