Happy campers spill the beans

Summer camp might sound like school in disguise, but according to the kids that attend them, the activities are fun and frantic, writes SYLVIA THOMPSON

THE CHILDREN hoisted high up on the bungee trampoline might send shivers down the spines of many adults, but the squeals of delight suggest they are having the time of their lives on this huge funfair-like contraption in the grounds of St Mary’s School in Edenderry, Co Offaly.

It’s the last day of a week-long multisports summer camp for more than 180 children. Organised by letsgo.ie, it’s one of many that run in various schools throughout Ireland. As well as regular sports, such as Gaelic football, basketball and rounders, the children get to try out a range of inflatable activities that turn them upside down, inside out and round and round, like any good funfair ride.

The names alone – wrecking ball, eliminator, human table football – might sound scary to an adult dropping off their precious son or daughter to camp, but talk to the children and you’ll soon discover what real fun is. The larger the inflatable, the more fun they have.

“The human hamster ball is my favourite,” says Bríain (8). “Mine too,” agrees Eoin (7). They are referring to the Zorbie ball roll, a large inflated ball that two children hop inside, which is then rolled down a 2.5m ramp.

“I love the KMX Karts and the bungee trampoline but I like all the games and I’ve made a lot of new friends,” says Shane (10). “You don’t get to go on bungee trampolines anywhere else unless you were in Spain or somewhere,” says Fiona (12), who has been to the Let’s Go camp for the last few years. “Most of us go to the girls’ school [in Edenderry] and it’s good to be with the boys again,” she adds.

Camp manager Mark Barrett says: “A lot of parents send their children here to give them tasters of various sports. Of the seven activities each day, there will be three or four that the children love and we bring in new games ever year.”

The Pine Forest Arts Centre in the Dublin Mountains seems much more sedate after visiting the Let’s Go camp. The two-week-long art camps are an institution for families on the south side of Dublin and the fact that parents can drop off their youngsters at various collection points in the suburbs means the children are up and out early and occupied for the day.

The camps are also well structured – each child is with children of the same age and each activity is oriented to that specific age. The fresh air of the mountains appeals to parents and the haphazard arrangement of huts on the hillside and outdoor play area is an antidote to neat suburban gardens.

But how much fun do the children really have? Well, it’s kind of hard to tell. We drop in to chat with the six-year-olds, who are a bit shy about speaking to visitors. “I like working with clay the most. And I really liked seeing the tadpoles in the pond,” says Romy (6), one of the brave ones. “I like coming here on the bus and I like playing on the slide at lunchtime,” says Leah (6).

We move on to talk with the eight-year-olds. “I enjoyed making the bird,” says Matthew (8), who explains in detail the materials he used. “I’m going to do a football and tennis camp later in the summer but my favourite camp so far has been a windsurfing one in the Grand Canal Basin.” We soon realise we’re with camp veterans here, many of whom do several camps during the summer and some of whom come to the Pine Forest Arts Centre every year.

“I’m doing rugby, football, watersports and art this summer,” says Ruairí. “And rugby is my favourite.”

Just before we leave, we visit the exhibition space where the children’s work is put at the end of each camp for parents to see. There’s an impressive array of paintings, ceramics, collages and jewellery. Chloe (11), who lives in France, is showing her mum what she did. “It’s my first time here and I loved it. I’ve done basketball and multisports camps, which are more tiring than art camps. But I liked this one better than another art camp I did before where we just sat around a table all day long and were told what to do. Here, things are explained and then you’re left at it yourself.”

We thought we’d sample one more camp for teenagers to see how the older children are faring at camp this summer. The Food Active summer camp, set up by Garth McColgan in the Teresian School, Donnybrook sounds like a parent’s ideal summer camp. Not only will your teenagers learn to cook good, healthy food but they also get to play sports and mix with students from various other schools.

We arrive into the home-economics classroom at the school just as chef Paul Quinlan is showing the participants how to prepare vegetables for a stir fry to accompany poached salmon. All 33 of the 11- to 16-year-olds sit attentively, watching him slice peppers and onions. Just like any good demonstration, they also look like they have been prepped for our visit.

So how is camp, guys? “I like the way they aren’t too protective of us when we’re doing the cooking. We have to handle knives and stuff and they don’t fuss too much over us,” says Malachi (11), who particularly enjoyed making the Swedish apple pie.

“I won a competition on RTÉ 1 and I got to come here for free,” says Luke (12). “I never got to cook before and it’s such fun. I went to a school camp before but this is 20 times better.”

“I came because I wanted to learn how to make my own lunch. We’re all at about the same level of cooking and I get on with everyone. The teachers are really good and if you ruin something, they don’t mind,” adds Anna (13).

“I like the cooking and the sports as well,” says Peter (14). “If it was cooking all day, it would be boring and we go on a trip each week too.”

So, the verdict is good. We set out thinking that we’d find some bored, homesick children in summer camp but unless they were hiding in the cloakrooms, they weren’t to be found. Maybe we hit on good camps but from what we’ve seen, most of the children are having a whale of a time at summer camp this year.

Mark Barrett probably hits the nail on the head with his comment about who goes to summer camp in these recessionary times. “When I started working on the summer camps seven years ago, it was almost like a babysitting service, but now, it’s much more about the children wanting to be here.”