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Summer is heating up at City of Wetaskiwin recreation department

City of Wetaskiwin has great ideas to keep families happy this summer
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The last day of school is here or past in some areas, so what are you going to do to keep the kids busy? The City of Wetaskiwin recreation department has some great ideas.

Chelsey Pitchko, recreation program facilitator with the city, said Wetaskiwin and area families have a great selection of affordable activities to choose from, indoors and out.

Coming up in August is the new Time Traveller’s camp, during the short week before the long weekend. Pitchko said this is a chance for kids to travel through time. Some of the activities include a field trip to Fort Edmonton Park, the district museum, plus making time capsules and time machines. Kids will also work with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, plus some future work too.

“Can’t do time travel without going into the future a bit as well,” said Pitchko by phone June 21.

Want those kids to start thinking about careers? Then the recreation department’s Career Camp should solve the problem. It will run the first week of August, and offers kids a glimpse into different career options. Pitchko said kids will visit a Wetaskiwin fire hall, visit a local farm complete with animals and also learn some police work, such as fingerprinting, by investigating and solving a crime, plus a visit to the RCMP detachment.

Scoring a hat trick more your cup of tea? The recreation department has you covered with their Sports Mania Camp, which Pitchko said is always popular. The camp is very wide-ranging, including basketball, hockey and pretty much every sport she said. Plus, the camp will include kayaking and dance play, which she described as similar to Zumba for kids. Two Sports Mania camps are planned, one for July and one in August.

Parents who can’t make up their minds about what they want their kids to learn may want to investigate the Fun for Life camp. Pitchko said this camp, intended for 4 to 7 year olds, is an afternoon camp that offers a variety of experiences. “They’re kind of like a sampler,” said Pitchko. “We touch upon a bit of everything.” There are also two of these camps, one in July, the first camp of the summer, and one in August.

The basketball camp is also very popular, and is offered for different age groups. Pitchko said ages 6 to 8 will be held in the mornings, while 9 to 12 years will run in the afternoon July 3 to 7. The teen camp will run July 12 to 14. Instructors will include one who played basketball for Concordia University.

Pitchko also stated a hockey camp is coming up with guest instructors from the U of A Golden Bears. It will run Aug. 21 to 25 for different age levels and feature wide-ranging instruction on different skills.

An exciting new course coming up July 3 to 6 is Kayak Camp, one hour each evening. Pitchko stated the course will be instructed by an NCCP certified instructor allowing participants to learn the basics of this ancient transportation mode. The course will be held at the Manluk Centre.

Parents who have a budding young lifeguard in their home should think about registering them in the Lifeguard Jr. program running Aug. 14 to 18, both morning and afternoon. A plethora of skills are taught. The course is for those 8 years and up, can swim 25 meters continuously and, of course, come prepared to do some swimming.

Play in the Park is held in various parks around the city on both Tuesday and Thursday, organized by Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools with help from the city. More information is available online for this program, as locations change frequently.

A new twist on that program is “Play in the Pool,” which will be held four times this summer on Wednesdays: July 12 and 19, followed by Aug. 9 and 23. This is a drop-in program similar to Play in the Park which requires parent attendance that runs in the mornings.

The entire summer rec guide is available online at http://www.wetaskiwin.ca/Index.aspx?NID=503. Registrations are also accepted online or by calling the Manluk Centre at 780-361-4444. Don’t wait, because program space is limited.

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