Local youth will have plenty to keep them busy over the summer months thanks to Ponoka BGC Wolf Creek.
“Our summer camps run in Ponoka, Lacombe, and Rimbey starting July 2 and run through to Aug. 23, Monday to Friday in each of those locations,” said Angela Olson, director of child care with the Ponoka Youth Centre/BGC Wolf Creek.
“Children have to have completed kindergarten to come, and the age range includes those who have just completed Grade 6.
“In each community, the programs are divided into two age groups between the younger and older kids, and we try to give them some different opportunities and activities that are age-appropriate,” she explained.
“There will be lots of field trips, swimming days, guest speakers, and we’ve even got penguins coming down to our Ponoka and Lacombe locations from West Edmonton Mall one day, so that will be fun,” she said with a laugh.
Other Ponoka highlights include everything from petting zoos to bouncy castles to football.
“There is a huge variety of different opportunities that kids can come and take part in, that they might not be able to otherwise,” she said.
Olson said the camps run on a ‘per day’ system, so families only have to register their youngsters for the particular days they are interested in.
“You don’t have to register for the whole week, or the whole month. We do that to provide as many opportunities for our kiddos as possible,” she said, adding that there are weekly themes through the summer as well in terms of the programming.
“In Ponoka, we will have Hollywood Week for example, and Sports Week. Just lots of fun stuff to change it up,” she said.
“The most fun part for managers is to be creative, to think about what the kids are interested in now, and what we can do to make these opportunities a possibility for them.
“We receive a ton of positive feedback about all of the different experiences that the kids can take part in,” she said.
“The community comes together and helps us too, by providing different things for us whether it be financial, or through guest speakers for example. So it’s a community-wide event all summer long.”
To register online, visit app.bgcwolfcreek.com/sign-in.
There is also some eligibility for some folks to receive subsidies for the program through the provincial government — to learn more about that, visit applychildcaresubsidy.alberta.ca.
For more details, call the Ponoka office at 403-783-3112.