School is almost out and summer is on our minds… especially when it comes to camp!
With almost 10 weeks of break, many families are turn to camps and activities so we share some of our favorite tips when it comes to keeping busy over the summer months.
Dive Into Summer: Noonan Swim School
Whether your child is headed to day camp or overnight camp, swimming is foundational to just about any camp experience. According to the CDC, about 4,000 people die each year from drowning. That is almost 10-11 people each day. As a camp director for 8 years, I would watch as kids would not enter a boat or kayak because they did not know how to swim and had a genuine fear of the water. Swim lessons can not only help your child have water safety and learn how to swim, but really open up the doors to so many other activities they will do at camp or later on in life.
We love Noonan Family Swim school. With four locations throughout San Diego, Noonan has a variety of programs to suit your family’s needs. They have a splash babies program, where infants and toddlers can learn water safety and adjust to the water. As children get older, they can learn all of the different techniques to excel in freestyle, backstroke and more. What is great too is that Noonan has a variety of swim summer programs including ones that will prepare your child for surf camp or junior guards. My kids love their instructor and passing the different levels. As a parent, I love how Noonan has helped my children progress in their swimming and enabled them to be confident in their water activities.
Put Me in Coach: Padres Camp & KidsFest Games
Baseball is America’s favorite pastime and in San Diego we happen to have the #1 ballpark in the country and one of the most fun teams to watch — the Padres!
The San Diego Padres offer a series of weeklong baseball and softball summer camps that enrich the lives of children through exceptional instruction, character development and a unique Major League experience that creates lasting memories. Campers get a uniform and tickets to a Padres game for a “campers reunion” at the end of summer too.
From theme games and giveaways to KidsFest at Petco Park, taking in a Padres game is fun for the whole family. Sundays are the best as families are encouraged to arrive when gates open for KidsFest to enjoy bounce inflatables, games, face painters, balloon artists and other kid-friendly activities in Gallagher Square. The festivities start two hours prior to first pitch. And then keep the fun going after the game with Kids Run the Bases following most Sunday home games.
Kids and their families can begin lining up following the conclusion of the eighth inning in Gallagher Square, at the top of the ramp by the Toyota Beach on K Street and actually run the bases on the field!
Find Your Voice: Library Reading Program
Camps can get expensive and often fill up fast. One of our favorite things to do every summer is take advantage of all of the free programs that the local library has to offer. From the summer reading program that offers prizes for reading to classes, my kids love going to the library. I love that there are so many different activities and programs. My kids are motivated to read new books and get the fun prizes. We have done Star Wars art classes to engineering challenges and Japanese storytelling time. Many libraries also offer special checkout programs too where you can check out a parks pass with your library card, get museum tickets and more. The best part is that the programs are always changing and they are free!
Park Hop and Stay Active with Friends
Summer is all about play and most often the two mainstays are outdoors and with friends! One of the activities we started years ago was the idea of park-hopping with a group of families. There are four Saturdays in June so get four families together and each Saturday you all go to the park… and it’s a different park each week because each family either picks a park of their preference. This provides for variety and an anticipation to the next week but with familiarity and consistency of the same friends.
When we’re playing we turn to Hanna Andersson for their comfort and durability and the brand recently launched an entire ACTIVE line for kids. The line is soft and stretchy to tackle sports like tennis and basketball, but it also uses breathable fabrics to help stay cooler and has built in UV protection for added help to shade your skin from the summer sun.
From graphic tees to shorts, skorts, leggings, tanks, hoodies and more… the Active by Hanna Andersson line boasts vibrant colors, fun prints and happy styles.
