Community Activities, Life, Model Citizens, Non-Screen Activities, outside learning, Summer Camp Common Ground Community Activities, Life, Model Citizens, Non-Screen Activities, outside learning, Summer Camp Common Ground

Animals Visiting at Common Ground during "Animal Jam" Week!

Our Third Week at Camp is ANIMAL JAM!

And we have had so much fun so far! On Monday, we discussed the differences between amphibians and reptiles and created our own favorite animals out of egg cartons! On Tuesday we prepped for animal paper mache masks and played “predators vs. prey” game relays. We will be making Bird Paper Airplanes, laughing through marsupial games, and hunting spooooky cryptids in the woods!

Our local fauna must want to join us… because they have been coming to visit in droves!

We have baby birds currently nesting at the back of our center… we are being very careful not to disturb them, but it is so hard not to peek at Common Ground’s tiniest babies residing just outside the HUMAN baby room!

We also had the Common Five-Lined Blue-Tailed SKINK come RIGHT INTO THE SCHOOL!! Were they hoping to join the camp? Maybe… but we didn’t have a big enough shirt for them. Maybe next year, little skink…

All of our favorite little mammals throughout the center have been enjoying water-play in the bright sunshine!

Share your favorite animal facts here! The more we know about our friends, the more able we are to share this world with them.

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We LOVE to SWIM!

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Outdoor swimming is synonymous with summer! And our campers have been having a BLAST visiting both the Herndon Swim Club and Reston Association’s Uplands Pool!

To be honest, I knew that we (Miss Liz, Miss LJ, and our Summer Counselors) could successfully take the kids safely to the pool, but it has exceeded my expectations! Our kids have been AMAZING listeners, BRAVE while trying new things, and EXCITED about improving!

And KUDOS really go to our summer camp staff who are ENGAGING and INCREDIBLE with our campers!

Swimming is such a great, relatively (covid) safe activity to do this summer, so if you’re looking for a pool to join, here’s some information about the two pools that we swim at:

  • Herndon Swim Club: This little pool is the BEST KEPT SECRET in Herndon! This little pool in the woods has memberships available to anyone, without any boundary limitations! In fact, after coaching their NVSL summer swim team, I purchased a membership for myself because it’s such a great pool, even though I’m also an RA member! They were actually the FIRST pool in the area to open last year during COVID. http://herndonswims.com

  • Reston Association: Hopefully you know how amazing Reston’s 15 pools are if you live within the association, but did you know that ANYONE can purchase RA pool passes? Non Member passes are a great value for the number of pools there are in Reston! RA passes can be purchased here: https://web1.myvscloud.com/wbwsc/varestonhoawt.wsc/splash.html

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Non-Screen Activities, Teacher Tips, Unplugged, Summer Camp Common Ground Non-Screen Activities, Teacher Tips, Unplugged, Summer Camp Common Ground

Save The Date: Summer Camp Teaser

The Summer Camp you remember that your kids will never forget…

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Kids need to be outside. They need to run under the trees, chase each other, skin their knees.

They need to play with rules they make up themselves.

That’s why Common Ground is hosting a classic summer camp that is perfect for any kid from kindergarten to rising fourth grader.

1 in 12 kids are as fit as the average child 35 years ago. Their attention spans are suffering under a sedentary education style. Sensory training, emotional regulation, physical stability, these are as key to learning as letters and numbers, and much harder to master after age 5.

We believe in exploration, reasonable danger, and dirt. Our weekly themes are designed to teach kids about the world and their own abilities. There will be projects, games, and field trips! We are also looking to do swimming lessons.
We will be outside as much as possible, allowing kids to foster independence through child-led lessons that encourage enthusiasm for holistic learning.

KEEP AN EYE OUT! We will begin registration in the next few weeks! Think Capture the Flag. Think trail running and skipping stones in the creek. Think sweat and dirt and sunshine. Your kids deserve a camp experience like you had.

LET’S GO OUTSIDE!

Ms. LJ

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