Seventh of July Celebrations!

Greetings All!

We celebrated America’s Independence on July 7th at Camp Allyn this year! Today, Day Camp and Overnight Camp got to celebrate with a cookout!

Getting ready to serve the delicious Camp Cookout!

Some showed their patriotism by putting on their most festive costumes!

Staff and Participant Keeping the Festivities fun with Costumes!

While others decided to enjoy the good food and great company!

Sea Turtles and Stingrays enjoy their meals!

Groups also enjoyed extended swim times and beautiful weather. Independence day is meant to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence–what not many people know is that the last signature was not included until August 2nd, so any day between the 4th and August 2nd can be Independence Day!

On top of all that, every day is a day where we strive to promote independence here at Stepping Stones!

Hope you all have a great day-tune in next week for more updates from Camp Allyn!

-Katie

Given’s Patriotic Adventures!

Hi again! It is hard to believe another week of summer camp is over! We went out with a bang today by celebrating this weekend’s holiday with our 4^th of July Picnic and dance! We were lucky to have our event supported and sponsored by Resurgent Capital Services, and we could not have done it without them! All groups went through the barbeque line and picked out hot dogs or hamburgers, chips, watermelon, cake, soda & water. It was a blast to eat picnic style in groups and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Participants grab picnic food – hamburgers or hot dogs!

The Mosquitoes eat lunch together!

There was also cake and watermelon to enjoy!

After the picnic, our Kid groups continued with patriotic activities while the Teen groups stayed at the pavilion for a dance! DJ Ed played some fun tunes while we danced the afternoon away. It was an afternoon to remember, and a great way to kick off the long weekend!

And it’s time to dance!

Earlier in the week we got into the patriotic spirit with our “Stars and Stripes” and “American Adventures” themed activities. Teens made crowns of the Statue of Liberty out of paper plates and green streamers, had shaving cream fights and decorated their unit sites with festive posters and decorations. Kids painted fireworks with cut-up toilet paper rolls, made their own flags and went on a Lewis & Clark adventure at nature! There were also delicious smells wafting from the kitchen all week from groups making their own hand-made American apple pies!

One of the many shaving cream fights we had this week!

Peeling apple skins for our American Apple Pies!

Thanks for checking in and reading my blog! Be sure to look for my post next week!

Happy 4^th of July!

-Bridget

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

It was a sea of red, white and blue at the Given Campus on Thursday, July 3rd. Campers, staff and volunteers conviened for the annual picnic in celebration of Independence Day. The event was sponsored by Resurgent Capital Services, and included a large cookout and live DJ for dancing!

Reminder, Stepping Stones will be closed Friday, July 4th in recognition of the holiday. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Enjoy photos from the cookout:

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Week 4 at Day Camp Allyn!

Before I jump on in to what is on the agenda for this week at Day Camp Allyn, I want to share some pictures from the last week!

It is most definitely a patriotic week here at Day Camp Allyn! This week our Kids camp is all about the “Stars and Stripes!” Our Jellyfish spent some time discussing the American Flag, its history and purpose. After, they ecided to design a flag that embodied their own person history and purpose—alongside their favorite colors of course! The Dolphins got to craft-it-up and build and decorate their own patriotic lanterns that were decked out in red, white, blue and all the stars you could imagine!

The teens are gallivanting around camp on amazing “American Adventures.” The Sea Turtles did a super cool project and learned more about Mount Rushmore. After learning about the artfully crafted sculptures of important founding fathers on Mount Rushmore the Sea Turtles got the chance to make their own Mount Rushmore sculptures either by imprinting the faces from coins or modeling the faces on their mountain to be people in their own lives who inspire them. The Stingrays decided to ride off into the sunset of the Old West and fashion their own Pioneer hats!

I must say that seeing all of our friends’ smiling faces at camp makes every day special! Fun is definitely in the air at Camp Allyn!

Tune in for more news about day camp next week!

-Katie

Coordinator of Recreation and Leisure-Allyn

What’s Cookin’ in Allyn’s Kitchen?

Everyone loves meal time at Overnight Getaways- whether it’s a grill-out, a baked potato bar or one of our delicious morning brunches, our wonderful kitchen staff keeps us well-fed. Stacy, our head chef, is the mastermind behind menus and dietary needs. Stacy reviews every participant’s dietary needs prior to their arrival. He and his staff prepare every plate for our participants with allergies or special preparation to ensure everyone eats the right stuff! Our kitchen crew is made up of a fabulous team- Stacy, Brad, Laura, Tess, Sarah and Chet. We are very grateful for the hard work they put into to our meals!

Our kitchen crew is constantly coming up with new meals to offer. We have had things like Chicken Stir Fry, Taco Salads, Western Burgers and Hot Dog Roll Ups, always, of course, with a vegetable or salad on the side. Lunches have been delicious things like PB&J Croissants, Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup and Chicken Fingers. Breakfast is always delicious with a variety of foods from Oatmeal and Pastries, to Sausage and Pancakes. The variety and creativity keep our stomachs happy and the special attention to dietary needs and well rounded plates keep our bodies moving and healthy!

Recently, our leadership team and kitchen crew worked together to develop a new twist to meal times- Pizza Delivery Nights. During Lodge Time, participants ordered their pizza on their official Allyn Pizzeria Forms. Then, our kitchen staff took to the ovens baking up sausage, pepperoni or cheese pizzas. At dinner time, the pizzas were placed into pizza boxes, loaded up onto golf carts and delivered by the most cheerful pizza delivery ladies- our supervisors! Participants ate in their groups at various locations around camp. It was a nice break from eating in the dining hall and getting a chance to socialize in their small groups.

We are so happy to have the support of our wonderful kitchen crew! Keep up the great work, guys and gals! We sure do appreciate it!

See you soon!
-Amanda “Dottie” Dotson

Doing it Right at Day Camp Allyn!

Day Camp has been a whirl of activity for the past 2 and a half weeks! Each day is jam-packed with super fun activities that just about all participants are positively glowing about! All of the staff here at Allyn have absolutely loved getting to know all of our participants; both new and returning. It has been such a joy to see so many smiling faces up at Day Camp and knowing what an awesome time everyone is having! We are all so excited to see what each new day will bring us throughout what is bound be a summer of endless fun!

We kicked off summer right with our kids’ camp theme of Sports of All Sorts! The Jellyfish and Dolphins enjoyed a week filled with fun, sports and games of all kinds. Teen camp had an awesome week of Champion Challenges! The Sea Turtles and Stingrays enjoyed getting to challenge themselves to discover healthy lifestyle choices and find ways to implement them in their daily lives. It was a great, fast-paced week of activities from fishing at the pond to current events on healthy lifestyles to building your own roller coaster to swimming in the pool. All in all, week one was a rousing round of success!

Participant and staff building their own roller coasters!

Week 2 of summer brought us some seaside celebrations with Kids Camp, while our teens in the teens enjoyed a Vacation Cruise! Celebrations were going on left and right—this, my friends, was a week of fun and fantastic festivities! From water play parties to artistic bonanza’s there was not a moment to be spared in this fun-filled week of seaside celebrations! Teens were able to relax with cruise themed pool parties and putt putt golf practice!

Participants had a great time at the putt-putt course!

So far on Week 3 our Kids Camp is having a blast at Camp Allyn’s Animation Station. We have created super cool cartoon flip books that reenact scenes from our favorite cartoons and choreographed dances to some of our favorite Disney Songs. The teens are letting loose during our Whimsical Wild and Wacky week! We have done some pretty awesome stuff so far including discussing what we think about Disney’s purchas;2e of the Star Wars Series and what the new movie might be like, as well as played a game of pirate’s treasure tag where the goal was to get as many gold pieces in you your team’s skull bucket without getting tagged out by the other team! But of course a week is never complete without a water fight!

Sneak Water Attack!!

For now, That’s all folks! Tune in soon for another update from your friends at Camp Allyn!

Katie
Coordinator of Recreation and Leisure-Allyn

What’s In Store for Week 3 at Given!

Hi again! We are getting ready for another fun week at Given! I cannot believe we are already into our third week of camp; it seems to be flying by. It has been sad to say goodbye to some campers who were only with us for the first two weeks, but we are excited to say hello to all of the new participants that we have coming our way this week!

Before I begin telling you about our upcoming week, I would like to share a few more photos from the previous two weeks of camp!

Caroline from the Grasshoppers picks out some markers for their unit time activity!

Tommy of the Mosquitos blows a Bubble Dragon!

Remington from the Aphids dips her water balloon in paint!

This week our Kids Camp is celebrating with an “Animation Station” theme! Of course, the go-to cartoon movie this summer has been Frozen. Many groups have planned various Frozen-themed activities to keep their participants engaged in the fun! I know I will hear “Let It Go” being sung all around camp this week! Our Teen Camp will be enjoying a “Whimsical, Wild, and Wacky” theme this week! Be prepared for adventures in mask and cape making to get into the super-hero spirit, as well as a Cowboy kickball game and an Alien Water Fight! I am also very excited about our camp-wide activity this week on Thursday….which will be a life-size game of Angry Birds! Groups will build a catapult to throw an “angry bird” ball at a stack of boxes. Points will be awarded for the number of boxes they can cause to fall, and prizes will be given to the groups with the most points!

We are very much looking forward to an animated week at camp! Thanks for reading!

Bridget

Greetings from Camp Allyn!

Hello Friends-

Camp is in full swing now and we are loving it! There are happy faces anywhere you look. At Camp Allyn, we are running both our 12 Day Overnight Getaway and a four unit Day Camp.

Participants this week at Overnight are enjoying various world cultures each day. So far this week, everyone has loved the various cooking classes, like Mini Italian Pizzas and Brazillian style pudding. Wednesday, participants got a chance to ride in a tethered hot air balloon going about fifty feet into the air while those waiting played in a soccer game in honor of the World Cup games below. Friday night, everyone suited up in coveralls for a Color War to celebrate a late Holi Festival. A cornstarch and paint mixture created colorful wonders for all who participated.

Kristian and Hannah are going up!

Some of the Color War Crew!

Over on the Day Camp side of our world, campers have been loving our Sports Themed activities. For Kid’s camp, the Dolphins and the Jellyfish loved playing Sensory Football. They created sticky footballs and tossed them to goal posts drawn on the window. They also played field hockey and made goal after goal with Specialist Colleen. Teen Camp has loved exploring the fan side of Champion Challenges. They made their own brackets for their sports games, designed their own jerseys and held an ultimate dance off to celebrate the end of the first week of camp! Most of all, all of our day campers loved getting back to the pool this week. There is nothing like that first jump into a cool pool on a hot summer day!

Hunter and Suzze enjoying the pool!

Colleen teaching the Sea Turtles some new card games!

Trenton is ready for the pool!

We look forward to more great weeks at Camp Allyn. Thank you for reading and see you soon!
-Dottie

Interested in Lifeguarding at Stepping Stones?

Summer is fast-approaching and Stepping Stones is always in need of great, enthusiastic lifeguards at our two summer camp locations. If you are new to lifeguarding, and still in need of training, Cincinnati Aquatic Training Services is currently offering certified American Red Cross training classes around the Greater Cincinnati area.

To learn more about this great training opportunity, visit Cincinnati Aquatic Training’s website or call (513) 306-7760