From the Maplewood Recreation Department
Maplewood Kids Camp has always been a way for Maplewood & South Orange residents to make long- lasting memories and friendships! This year Maplewood Kids Camp decided to spice things up with some themed weeks for campers to be engaged, educated, and involved with all sorts of fun! Appealing to every child’s interests, Kids Camp Director Claire Sinclair and new Assistant Director Neyden Sousa worked tirelessly with Program Supervisor Jamie Miranda to ensure that each week had projects and vendors coincide with the uniquely themed weeks.
Director of Community Services Melissa Mancuso says, “Maplewood Kids Camp is a summer highlight for the department, and myself. It’s a time when our campers can have a more relaxed schedule, but still a programmed day that includes both mental stimulation and physical activity. Getting off screens after a lot of virtual time has been critical to our planning, and masked, in-person engagement including fun weekly themes keeps our youth excited and connected. From our morning meeting dubbed ‘Community Building,’ to garden time, playground fun, nostalgic games of four square, traditional crafts and trips to the park and pool we see smiling faces all day long, reminding us what both summertime and recreation camps are all about. Every week had a fun itinerary and theme planned, so it’s impossible to pick a favorite. Pool days are always a highlight of our township services from the Jitney rides, to the amazing pool staff working in tandem with our dedicated and energized Kids Camp team.”
Starting camp off, Superhero week allowed campers to feel like real-life superheroes! From cape making to conquering obstacle courses, Maplewood Recreation reminded campers anyone can be a hero! During animal week, campers got to hang out with llamas, pigs, and even a turkey in a visiting petting zoo and made jellyfish and other animals out of paper plates. Household items were used to make instruments for campers’ very-own parade in Kids Camp’s music week. Making rice-made maracas, toilet paper banjos, even wind chimes made from broken xylophone parts, campers learned that out of recycled materials, basically anything can be made into something musical! Not only did they get to make their own music, but a DJ Dance party and Zumbini with Allie had campers bumping music all week long. A face painter, balloon artist, even a one man circus came to visit our campers this year for our funky, floaty, and carnival themed weeks! Amongst learning magic tricks and seeing a magician, Magic week even included making unicorn horns out of ice cream cones calling them “UniCONES”. During the final week of camp, campers will have a carnival theme week with an inflatable party, cotton candy, and all the fun you could possibly imagine.
Maplewood Recreation is beyond grateful to have many wonderful returning staff from last year come back as well as fresh new faces who make our campers’ day-to-day experiences jam-packed with fun! They are also excited to announce their new Assistant Director, Neyden Sousa! Neyden is from Orange and went to Kean University studying Recreation Administration. We are so pleased to have him on our ever-growing, fantastic team! “As a first year Assistant Director with Kids Camp, it has truly has been a fun and insightful experience thus far,” Neyden says. “Getting to work with such great staff who day in and day out do what’s best for the children has made this experience even more worthwhile. What I enjoy most is playing a part in planning a fun and safe summer for our campers. The Kids Camp Community and Maplewood Department of Community Services taking a chance with me has truly made this a summer to remember.”
Neyden has been working alongside two-year Camp director Claire Sinclair. Claire grew up in Maplewood and attended camp herself as a child long before it was ever called “Kids Camp”. She was even a counselor as a teen! “I like to describe working here now as ‘a blast from the past’’, Claire says, “We used to go to one of the parks in Maplewood and counselors would be there providing activities for the campers. We would play kickball & Nok Hockey then make lanyards and bracelets. We would be outside all day. It has come full circle for me. This is the kind of camp experience we are giving our campers. The pandemic forced all of us to slow down and from the feedback I am hearing from grownups, the kids are loving it. Being outside, playing on the playground, getting off of computers and devices is really showing kids how much fun it can be to just be a kid.”
If you missed out on Kids Camp Maplewood this year, don’t worry! Maplewood Recreation will have registration open for next year soon enough! In the meantime, check out all of the other program offerings from Maplewood Rec here: https://maplewood.recdesk.com/Community/Program
To inquire about Kids Camp Maplewood or any other program, please call the Recreation Department at 973.762.8120. Feel free to contact us regarding our Recreation Assistance Fund for financial aid for our programs, or to offer donations to contribute to the fund.
