Arts/Media:
Art, ceramics, cooking, dance, drama, music, rocketry, woodshop
Aquatics:
Canoeing, kayaking, paddle boating, recreational swim, rowing, sailing, stand-up paddleboarding, swim instruction
Land Sports:
Archery, basketball, fencing, frisbee golf, golf driving range, martial arts, soccer, softball, tennis
Outdoor Adventure:
Outdoor adventure activities provide the perfect setting for facilitating group dynamics, social skill development and healthy risk-taking. Our program includes:
- Animal care, farm & garden
- low and high ropes courses & climbing wall
- nature & science
- campcraft and orienteering
- weekly day hikes for every camper
- overnight camping trips
We believe that our peaceful corner of Vermont and the natural beauty that surrounds. It play an integral role in what makes camp so special. Daily camp life is one that respects and values the environment. Being away from city or suburban life presents a wonderful opportunity for positive challenge in children’s lives.
Plus:
Community service, special events, trips, visiting craftspeople, weekly campfires
Camper Choice Activities: Specialty Periods
While campers take comfort in the structure and predictability of the Camp Akeela program. They also thrive when given a chance to pick their own activities. Our program includes ample opportunity for choice and specialization.
In particular, two activities each day are called “Specialty Periods”. Each week, campers select two program areas in which to specialize.
This allows them time to further develop proficiency and confidence in their favorite areas. And to connect with others who share their interests.
A Typical Day At Camp Akeela
Below the following daily schedule, you’ll find a slideshow which presents a more visual view of a day at Akeela.
| 7:30 | Wake up Campers get dressed, make their beds, brush their teeth and wash for breakfast |
| 8:00 | Breakfast Campers eat as a bunk. |
| 8:30 | Clean-up Counselors guide campers as they help bunkmates keep their bunk neat and clean. |
| 9:00 | Group Meetings Campers meet daily as a bunk with counselors and key staff to discuss bunk concerns, individual and group goals, and to preview the day’s schedule |
| 9:15 | First Activity Period Bunk groups go to activities together with their cabin counselors |
| 10:15 | Second Activity Period |
| 11:15 | Down-Time Counselors supervise free play, and campers wash for lunch |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 12:45 | Rest Hour + Preview of Afternoon Schedule |
| 1:45 | Third Activity Period |
| 2:45 | Snack |
| 3:00 | Specialty Period 1 Campers are empowered to choose two activities each week to “specialize” in |
| 4:00 | Specialty Period 2 |
| 5:00 | Shower time |
| 6:00 | Dinner |
| 7:00 | Evening Meeting The entire camp community meets to recognize camper achievements, read from the suggestion box, and look ahead to upcoming activities |
| 7:30 | Evening Activity A mixture of all-camp events, special interest exploration and small-group games |
| 8:30 | Snack + “Day In Review” Campers enjoy a healthy snack while participating in a nightly bunk check-in activity |
| Bedtime varies depending on age. |
Please click on the first slide, then use the “Next >” button to scroll through the slideshow.
Beneath each slide, we’ve included a brief explanation of that activity or time of day.
This brief slideshow will take you through a typical day at camp, while showing pictures of a number of our programs and facilities. Please use the --> arrow button on the right side to click through slideshow.
Our cabins are all newly renovated and very comfortable. They have bathrooms with multiple sinks, private showers and toilet stalls. A typical bunk has 8 campers and 4 amazing counselors, which means you get lots of personal attention from counselors who know you well. Bullying is not tolerated at Akeela; it’s a community based on respect and kindness!
Meals are served “family-style” and we all eat together as a community. Campers sit with their bunkmates and counselors, which becomes like your family at camp. Our food is fantastic: kid friendly and healthy! Most importantly, there are LOTS of choices for picky eaters and/or those on special diets. For example, at breakfast, there is one hot menu item (pancakes, waffles, eggs, etc.) but also a huge breakfast bar with cereal, bagels, granola, yogurt, fruit, etc.
A big part of living in a community is chipping in and doing your part. You’ll spend a few minutes each morning working together with bunkmates and counselors to keep your cabin a comfortable, organized place to live. A few minutes before the first activity period, a brief bunk meeting is held to look ahead at the day’s schedule and talk about how things are going. At Akeela, you’ll know what to expect & what’s expected of you. There are caring and involved counselors working with you to make sure you’re getting what you want out of camp, that you’re making friends, that everyone is treating each other with respect & kindness.
The first three activities each day are spent with your bunkmates and cabin counselors. This slideshow demonstrates some sample activities that you might have on a typical day at camp. For example, you might have activities in our Outdoor Adventure program, such as Farm & Garden.
Another part of Outdoor Adventure is our ropes course. We have an awesome zip line, climbing wall and other “high elements” … imagine how thrilling it is to conquer these challenges with the help and support of your friends and counselors! We also have “low elements” that you and your friends will solve as a group!
Everyone at camp has a FUN instructional swim lesson 4 days a week. On the first day of swimming, you’ll have a chance to show our instructors how well you swim so that they can make sure you’re in a group with kids at a similar level. We follow the American Red Cross swim levels, which means that no matter how well you swim now, you’ll leave camp even better at this very important life-long skill.
This is Miller Pond, our beautiful, warm, sandy and crystal clear lake. One of the most popular places at Akeela, campers love to fish, canoe, kayak, sail, stand-up paddleboard, and slide down our HUGE inflatible waterslide and much more!
The 45 minutes before lunch is a free period in which campers can choose what they want to do (with counselor supervision of course.) There’s lots to do at Free Time! Counselors organize and announce activities in advance, including open art studio, free swim in the pool or lake, kickball games, etc. It’s also a great time for camper-run activities like yu-gi-oh or chess tournaments. One activity that’s almost always available at Free Time is our Jumping Pillow.
Unlike most camps, having some “down time” is perfectly okay! If you like to have some time to read, listen to music, play quietly with friends, you can get that at Akeela.
At noon, we’re back in the dining hall for another great meal! As with breakfast, if you don’t like the main meal, you have lots of choices. We have plain pasta, hotdogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers and PB & J at every lunch and dinner. That’s all in addition to a very healthy and kid-friendly salad bar. If you take medicine, our nurses will bring it to you at meals. They are always in camp to take care of you if you’re not feeling well.
Here we see a boy’s cabin. The first half of rest hour is spent quietly on your own bed while the second half is spent playing quietly with the other boys/girls in your bunk. Notice all of the signs up on the walls – We post schedules, calendars, menus and lots more, so you’ll always know what to expect!
Now it’s time for more fun activities. Archery is very popular at Akeela. It’s something you don’t get to try many other places and is a great source of pride and accomplishment for campers.
Tennis – like archery, fencing and martial arts – tends to be more popular with our campers than team sports. While we do play some soccer, basketball and softball at Akeela, our focus is always on having fun, being a great teammate and learning the skills of the game.
Learning golf is a great way to practice hand-eye coordination — not to mention patience and perseverance! Oh, and campers absolutely love our new driving range!
Staying energized and hydrated at camp is very important. Snack time is also a fantastic opportunity to be together as a community, allowing campers to hang out with friends from other cabins.
Specialties are a chance for you to spend more time doing the activities you love the most — with other campers who share your interests. You’ll choose three week-long sets of 2 specialties (6 all together). Akeela is all about community, friendship, belonging, and building confidence & competence BUT we accomplish these things within a really top-notch traditional camp program. Our arts & crafts, for example, are taught by professional teachers and include all kinds of visual arts, jewelry making, and pottery.
Woodshop is a great example of why specialty periods are so cool. You’ll have woodshop every week with your bunk and everyone gets to make one small project. That’s great, but you want to make something larger and more detailed, you can sign up for the woodshop specialty period and make anything you can imagine … as long as it fits in the car on the way home!
A few camp activities, including rocketry and fencing, are ONLY offered as specialties. Rocketry is a BLAST!
The play is another activity that is only offered as a specialty period. Your bunk will have a couple of drama periods, where you’ll get to play some great drama and improv games. Those interested in being in a drama production can sign up for the play specialty, which gives you plenty of time to rehearse with the rest of the cast.
Other specialty offerings include music (instrumental, vocal, songwriting, jam bands, …) and LARPing (Live Action Role Playing). Akeela inspires campers to be who they really are and to explore their creativity!
Evening Meeting is a chance for our community to come together to hear some of the amazing things that happened at camp that day. We do this by inviting counselors and campers to recognize the achievements of others. For example, a counselor might ask you to stand and would announce: “I’d like to recognize you for being so patient and persistent at archery – and for shooting your first bulls-eye. I’m really proud of you!”
Another part of Evening Meeting is that we read from the suggestion box. Any camper can submit a suggestion at any time. Most are read aloud and discussed at Evening Meeting. It’s really important to us that you know what an important part of the camp community you are, and that we’re here to listen to you.
Every night at camp brings a new and exciting evening activity. This is our weekly campfire, where we sing fun songs, perform funny skits, and enjoy quieter songs with a guitar. We also have a weekly Movie Night and regular Hobby Nights, both of which are very popular with campers! During Hobby Nights, campers choose an activity that they may not get to do during the regular camp activity periods, such as frisbee golf, dance, yoga, creative writing, wacky science, card games, etc.
Some evening activities allow us to be goofy and silly, which is one of the best parts of camp. This was an activity where each bunk camp up with an idea for a race car and built it out of cardboard and paint.
At the end of the day, we provide another healthy snack right before bed. Counselors talk to each bunk about the day, and preview the schedule for the next day. Campers get “flashlight time” before bed, to read or listen to music quietly. We help you feel comfortable at camp by keeping many of your routines from home.
One day a week every bunk goes on a hike on beautiful VT or NH trails. This is an incredible experience – a great way to challenge yourself and achieve something you may not have known you could do!
Sometimes we invite people from out of camp to come in and share a special craft with staff and campers. Debbie and Eric, in addition to spending all day around camp with campers, also love to offer program activities. (Debbie is often found teaching cooking and Eric takes a break from playing frisbee just in time to show up and eat!)
One day a week is a Special Event day at Akeela. This is a picture of “Water Day” a few years ago. Other special events have included Harry Potter Day, community service events, Fourth of July activities, Choice Day, and International Day!
Thanks so much for viewing this slideshow. We hope it helps give you a better idea of what to expect from a summer at Camp Akeela. Be sure to write down any questions you have and ask us when we meet!
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