TSCK CARRIES ON CAMPING
Keep the kids busy, entertained and informed this summer and beyond By bazaar staff
“Camp” is not just for [Anna] Wintour, in fact, it’s best in the summer and The Scientific Center Kuwait is offering eight weeks of education and entertainment in a fun learning space for children who are aged 4 - 12 years old. Imagine less “MET Gala in May” and more a gale of environmental information on a meteoric scale throughout June and July. Through a series of eight weekly courses running from June 16 – August 8, inquisitive young campers will discover a wealth of knowledge on the fascinating world of Natural History. A spokesperson for The Scientific Center of Kuwait (TSCK) advises that the courses have been written, “in an effort to foster a love for the environment and concern for the conservation of its resources.” One well thought out aspect to these eight, 94
week-long camps, is that while attending for the full two months would undoubtedly be an incredibly full educational experience, the program has been cleverly written so that each week works as a single summer camp module by itself. Kids can attend a camp without having taken part in the previous weeks’ camps and still get just as much out of the five days long schedule. This means your child can attend one, or as many as you’d like, at any point during the summer program and attain the same level of understanding and enjoyment. There are three age groups for the camps; 4 - 6 years, 7 - 8 years and 10 - 12 years, and each group has their own “Explainer” with two assistant explainers and also volunteers who help to run the program daily. Each of the weekly camp’s age groups will experience the same topics and themes but will be taught at different levels according to their age-appropriate abilities. What is admirable about these camps is the way that the experience has been designed to be
delivered. There is an excellent staff to camper ratio when you consider the number of people on hand to help the cohort of up to 24 participants in each group. This means that as well as the material, which is engaging for all children, and delivered considering a number of pedagogies, parents can be confident in the quality ancillary support too. Because of this, the attendance of those children living with autism who are able to enjoy a level of demanding play-to-learn environments is also encouraged. A camp day starts at 9 am in Discovery Place which can be considered the “home room” for this first half an hour. Here attendance is taken and the groups readied for the busy day ahead. After home room, there is a quick physical warm-up to get the blood flowing, synapses firing on all cylinders, and the kids excited for the next sixty minutes of science class. No matter how much fun, learning can take a lot out of a child, so there is a designated snack break during which they can top up their energy. Even the break