Cub Scout Day Camp – Beneath the Sea
Richard Louv’s seminal book “Last Child in the Woods”, proposes that direct exposure to nature is essential for a child’s healthy physical and emotional development. The author continues to opine that the rise in obesity, attention disorders and depression can be linked to the lack of nature in children’s lives.
What’s the solution? Easy, more nature, less screen time. The picture below is a great example of what children do when they are given a chance to be children and play in the great outdoors.
Youth and staff enjoy a game in the outdoors at the 2018 Day Camp
The Cub Scout Day Camp and Famous Egg Drop at Dracena Park is a Piedmont annual tradition that goes back to the 1970’s. The theme changes every year: One year it’s Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) and another it’s Jungle Safari.
The theme of this year’s day camp is Skull and Crossbones: Beneath the Sea. Piedmont Pirates will play and make new friends under the beautiful Redwood canopy of Dracena Park. This summer camp is open to all girls and boys completing grades 1st to 4th grade. They create arts & crafts, learn about sea life on the open ocean, have fun with pirates, and best of all they are out of doors all afternoon. The Day Camp is one week, Monday to Friday, June 3-7 from 1pm-5pm.
The week closes with the famous Egg Drop contest—the original STEM project! At home, children build containers that nestle a raw egg—the container is light enough to float from the top of the Piedmont Fire Department’s fire engine ladder. Families traditionally pack the lawn, enjoying picnic dinners while betting which eggs will survive the 50-foot drop.
Keri Ichimaru, Program Director and Scout parent, fondly remembers the Egg Drop activity, saying “it’s a great family event.” The children learn teamwork, engineering, scientific method—oh, and by the way, they are out-of-doors all day playing in and out of the beautiful shaded redwoods of Dracena Park.
There are few Piedmont traditions that rival the Cub Scout Day Camp and Egg Drop. And this year’s Skull and Crossbones Camp will have everyone saying “Shiver me timbers”. To sign up, go to www.piedmontbsa.org/events or contact Morgan Fjord at 510-844-4752 or [email protected]