Sparks Camp

Are ages four and six too young to go to sleep-away camp? Well yes… and no.

Our local girl guide chapter offers a Mummy and Me camp for their youngest members. And mum can bring along a younger sibling for a nominal fee. So we gave it a try.

Camp Woolsey in Ottawa’s west end has been in business for over 70 years. It’s a basic camp, but it has all the ingredients of a geniune Canadian summer: flag raising, bunkbeds, canoes, crafts, songs, and campfires.

Kids loved it. Highlights included s’mores, archery, painting one another with clay from the riverbed, energetic leadership from the counsellors, and late nights to bed. A wonderful introduction to summer camp.

The lowlights? Poison ivy. They warned there was lots of it. The kids were spared thank goodness but Kim reckons she ended up with the urushiol on her shoe, then sat cross-legged and got some on the backs of her legs. Itchy go scratchy.

Rating:  ☺☺☺☺(- 1 for poison ivy)