Very few kids went away to summer camp when I was a kid. We had a park nearby with DAY camp, which was half a day (mornings). It was cheap. We learned archery, swimming, sang songs, played all kinds of games where we were running around, of course arts and crafts (can you say popsicle-stick architecture?)….and they always had guests come to perform or show us something cool. Like a guy with snakes. A magician. And guess what famous songster came and sat in a circle with us and played his guitar? PETE SEEGER! (He was a local person, but of course, we didn’t know that he was anybody famous). Since camp was half-day, our parents picked us up around noon. We went home for lunch. And most of us were driven back in the afternoon to go swimming until supper. (And unlike today, parents didn’t stay and monitor us. We were on our own. No helicopter parents back in the early 60s!).
In my day there was the local public pool. I would ride my bike there & swim all day until the pool closed at 5pm & go home for dinner at 6pm. Or there were places like the local theatre that played those.great serials in the mornings on Saturdays. Or various places in the neighborhood where vacant lots had forts we built in them or the lot behind my house. One of the neighbors built a step ladder over their fence & that’s how we got to the lot. We would catch lightening bugs in jars & let them go. There are so many things to do in summer where I lived. But that was the 50’s so I guess no one really knows about such things anymore.
Those were the days. I lived in the city (Newark, NJ) Used to do all of those things too. We could always find something to do and someplace to do it. No park nearby? Hell, we played football in the street. Two telephone poles were the goalposts. Baseball in the large parking lot around the corner. My grandkids look at me like I have 6 heads when I tell then stuff like that. To them it ian’t fun if they can’t do it on the computer, tablet, or phone.
whahoppened almost 5 years ago
I did that. Look how I turned out!
dlkrueger33 almost 5 years ago
Very few kids went away to summer camp when I was a kid. We had a park nearby with DAY camp, which was half a day (mornings). It was cheap. We learned archery, swimming, sang songs, played all kinds of games where we were running around, of course arts and crafts (can you say popsicle-stick architecture?)….and they always had guests come to perform or show us something cool. Like a guy with snakes. A magician. And guess what famous songster came and sat in a circle with us and played his guitar? PETE SEEGER! (He was a local person, but of course, we didn’t know that he was anybody famous). Since camp was half-day, our parents picked us up around noon. We went home for lunch. And most of us were driven back in the afternoon to go swimming until supper. (And unlike today, parents didn’t stay and monitor us. We were on our own. No helicopter parents back in the early 60s!).
Stevefk almost 5 years ago
Failure as a mother and pretty much everything else!
cdward almost 5 years ago
Over at Zach Hill, the poor kid was trying to do all the things that the grandpa here was suggesting — and the old guy was yelling at him for it.
poopsypoo Premium Member almost 5 years ago
In my day there was the local public pool. I would ride my bike there & swim all day until the pool closed at 5pm & go home for dinner at 6pm. Or there were places like the local theatre that played those.great serials in the mornings on Saturdays. Or various places in the neighborhood where vacant lots had forts we built in them or the lot behind my house. One of the neighbors built a step ladder over their fence & that’s how we got to the lot. We would catch lightening bugs in jars & let them go. There are so many things to do in summer where I lived. But that was the 50’s so I guess no one really knows about such things anymore.
Bobtul07110 almost 5 years ago
Those were the days. I lived in the city (Newark, NJ) Used to do all of those things too. We could always find something to do and someplace to do it. No park nearby? Hell, we played football in the street. Two telephone poles were the goalposts. Baseball in the large parking lot around the corner. My grandkids look at me like I have 6 heads when I tell then stuff like that. To them it ian’t fun if they can’t do it on the computer, tablet, or phone.
MCProfessor almost 5 years ago
Sometimes you just gotta let kids be kids!