Summer Fun Camp Lives Up To Its Title • Dalton, GA

Wednesday, July twenty ninth, 2026

Summer days are made for having enjoyable whenever you’re a child. That’s definitely been the case this summer time for the youngsters who took half within the Dalton Parks and Rec Department’s annual Summer Fun Camp. The program wrapped up final week. The focus was on enjoyable, however the DPRD additionally managed to sneak in some schooling alongside the way in which. 

“We make it fun, so it’s sort of a fun kind of learning,” mentioned Audrey Simmons, who coordinates the camp program. “We’ll play games that involve your math skills. And we’ll have 15 minutes where we’ll do spelling and writing or reading comprehension, but we make it fun.” 

Caption: The Summer Fun Camp crew posed collectively for an image in entrance of a dinosaur throughout a library area journey

This summer time, the camp had 65 members starting from ages 6 to 12 years outdated. The seven week camp was rather more than only a daycare for teenagers on summer time break from college. The program featured area journeys every week to locations just like the Dalton Municipal Airport, Red Clay State Park, Chattanooga’s Coolidge Park and pool advanced, amongst many others. The campers grew greens and flowers in a backyard, harvesting the produce on the finish of the camp for snacks and floral preparations. Each Friday, the campers received to swim on the DPRD pool. In between, the youngsters received an opportunity to play sports activities, learn books, and have a great time. 

“The camp’s really focused on (the kids) having pure fun. We don’t allow phones or anything like that. We play old school games, and try to get them back to the table, playing cards and board games,” Simmons mentioned. “We allow them to be creative and have a little independence, while still having boundaries.”

When studying an inventory of the completely different actions that made up this yr’s camp schedule, it’s exhausting to think about that anybody received bored alongside the way in which. For instance, the campers took a visit on foot to the close by artwork studio of Dalton muralist Mayelli Meza, the place they have been capable of study artwork from knowledgeable. Georgia Power despatched an engineer to show the youngsters about electrical energy. An area crafts artist taught the youngsters fingers on arts and craft classes. And the youngsters additionally received some schooling within the kitchen, collaborating in a pancake workshop, a sandwich making workshop, and in addition a cupcake adorning contest. Not surprisingly, that was among the many favourite days for many campers.

Caption: A area journey to the Dalton Municipal Airport gave Summer Fun Camp members an opportunity to take the controls of an airplane (whereas safely parked on the bottom)

“We stress kindness and community,” Simmons mentioned. “We have some kids who have been coming to this camp for four years in a row, so they’re family. So we ask them to look after each other and be kind, and it’s really been a thriving, creative environment.” 

Simmons credit her workers of camp counselors for the camp’s success. Comprised largely by highschool college students and in addition faculty college students working the camp as a summer time job, the advisors have been in control of ensuring the campers had enjoyable every day and felt welcome. 

“I tried to teach (the counselors) to lead with love. To show compassion, and remember how it felt when somebody showed you kindness and made you feel loved and welcome,” Simmons mentioned. “And I needed the advisors to have enjoyable as nicely, which I believe is what made them such nice counselors.

“We additionally needed the older youngsters to mentor the youthful ones,” Simmons said. “We had three teams, and the third group is the ten, 11, and 12 yr outdated youngsters they usually form of cleared the path for the youthful youngsters.”

Caption: The Summer Fun Camp counselors eat lunch together during an excursion in downtown Dalton

Other activities in the summer camp included a trip to the Nob North Golf Course driving range, a chance for the kids to create and record their own podcasts, a trip to the local theater to watch a movie, morning walks, and playing every sport available. In short, the days were packed. 

“We have been imagined to do a pizza occasion, too, however we have been simply so busy. It was motion packed, man,” Simmons said. 

The DPRD held its first Summer Fun Camp in 2019, and the program has steadily grown in participation in the years since. Next year’s camp promises to be the best yet, but the 2026 edition will be a tough act to follow. 

To see more photos from the Summer Fun Camp, click on right here to go to a photograph gallery on the City of Dalton’s Facebook web page