Can’t Make It To Summer Camp? Now You Can Bring Summer Camp Home To You!

The experience of summer camp is something many kids can't wait to have. It's a right of passage; something they look forward to all school-year long. But with 2020 being the disaster show that it's been so far, there are a lot of kids who won't be getting to have that "summer camp" experience this year.

Covid-19 has created a lot of anxiety for parents who are apprehensive about sending their children away to camp. Some camps have been cancelled this year. And those that ware taking place have restrictions on the number of kids who can attend. So slots for those have been limited. These issues are just a few of the reasons why many kids won't be attending summer camps this season.

As they've stepped up in the past to fill gaps in educational programming for kids, the folks from PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, have put their thinking caps on to try to solve this problem. And while what they have come up with may not entirely take the place of the total "summer camp" experience, they are hoping it will come close. They're calling it Camp TV, and the thought behind it is this: if your kid can't make it to summer camp, they'll bring summer camp home to you, via your television.

According to their website, camptv.org, Broadway star, Zachary Noah Piser, has taken on the role of head counselor and host of Camp TV and will lead kids through this hour long summer camp experience that includes theme days, arts & crafts and sing-alongs.

"Head counselor Zach kicks off each episode with a welcome song and announces the day’s theme...Zach will then guide campers through a variety of learning experiences — exploring nature, math, science, the arts, movement, storytelling, writing and more...Other hands-on creative activities will include learning how to do magic tricks, turn sneakers into tap shoes, create an oboe from a straw and make guacamole."

Some episodes will air on PBS. But if you can't find them in your local listings, you can stream all of the Camp TV episodes straight from their website.

As a friend of mine commented when I explained the idea to him "It's like all the good parts of summer camp without the poison ivy, lice or smells! And you don't have to do a huge laundry at the end of the week!"

Now that's my kind of camp!