Our Core Activities are the entree of the meal we serve at Hayground Camp, the grilled salmon or wood-fired branzino. Sports, Art, Woodshop, Kitchen/Garden, Swimming and Biking all promote exploration, risk-taking, imagination, and self-development. Staff members in each of these activities are dedicated to helping kids find their passion and then fueling the fire through engagement in that activity.
Our Featured Activities are those that are a little more rare. They are the grilled asparagus with shaved parmesan, the sliced rainbow beets with crumbled goat cheese and fresh pepper. Chess/Birchguard Quest, Trapeze, Fencing, Yoga, Drama and Social Media all encourage campers to stretch their bodies and minds. From understanding how to strategize in Chess to listening to their breath in Yoga, campers are treated to staff members who have devoted their lives to sharing their craft and inspiring kids.
Our older campers have a chance to go to the ocean every week. This is partly about exploring the beautiful environment in which we live and partly about recognizing that Hayground is not just a place, but a people. These trips have the added bonus of being incredible bonding experiences and through shared experience blossoms friendship.
Our Independent Activities are those that do not require a facilitator. Campers are their own facilitators with careful guidance from our group counselors. These activities - 4Square, Gaga, Tonka Town, The Swamp, Sandbox and the Playground offer the most organic opportunities for kids to develop a sense of how to navigate social situations. Whose turn is it with the hose? Did that ball land out of bounds? Should the river be dug this way or that? Answering questions like these collaboratively is not only challenging and enlightening, but arguably offers the best organic practice for maneuvering the ins and outs of everyday life.
Biking@Hayground
Hamptons Trapeze
Check out sample schedules below for each division of camp. The schedule changes from year to year, but this should help to illustrate the way in which choice is at the core of the experience. It will also give you a sense of the sheer number of choices and diversity of activities over the course of the week and even within any given period. Sometimes it is nice to look through the schedule with your child to help them to imagine what a day in the life might look and feel like at Hayground Camp.
