OHIO provides virtual summer community recreation activities

Summer programming with Ohio University’s Campus Recreation has made a shift toward an online platform as this year’s in-person camp has been canceled due to the pandemic. The online resources provided are an amazing opportunity for kids to engage and challenge themselves. 

“We’re really excited to be working with other camps in the area to combine resources. Keeping kids active and engaged during summer months can be difficult and we want to support families with resources as much as we can,” Assistant Director of Competitive Sports and Community Programming Nathan Ferdinand said.

Video resources and weekly challenges will be uploaded to engage kids in the greater Athens area community.

The activity videos, in which counselors demonstrate easy at-home activities for kids to participate in, will be published each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. In addition, there will be a weekly “challenge”  kicked off with a video each Monday. Kids will be able to complete the challenge and submit results which will be compiled in a wrap-up video every Friday. 

Each week, there will be more content and challenges. Video activity demonstrations and challenges start during the month of June and extend through mid-August.

“We greatly appreciate the parents who have sacrificed and adapted during this time with kids at home as many camps and childcare services in the area have been reduced or restricted,” Ferdinand said. OHIO recreation is optimistic for an online summer camp as an important means of interaction and learning.

In addition to Campus Recreation, there are also local Athens community resources providing multiple opportunities for summer engagement for kids. For example, the Athens County Public Libraries is offering a variety of fun activities, books to read, virtual programs to attend and challenges to complete. Kids can participate in virtual programs (prerecorded or live) twice a week in the online summer reading program. Register with Athens County Public Libraries - Summer with the Library to be involved.