Life at the Bay

No other topic could create a catastrophe of opinions, judgements, beliefs and arguments as parenting. Add technology in the mix and you've created world war 3. According to a survey conducted by internet security company AVG in the US, 92% of children have an online presence by the time they are 2 years old. These days children learn to swipe a screen before they are able to hold crayons. The digital revolution of the past 2 decades has induced a moral panic in parenting. When a child goes on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, parents have certain unanswered questions such as: Are our kids aware of the privacy settings on social networking sites? Do they adhere to them? What kind of online games are our kids playing? Are they playing the right ones or ones that are not suitable for their age/ taste/ social-cultural backgrounds? How much digital engagement is enough and how much is too much? Though a child's online presence allows young people ac...

We all love friendship bracelets and knowing how to make our own is even better. Make this quick and easy friendship bracelet from the comfort of your own home in these quick and simple steps. You will need: 3 Strings(Different colours will be better) Safety pin Scissors 1. This design uses 3 strands of floss, but only 2 are seen in the main design. Cut the first (unseen) strand about 4 times the desired length of your bracelet. 2 .Cut 2 more strands of different colours about 10 times the desired length of the bracelet. When in doubt, cut more than you think you will need.  3. Double up your threads and tie a knot leaving a loop. Use the safety pin to attach to a pillow or other work surface. Divide thread by colour. My orange thread is the centre(unseen) thread. 4 .Make a "4" shape with your left thread. 5. Bring the end of the thread under the centre string and over itself. This is a forwar...

This week the campers were welcomed to England for the 2015 rugby world cup. What better way to show support for the Springboks than a week that consisted entirely of Rugby madness. Monday Campers enjoyed an extraordinary day of activities at the beach that included surfing and kayaking while bonding with their peers and counselors. Monday evening had the junior campers learn some rugby skills from their counselors while the seniors got to test their rugby knowledge at quiz night. Tuesday With another beautiful day awaiting our rugby fanatics, campers were spoiled for choice with land and beach activities. That evening our campers were invited to the palace for Casino night.  Wednesday On Wednesday our campers were treated to an excursion for a viewing of the rugby match and later they enjoyed a lovely dinner at MacDonald’s. Campers who stayed at camp didn't miss out on the rugby experience either . A fter their afternoon...

With the recent news of 56 students being hospitalized for food poisoning in KZN ( read the article here ), we thought it would be a good time to introduce the person in charge of our kitchen and understand the strict hygiene practices we follow to avoid such instances of food poisoning or contamination. When regularly feeding over 150 children and staff members, it's something that we take quite seriously. But first... Time to see your silly side! What's the craziest food concoction you've ever heard of? I have 2 that I eat regularly. Ready for this? Toast. Butter. Syrup. Aromat. Delicious! The other one is Toast. Butter. Tomato Sauce and Marmite. Don't worry though, I won't be serving that at any meal times! What's your favourite camp meal? KFC-style chicken. Just like Colonel Sanders, I've got my own secret recipe of herbs and spices! And NO I won't tell you! What's one food you haven't tried yet? Mopane worms! Our beloved Che...

We live in a pretty interesting world: sometimes it seems that everything revolves around sharing our every move on social media - insane amounts of selfies, tweets, I-just-went-to-the-gym updates, look-what-I'm-about-to-eat Instagram shots or endless hours spent on Pinterest pinning cute DIY projects that we'll never have time to do because we're too busy Pinteresting... I could go on and on. And it's all very rich coming from me, since the words 'Social Media' form part of my job description here at Sugar Bay. I'm not saying that it's all bad, but when I read that kids can spend up to 7.5 hours A DAY behind a screen I think, when do they have a chance to just be kids? The answer (of course) is AT CAMP. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the answer to many of our youth's problems can be solved with camp, but I may be slightly biased :) There are growing concerns related to technology usage, and it's not just affectin...

I'm sure you've heard it said many a time on our website and Facebook page : Come to Sugar Bay and try new things . This experience in itself is of course a fantastic one, something that we endlessly promote for the fun value as well as the impact on a child's development. But what EXACTLY does trying new things do for kids, what skills are they learning whilst at camp? Although there are many, we chose to focus on just 7 of the important social skills that will help children as they grow older. And we don't mean the 'social' skills that involve 'socializing' on your phone, tablet or behind any other kind of screen. We're talking about a different kind of Face Time, the kind where kids are sitting face to face with one another and interacting in the only real-time there is, the here and now. Supportive Communication -  Positive reinforcement is a wonderful thing - from parents, counselors and friends. Some campers have even said that suppo...