How do you keep kids entertained and active while maintaining social distance you ask? Our experienced curriculum team came up with a long list of fun, exciting, challenging ideas for summer camp activities while social distancing that everyone loves. You can thank us later.

From sports games to crafts, themed days, STEM projects, and more, here is a list of 7 programming activities that allow social distancing and a ton of fun. 

1. Play human foosball with offensive and defensive player zones. Use floor tape or cones to designate zones, limiting equipment sharing and physical contact between campers. 
2. Kick instead of throw. Modify sports games like kickball or dodgeball that require balls to be thrown to be kicked instead. This limits hands touching equipment. 
3. Teach specific sport skills and create individual challenges for campers to practice performing, just like the NBA Skills Challenge! Pick your sport, teach and demonstrate a few different skills, then put them all together in one motion before the big challenge. This limits contact, equipment sharing and encourages skill building. 
4. Themed days at camp are the perfect opportunity to build team spirit, promote inclusivity and foster friendships that will outlast camp. Wacky hats, silly socks, team jerseys and superheroes are a great place to start. 
5. We call it ‘Camps Got Talent.’ Host your own talent show! This gets the camper’s creativity flowing and allows them to work together to achieve a goal. Start with group creation, practice, stage and prop build, then showtime!
6. Let’s have a Building Bonanza. Working in their group cohort, campers will use various materials to create and build their own projects from scratch. Throughout the week groups can create blueprints and collect materials to use for their project. This fosters creativity, resourcefulness, teamwork and completion! 
7. Be Free and Do Like Me. This twist on a classic dance party and Simon Says is the perfect way to get everyone engaged and moving. Campers will spread out in their own space then imitate the different movements your coach does. Put on some music to grab everyone’s attention – we recommend this playlist. 

As we close out the summer and transition back to school, we want to recognize the incredible memories we’ve made and positive experiences we’ve had by reuniting through summer camp. To our 2020 camp families,  thank you for trusting us. We’ve had a blast.

“We are so happy that we decided to brave the COVID summer of 2020 and send our three children to Kids in the Game camp. The staff is vigilant about keeping the children and counselors properly socially distanced and masked. Despite these atypical camp procedures, they are still incredibly successful and motivated at engaging the children in all the different camp activities… Kids in the Game has saved summer for our family.”

— 2020 Camp Parent

Kids the Game often uses the tagline #GrowingUpKing when talking about how we want to positively affect the way kids are growing up in New York City, but the tagline also applies to how we want to grow as an organization. We are dedicated to challenging ourselves, embracing diverse backgrounds and experiences, and always striving for personal and professional growth.

As of today, Kids in the Game (KING) is excited to announce that we have recently acquired and will join forces with Fit 4 Life NYC, a youth organization focused on sports, creative movement, and physical education programs for charter schools in underserved communities. Together, the organizations serve over 20,000 NYC youth annually across 50+ schools.

Along with growing our network of schools, Fit 4 Life NYC will add over 40 talented and dedicated coaches to our current staff. The combined organization will now employ over 125 youth development instructors working in NYC schools on a daily basis across Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. Among those 40+ coaches, Maurelhena Walles will be coming on board to our Sr. team as Sr. Vice President of Program and Initiatives. Maurelhena brings both a wealth of knowledge and a fresh perspective to Kids in the Game and we are thrilled to be working together to bring the very best programming to all kids growing up in New York City.

“By joining forces with KING, the possibilities and opportunities are limitless, said Maurelhena Walles, Execute Director of Fit 4 Life NYC. “Through our programs, services and genuine love for the work we do, day in and out, I am confident we will have a greater impact on the youth, families and communities we serve. Together, we can keep kids in the game while making NYC fit for life. We’re looking forward to this next chapter and building a tremendous organization.”

“Our acquisition of Fit 4 Life NYC allows us to further our mission to make a real, measurable impact on the health and future of NYC youth,” said Matt Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Kids in the Game. “We found through our discovery process that our teams had a tremendous amount in common, and the acquisition will make it possible for us to reach new neighborhoods, expand our programming, and deepen our leadership team. We look forward to working with Maurelhena and her team to give all New York City kids the opportunity to be active, healthy, and have access to positive coaches. ”
As we officially join forces with Fit 4 Life NYC today, we want to encourage you to reach out to info@kidsinthegame.com with any questions that you may have!

Read the full press release here!

About Fit 4 Life NYC:
Fit 4 Life NYC is committed to supporting schools, non-profit organizations and under-served communities in creating healthy and active environments. Based in NYC, Fit 4 Life NYC provides comprehensive school day and enrichment programs, professional development workshops, and traditional and non-traditional sports. Fit 4 Life NYC works with over 20 schools, non-profits, and other community based partners across 4 boroughs of NYC, reaching over 4,000 youth annually.