Lethbridge summer camps ‘going back to normal’ with minimal restrictions

Summer camp sign-ups at the YMCA of Lethbridge are off to a hot start.

Program registration for non-members doesn’t open until April 25, but officials say there aren’t many spots left.

“We’ve had an overwhelming amount of interest and support for our licensed childcare summer camps so we’re really excited about that,” senior licensed programs manager Brittany Janecke said.

On the registration page of the YMCA’s website, monthly summer camps for kids between five and seven years old and seven to nine years old are already listed as full. For weekly camps, there is only one week between the two age ranges with spots still available.

But for parents interested in placing their children in summer programming, there are other options.

Both Lethbridge College and the University of Lethbridge are accepting registrations for most of their camps on their websites. Other places, like BGC Lethbridge, haven’t opened registration yet.

For kids enrolling in camps, the programming will look different this summer compared to the last two years.

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“We’re trying our best to make sure we can bring it back to what it used to look like and go from there,” Janecke said.

Relaxed public health measures are expected to have minimal impact on activities and the YMCA plans on returning to business as usual, with only a few pandemic staples in place.

“We’ll try to reconnect our kiddos with each other and our community.

“Going back to normal, we will have increased sanitization and cleaning protocols and we’ll try to encourages lots of handwashing and lots of space.”