The winter season can be boring more so because you and your children can no longer engage in the fun and exciting wintertime activities. Winter can make both children and adults lazy seeing that they spend most of their time indoors. However, this doesn’t have to be the case anymore with the numerous winter camp activities available in Switzerland. 

How to Survive During Winter Camp 

Here are some tips to help your child survive through winter camp with ease. 

Ensure their Tent has a Vestibule 

When choosing a tent, make sure it comes complete with a vestibule or a hallway. Make a ditch at the hallway to allow accumulation of cold air. This will make way for warm air to rise over the cold air and make your sleeping compartment warm. The ditch will also come in handy to ensure kids can sit upright inside the tent with their feet down, just as they would do while sitting on a chair. 

Pack their Stuff in Water Proof Bags 

During winter, the weather tends to be drizzly and wet which means stuff will take longer to dry. To ensure that your child’s belongings remain as dry as possible, pack them well in waterproof bags. You should also ensure that they understand the importance of storing their essential equipment inside the tent when they’re not using them.  

If you have to Boil Water, Don’t do it inside the Tent 

Camp instructors and organizers should already know this fact. When you boil water inside the tent all moisture from the boiling water freezes inside the tent. As a result, a slight encounter with the tent walls will cause snow to fall inside the tent. Remember, you want to ensure that your belongings are dry and having moisture inside the tent isn’t going to help you achieve your dryness goals. Where possible, boil your water outside the tent.  

Ensure Your Child’s Sleeping Bag is Warm Enough

A sleeping bag is a must-carry item whether you’re going for summer or winter camp. However, your child’s winter camp sleeping bag should be sufficiently warm to keep them comfortable throughout the camping season. Opt for a synthetic sleeping bag during winter because it can withstand wetness and still keep kids warms enough. 

Where to go for Winter Camp Activities in Switzerland 

Switzerland is a beautiful country where both adults and school-going children from various parts of the world go for both winter and summer camps. The country has different places you can choose as your camping site. What’s more, there are numerous activities you and the children can engage in as we shall see later in this post. Here are some of the places you may want to go for your winter camp.

Camping Des Cheseaux

This camping site is located in Saint-cergue Switzerland. Some of the facilities available include; a playground for the children, a meeting room for the adults, a launderette, and free wifi. Both children and adults can participate in some of the sports activities offered here such as horse riding, alpine skiing, and mountain biking, and snowboarding. There’s a cinema room where you can enjoy yourselves and relax after a hard day’s work. 

Camping Des Frassettes 

This camping site located in Gryon offers 65 pitches of caravans, tents, and motor homes. There’s lots of bread for the kids, a playground, and a kid’s club where children can engage in various camp games to keep them occupied albeit the cold weather. Other activities you can engage in at this campsite include; table tennis, boules, and board games.

Camping Molignon 

If you’re going for your winter camp in Les Haudères, then the Camping Molignon is an ideal site for both adults and children. While here, you can enjoy the scenic sights of panoramic mountains. If you enjoy marveling at rivers, then this site lies approximately 25 meters from the river.

All you need to enjoy the beautiful sight of a frozen river is walk towards it. This site offers 120 pitches of caravans, tents, motorhomes, and also offers table tennis on site. If you prefer engaging in diverse activities, you may want to explore other fun camp theme ideas from a nearby location. These include; horse riding, hiking, climbing, snowboarding, and alpine skiing. 

Verbier

Verbier is a popularly known alpine village situated in Valais Canton Switzerland. If you’re planning a winter camp for students in your school, this location is ideal as it offers a vast ski area complete with exceptional views of the Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.

Here, you’ll have an opportunity to explore and marvel at the ski slopes, a lake, and a nature reserve. If you’re planning to visit Switzerland for your winter camp, Verbier camps should be a must-visit location. 

Must-Try Exciting Winter Camp Activities

If you want to keep the children occupied and busy during winter camp, do it through camp games. Let’s find the outcome of the ideal games for winter camping. 

Tug of War

If you’ve ever played tug of war, you know how challenging it can be. Now imagine how much more challenging it will be if you tried playing it during winter. Not only will the game be fun and exciting, but it will also present you with more challenges especially because it involves sliding and slipping on snow. All you need for this game is a strong rope. You will also need to shove away the snow to prepare a middle ground for the game. 

Snowboarding 

Snowboarding is a fun and exciting winter sport that has been practiced since ancient times. Unlike in the past when participants engaged in the sport by tying wooden planks or plywood to their feet and fastening them using horse reins and clotheslines, today, snowboarders use a special boot specially designed and fixed on a mounted binding. The evolution of snowboarding was and inspiration derived from various other winter sports such as skiing, surfing, sledding, and skateboarding.  

Language Courses 

It’s important to understand that sometimes the weather can be extreme during winter camp. If you’re tasked with organizing the winter camp, you need to consider this fact and include various winter themes to choose from. Language lessons are an ideal indoor winter camp activity which the children will enjoy. Remember, children are fascinated by learning new stuff and it’s no doubt that they’ll be interested in learning a new language. What’s more, they’ll be excited to learn new words in the company of their peers.  

Scavenger Hunting

Scavenger hunting can be fun for the kids, especially if they’re trying this for the first time. Make use of food coloring and have the kids use different colors to dye ice cubes. Come up with a creative game where the kids can take turns in hiding and searching the ice cubes. This game is guaranteed to keep children occupied and entertained. 

Learning Leadership Skills 

Winter camp is an ideal opportunity to develop your child’s leadership skills. As the children engage in different activities with other children from various parts of the world, they get a chance to learn how to be good leaders. Seeing that parents won’t be there with them, the children get used to taking charge of different tasks.

One good thing about winter camps is that children are often divided into groups where each group is tasked with delivering certain responsibilities. This exposes the child to various situations and stimulates their brains enabling them to make decisions. By sending your child to summer camp, you give them a chance to experience the world differently, to see things from a different perspective, and to participate in different challenging activities that they would otherwise not have managed at home.  

Sledding

Sledding is also known as sledding. It is a popular winter sport where participants sit on a sled and slide down a snowy hill. Children can participate in sledding while on a winter camp. However, they should be assisted by adults depending on their age and previous experience. 

Have Cooking Competitions 

Learning how to bake or cook is one way in which children can engage in fun learning activities while on winter camp. To get your recipe right, you have to incorporate various skills through counting, measuring, sorting out, sifting out, and pouring out your ingredients. Camp leaders can make the activity more fun by having the participants practice their recipes from scratch. They can as well identify and name each ingredient as well as try other different cooking methods such as boiling. Cooking can also help students understand various concepts in science.  

Make and Wrap Gifts

Making holiday cards and gifts can be a good opportunity for students to enhance their creativity and writing skills. Come up with the card making concept, and have the children execute it on their own. For instance, you can teach them how to create the cards while incorporating a short letter complete with the salutation, the body, and the closing part. Leave the rest of the task to the children and watch them put their skills into practice.

Once the gift and card making activity is over, have the children wrap and address their gifts to one another. Camp leaders can leverage the wrapping session to develop measuring and math skills by having the children measure their gifts using a ruler or tape measure. The children can also determine the amount and design of wrapping paper they need for their gifts. 

Finally

Winter comes with unfriendly weather and planning for winter camps can be challenging for both organizers and parents. However, there are many exciting activities that your children can participate in during winter camp. Where possible, allow your children to go for winter camps and watch them develop exceptional skills.

School trips not only help students to relax after a long term of studying and preparing for exams, but they also present the students with a great learning opportunity. They trigger interest in different study topics which can help students build their careers in the future. However, if you’ve attended a school trip before, chances are you and your students may want to go back to doing the same activities in subsequent trips. Here are tips to help you know how to find great ideas for your next trip.

Allow the students to take the Lead

Often, teachers collaborate with trip organizers to plan for student trips. While this is a great act, it lacks the participation of the students and many times you could miss out on something interesting that the students would want to try. Involving the students however will expose you to new field trip ideas summer camp. You may not believe this but students are more exposed to matters concerning trips and summer camps. They understand what they want and how they want it executed. You could be surprised at what they bring to the table. Participating in the trip planning and management process will go a long way in enhancing different student skills which can benefit them entirely. When the students assume responsibility for themselves and their colleagues, they instill a sense of ownership in the other students. This strategy promotes confidence and engagement while forming a good working relationship with the rest of the crew. Further, this strategy is ideal when it comes to empowering the students and enabling them to steer their own learning experience. Both teachers and the field trip organizing committee can later discuss how the trip progressed and figure out ways of doing it differently in subsequent trips.

A Change is a Great way of Finding Rest

If you choose to visit an unfamiliar location, you will need to do your research well to understand the location well, establish interesting places to visit, figure out exciting things to do, know what to expect, and above all ensure that the environment is student-friendly. This might seem like lots of work but it doesn’t have to be. Today, the internet offers you lots of information which you can make use of. As the popularity of field trips for students grows, various destinations are giving out resources for different stages and ages. You will gather sufficient knowledge on what to and not pack for the trip, and what to do and not do to ensure the students are happy with the trip.

Field Trip Ideas for High School Students

Field trips are ideal for students as they present them with an opportunity to educate themselves through observation. They expose students to diverse experiences away from their day to day school activities. Before the trip, teachers and organizers take time to gather sufficient field trip ideas for highschool students. This goes a long way in ensuring the students get what they pay for. Field trips come with numerous benefits to the students as seen below. 

Students get Exposure to the Real World

Field trips are among the ultimate tools that teachers can leverage on to expose their students to real-world experiences. Whether the trip involves visiting local museums, cultural centers, theaters, waterfront parks, or even the grocery store, the students will have something to learn from a real-world perspective. Once the students step out of their learning centers, they can experience a connection between what they learn in school and what happens in the world. They become certain that everything they learn in school can be applied in real life to get tangible solutions for various problems. Further, exposure to the outside world enables students to realize that their studies are not in vain; rather they play a huge role in determining how they steer their lives in the future. 

Educational Impact

Field oriented learning is essential when it comes to helping students improve their grades. Studies suggest that students from the middle school who attended science field trips, for instance, had better scores in their state science test. Field trips offer the best opportunities for hands-on learning. Students can remember what they experienced during field trips better than they would theory learning. Take an example of your days in school. What do you remember most? Is it the theory you spend many days on or the things you learned during school trips? Many people will attest to the fact that what they learned during field trips is still vividly etched in their minds as opposed to what they learned in classrooms. During field trips, students have the chance to look at concepts from various perspectives. Ideas are explained in different methods and strategies and this makes them easier to understand, even for the students who have difficulties understanding through conventional methods of learning. As a teacher, you will realize that even the dullest students become bubbly and more confident during field trips. Due to being exposed to various concepts comprehensively, the students will understand their lessons more clearly. Remember, students come from different backgrounds, some of which will never be recreated by the internet or even the books they read in class. Field trips provide students with multiple sensory learning experiences which actualizes lessons and triggers interest towards subjects which cannot be replicated through in any other manner. 

Interactive Learning

Planning a visit to the farm and participating in some activities such as tilling the land, milking cows, and planting vegetables are some of the most interesting field trip ideas for high school. These activities expose students to real-life experiences that they could otherwise not have actualized by reading them from a book. Students can have a physical interaction with what they are learning while on field trips. The experience is unique seeing that the students can see it, feel it, and even modify it accordingly. Unlike in the classrooms where students can only imagine what they’re learning and are not even sure whether or not it’s true, field trips involve having a one on one interaction with different situations. Executing tasks physically is more exciting than the theoretical concept of the same.

Exciting Field Trip Ideas for Preschoolers

Preschoolers are fascinated by the outdoors and attending field trips is one way of ensuring that they learn and master different words as they develop their vocabulary. There are various field trip ideas for preschoolers which will trigger their interests in various fields. Teachers should choose safe and age-appropriate activities to make the activity worthwhile and exciting for the children. Here are some great ideas you may want to consider.  

A Visit to the Local Library

A library is an ideal place for children of different ages. Preschoolers, for instance, can be exposed to reading from an early age by visiting the local libraries. It’s worth noting that reading never stops and regardless of their age, there will always be something for the children to engage in at the library. Preschoolers can participate in scribbling or basic painting competitions for instance. Many local libraries offer child-friendly books which the preschoolers can marvel at during their visit to the library. Allowing preschoolers to explore the library plays a huge role in the development of their brains. Teachers and trip organizers can even allow the students to pick their books of choice and this helps them identify the things they love associating with. Teachers can also engage librarians to instill in the children tips on how to search for books according to their topics of choice. Teachers should, however, always be in control of what the students are reading.

A Visit to the Bakery or Local Restaurant

Almost every child loves bread and good food. A visit to the bakery will have them exploring various types of pastries that the bakery offers. They can even learn how to make bread practically from a young age. What’s more, they will learn all the equipment required to make bread and this way, they will easily identify with the same when they go back to class. Visiting the local restaurant too will be instrumental in teaching the preschoolers what goes on during the preparation of their favorite foods. Apart from learning about food, teachers can leverage this opportunity to teach preschoolers some lifelong safety skills in the kitchen. 

A Visit to the Zoo

A visit to the zoo is an opportunity to learn science from an actual point of view and have fun at the same time. Many preschoolers will identify with the animals from interacting with them in their classroom and watching them on television. What’s more, preschoolers can understand climate change and environmental activities better. Teachers can incorporate a visit to the park on this trip. Here, preschoolers can have a small picnic outing while connecting with their friends. 

Finally

Field trips help students to relate what they learn in the classroom with the real world. The skills both preschoolers and high school students learn during field trips will nurture their skills throughout their lives. Still, field trips need lots of planning and collaboration from administrators, teachers, and parents as well. A successful field trip will give students a worthwhile educational experience. 

Colonie de Vacances can be exciting for children. However, they tend to be different compared to ordinary summer camps. For instance, while traditional summer camp involves engaging in fun activities, French summer camps are more engaging in various French learning activities. These come in handy to help children master the language and gain the confidence they need to speak French well. 

What will Children Engage in while on Colonie De Vacance?

French summer camps offer a wide range of fun and exciting competitions, tasks, projects, quizzes, and games specially designed to stimulate interest within the children and ensure each camper is well involved during their French lessons. Collaborating as a group is fun for the young campers and within no time they begin using the new French words they have been learning while on camp. 

Learners will be Exposed to Advanced Language Learning Methods

Colonie de vacance allows learners to engage in different french language programs in an interactive, entertaining, challenging, and engaging manner. Often, the campers will enjoy a combination of fun and learning which eases their brains to guarantee ultimate concentration. Unlike in the classroom, campers will be exposed to new learning materials which will take them out of their comfort zones.

Usually, young campers are fascinated by new things and have a strong desire to learn more. Putting them in a new environment is essential when it comes to instilling in them new knowledge and skills. The skills they gain will not only be essential during their Colonie de vacance, but they will benefit from the same in various other settings after camp. If you’re a teacher, you understand that campers are always excited about making discoveries.

This is the same with learning a new language and the campers will stop at nothing to learn how to speak fluently in the French language. Another thing that sets French summer camps away from the traditional summer camps is the fact that the campers can choose their activities and projects of choice while on camp.

Of course, these have to be tailored towards helping them enhance their vocabulary and gain confidence in a bid to: interact with both their peers and seniors in conversations, be fluent, and acquire sufficient skills to make a presentation in front of an audience. 

How are the Topics and Projects Chosen?

One of the interesting things about Colonie de vacance, as we have mentioned above, is that campers can choose projects to tackle in their discussion groups. This makes the idea of learning and mastering a new language more personalized and interesting.

Sometimes, however, the camp coordinators and supervisors come up with projects from an innovative point of view for the students. Many times, the campers will select topics touching on things they’re interested in such as the culture or history of their country. 

What Topic do Campers Engage in during the Colonie de Vacance?

There are numerous topics that young campers will engage in during French summer camps and camp coordinators are keen to come up with new topics every summer to maximize camper’s experience. Each project comes with varying levels of complexity and the vocabulary is customized to fit different levels in a bid to accommodate the varying skill levels. Here are some of the topics that your children will engage in Colonie de vacance.

Personality Placards

At the beginning of camp, the young campers design personality placards describing their personality the best way they know-how. This is an ideal way of engaging with and understanding their newly found friends. This topic is also significant to the campers as they venture in new language learning.

The How to Survive Discussion

Young campers gather in groups and discuss some of the ideal equipment to facilitate survival in the desert. Each camper is tasked with coming up with a relevant topic of discussion and learning new vocabulary in the process.

Food Tasting

This activity comes in handy to help the young campers learn new words that describe the different food flavors, texture, and smell. Bright students are rewarded with tasting some of the sumptuous exotic dishes in the region served by their coordinators and supervisors. This can be quite exciting for the campers. 

Holiday Pamphlet Making 

Camp coordinators can divide the campers into groups and task each group with deliberating on and choosing holiday destinations they would be interested in visiting. They can then create their holiday pamphlets according to their selection.

Songs

Campers can select a popular song and collaborate in forming interesting new words to transform the lyrics and the entire song in general. 

Film Project

The campers will be tasked with coming up with an original plan, write down the script, design a film placard, and eventually proceed to shoot a real short film. 

How do Campers Achieve Success in their Projects?

The campers will start their day by holding discussions with their fellow campers and their tutors using the few words they have learned in their new language. Often, a French song will slowly be playing in the background. The tutors will leverage on this time when the campers are fresh and focused to introduce word games and tongue twisters.

Eventually, the campers will be classified in groups where their tutors will initiate conversations regarding the things they appreciate most from the activities of the previous day and the activities they look forward to engaging in the time they have remaining in camp. Holding these discussions in groups is an ideal way of ensuring that the campers master the language with ease and gain the confidence they need to work on future projects together as a group.

When the campers are done executing all the projects, they hand over their results via one of the products from their projects which in this case can be a holiday pamphlet, a film, or a song. 

How are the Language Lessons Executed? 

On their first day in camp, the camp coordinators take time to assess the campers and classify them in groups depending on their age and skill level. The skill levels are divided into four. They are the elementary or beginner level, pre-intermediate level, intermediate level, and advanced or upper intermediate level. Campers will need to take a continuous assessment test to evaluate their progress.

Often, campers will have full French lessons for three to four hours each day. To break any boredom and guarantee ultimate concentration, the campers are given a twenty-minute break in between the lessons. When the camp comes to an end, each student is awarded a certificate. Their progress reports are sent directly to their guardians. 

Where do the Campers Stay?

There are various camping areas in Switzerland offering French camps. Camp organizers are careful when it comes to choosing the location to ensure it’s convenient for the campers and conducive enough to allow them to concentrate on their lessons. What’s more, the area of choice should allow campers to engage in other exciting activities.

Many of the French camping sites in French are not only spacious, but they feature en suite bedrooms for the convenience of the campers. Further, they feature play areas, lounges, and great dining facilities. Depending on their camping location, campers can engage in other exciting activities such as chocolate tasting at the nearest chocolate factory, water-related games in various water parks, sports-related activities such as tennis and archery.

Adventurous campers can also go mountain climbing or even hiking when the lessons are over for the day. Other fun activities that campers can engage in during their Colonie de vacance include beach volleyball competition, talent shows, and cuisine sampling nights. One of the fun and exciting activities that campers look forward to participating in is the farewell faun filled evenings.  

Benefits of Attending Colonie De Vacance

While learning the French language is the topmost purposes of attending a French summer camp, numerous other benefits can be of help to your children now and in the future. First, however, it’s worth noting that learning a new language in a new environment, under different settings, and in the company, on many campers, many of whom are strangers stir a desire for success in the young campers. You child will master the language better while on summer camp than they would in a class setting.

This is because there are numerous fun activities to engage in and these stimulate the children’s interest in learning and mastering the new language. Other benefits of going for French summer camps include: your child will gain leadership skills, they will interact with other campers from across the world and make many friends, they will understand the world from a different perspective, and the entire experience will be eye-opening. 

 Finally

Learning a new language is critical for your child. Where possible, send your child for French summer camp and it will give them a good foundation for their future, especially when it comes to careers. It’s worth noting that the world is fast becoming a global village and more people are traversing the world in search of better job opportunities. Understanding more than one language, therefore, maximizes your chances of getting hired.