Path to the Present was the first residential camp organised by YMCA in the Czech Republic within the Camp Europe project framework. The Event took place between 08-12 July, 2024, at Starý Plzenec, Czechia and hosted 12 Ukrainian children and their Czech peers for 5-day long activity.
YMCA in the Czech Republic has been setting standards in creating creative camps focused on children’s skill and knowledge development, and, of course, this particular camp was no exception.
The theme of the camp was the Path to the Present. Children walked the evolutionary path from the Big Bang to modern Homo sapiens. Along the way they acquired science knowledge, worked on their creative skills and created beautiful memories.
The learning process was made more interesting with trips to the Dinopark and the zoo where children had an opportunity to learn more about ancient inhabitants of our planet – dinosaurs, followed by the visit to the Zoo where they met modern day animals. Activity helped them understand more about the topic and inspired them to work on their camp challenges and tasks with more confidence.
The camp challenged children with not only new knowledge, but also with different tasks such as crafting their own comics based on acquired information, creating evolutionary chains to illustrate long journeys from the Big Bang to Homo sapiens, and creating performance shows with no prior experience in acting.
It was amusing for the organizers to see how creatively little ones managed to approach the discussion around the divine and evolutionary matters and how well they comprehended this complex topic, and even managed to accomplish all the task with enthusiasm and creativity.
“It was incredibly interesting to see that in a friendly atmosphere the two versions do not have to disagree.“
Many different games – of creativity and flexibility, speed and strength – brought these children, who had not known each other until recently, together to form a united team. They shared all the happy moments and created new memories together while bow shooting, playing with a ball, swimming in the pool or solving quests at night with candles.
The camp is over, but the YMCA in the Czech Republic will be hosting four more activities within Camp Europe during summer 2024.
