Joekaaru Suvekodu's 63rd Summer session is less than a month away! We are looking forward to welcoming the Estonian children with energetic counsellors, fun activities and an interesting program in nature 'Eesti keeles ja eesti meeles'
We have some significant new programs available that we wanted to highlight. These include a day camp option, a partnership with the EKKT (Eesti Kunstnike Koondis Torontos/Estonian Arts Group in Toronto), a Counsellor in training program for 15 and 16 year olds, and a visiting day for families who would like a taste of camp before signing their children up for a week.
We are excited to announce that the camp has opened up a day camp option for families who wish to register their children for any number of days during the week, running from 8 am - 6 pm, Monday to Friday, for $50 per day. Counsellors will ensure that children are included in all the fun for the day, and will be at the pea maja for the pick up time. This can include three meals a day, or can be just lunch, depending on the schedule that works best for your family. Register using the regular registration form.
EKKT is celebrating their 60th year and are excited to partner with Joekaaru Suvekodu to give the children even more opportunities to explore the arts during the second week of camp. While campers do continue to have daily dips in the pool and games in the fields, this week will allow them the option to devote more of their time to the arts. In honour of their 60th year, EKKT will be hosting a Youth Art Exhibition in November and the second week of Joekaaru will be an excellent opportunity for the children to prepare a piece of artwork to enter in the upcoming ¥outh Art Show!
For the morning of Saturday, July 11, one of Joekaaru's juhatajad, Kersti-Li Fischer, will be opening up the doors to introduce the camp to new families. Parents or caregivers with all ages of children will be welcomed at the peamaja at 9:30, and will have the opportunity to spend the morning together participating in a variety of camp activities such as leatherwork and weaving, games, singing, and can then tour the grounds, culminating in a camp meal that will prove to you that camp food really is delicious! We hope that this will be a nice way to get the new children and their families comfortable with the camp and with all that it offers. Whether they catch a glimpse of our resident snapping turtle, discover a secret fort, or catch grasshoppers, it's sure to be a memorable day! (Camp will be running at the same time, so a swim time will be determined with the lifeguards and will depend on camp usage of the pool.) Registration is required with an email to , and fee is $25 per family, including lunch.
We already have some eager participants for the Counsellor-In-Training program and are looking forward to seeing more. Through this program, kasvandikud born in 1999 and 2000 who are ready for something more can develop as leaders. They will be participating in sessions run by our program-heads about how to encourage team-work, how to foster inclusion, and exploring characteristics of a good leader. The CITs will have the chance to run camp games and activities for various age groups. By the end of the summer, they would have had an amazing experience and skills to last a lifetime! Campers who are interesteed in working as counsellors in the future should think about doing this program.
We will be running all the regular favourite programs for kids ages 4-16, including our Estonian speaker week (first week) culminating in the Perekonna paeva kava at 11 am on July 5. The remainder of the camp will be open to all abilities, with three language instructors having been hired from Estonia to give support for developing Estonian speakers. There will be a focus on the arts for week 2, games and sports for week 3, and lõpu nädal for week 4. The popular JK-Kalev Volleyball camp week will run from July 26-31.
Registration is open for all programs! Our final work day is on Saturday, June 20. Visit our website at
www.joekaaru.com or contact for more info. We look forward to seeing at our little piece of Estonia, in Udora, Ontario.
Joekaaru Juhatuse Poolt
Krista Spence
