KIDS PROGRAM

[This program will be available when Camp Toucan starts operating.]

The Camp Toucan Kids Program will bring together parts of the adult activities and classes, adapted to age-appropriate levels for kids. Since kids have short attention spans, the camp counselors rotate through several activities and topics during the day, with frequent breaks for tropical drinks and snacks, and play time. The counselors divide into small groups by age levels as needed. Lunch is included, with a short after-lunch nap time in hammocks.

Kids of any age and background are welcome, including infants. Those who are toddlers and older need to speak either English or Spanish well enough to ask questions and follow directions. Those around age 12 and older can either be in the kids program (with the counselors engaging them at teen levels), or they can go on day-trips with a parent (if they are old enough to follow safety instructions, be patient, and benefit from the guides on the trip).

Parents can drop off kids as early as 6:45 am, so the parents can go on day trips meeting at 7:00 am and later. Parents can pick up their kids during the course of the day when desired, or at 6 pm at the Social Hour in the plaza, after parents return from day trips and activities. (The drinks for kids are nonalcoholic.) Then it’s usually best for kids to go to bed early with their parents. However, on occasions when parents have evening plans, a counselor can stay with the kids, feeding them dinner with relevant entertainment, then putting them to bed in hammocks and playing soft music with candles, up until 10 pm, when parents come to take them back to their lodging for the night.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE:

From Monday through Friday, the counselors rotate through activities and topics, adapted to the age levels, attention spans, and language abilities of the kids who are present, including:

Pirates of the Caribbean. This involves a field trip to the stone fortress next to the plaza, and the pirate museum inside. Kids climb the ramparts of the fortress to see the cannons pointing out to the lake, ready to blast attacking pirates out of the water. They hear about the secret underground tunnels leading out of the fortress to other places, in case the pirates overwhelmed the defenses. In the museum they see striking wall-size murals of pirates in action, and detailed models of pirate ships. They examine the weapons the pirates used. Later the counselors show them kid-level pictures and videos of how the pirates attacked, and how the locals defended themselves, with questions and answers about why the pirates attacked, and how they got away from their pursuers for many years.

Handicrafts and murals around town. Counselors take the kids on a short walk (with rest stops as needed) to see handicrafts and outdoor murals in Bacalar. The counselors look for opportunities for the kids to see handicrafts being made, wood being carved, roofs being thatched with palm leaves, and murals being painted or touched up.

Mayan music. The counselors take the kids to see local kids practicing ancient Mayan music, in preparation for their next outdoor performance in the plaza. The counselors seek opportunities for the visiting kids to try out the instruments for themselves. There are loud drums, big rattles, and the blowing of conch shells, so it’s an exciting musical time for kids.

Local flora and fauna. The counselors take the kids to view local wildlife at the water’s edge, from a long, elevated walkway along the edge of the lake. Then there is time for the kids to wade and splash around in the warm water nearby, in a large, shallow area at the edge of the lake, with counselors in the water in a circle around the kids for safety. Later, the counselors show pictures and short videos of local flora, such as huge ceiba trees and exotic tropical flowers, and local fauna such as jaguars, black panthers, tapirs, toucans, monkeys, and of course the local honey bees that don’t sting. (With a little snack including their tropical-tasting honey.) At another time, the counselors show pictures and short videos of sharks, crocodiles, lobsters, octopuses, and sea eels, along with the actual shells of conches and other creatures. They make an illustrated comparison of living coral reefs in the ocean, compared to the stromatolites that grow in Lake Bacalar, which live up to 10,000 years, and look like large mushroom-shaped boulders near the surface of the water.

Mayan living. The counselors take the kids to visit a traditional Mayan cabin, with walls made of vertical sticks and a roof made of layered palm leaves. They also see a traditional Mayan canoe, carved in the ancient manner. Later, using pictures and short videos, the counselors show kids how the Mayans used canoes to transport food and implements along the lakes, back when they founded Bacalar in the 400s A.D. Then the counselors use pictures and videos to show how the Mayans built large stone temples and pyramids, and they discuss why that was so important in those times. They show how the Mayans kept careful track of the stars and planets, without telescopes, and how they made elaborate calendars. They show how the ancient Mayan rulers engaged in rituals of painful self-sacrifice, and discuss why they did that.

Folk dancing and carnival dancing. The counselors take the kids to see local groups practicing traditional folk dances. They also arrange for young dance leaders to teach the kids portions of those dances, as well as portions of the dances that teams practice for the annual 5-day Carnival, held in February of each year, with costumes that the dancers make themselves. It’s fascinating for kids to see how the young dancers transform music into elaborate group dances. Later the counselors show the kids pictures and short videos of some of the recent performances by the young dancers.

Spanish in short installments, at kid level. (Kids who already speak Spanish will discuss local culture and wildlife in Spanish.) The counselors take about twenty minutes at a time, rotated with other activities, to teach the kids Spanish in the natural Camp Toucan way – not by translating or studying grammar, but by illustrations showing what the words mean. The kids see a picture, hear the word for it, and see how the word is spelled. (Children too young to read just skip the reading part.) Then the counselors pair that word with other words, with illustrations, to form phrases that the kids will understand by that point. Then the counselors ask simple questions, tailored to each child’s level, that the kids can probably answer by that time, so it becomes a game of seeing who can answer the questions. The words and phrases usually relate to the topics at hand – pirates, sharks, pyramids, and monkeys – as well as common tools and household items, and the things people do with them, so the new words relate to physical things and actions that children will remember.

The kids program will be available Monday through Friday, and kids can start it on any day. Then Saturday is a good day for parents to take their kids on the day trip to Mahahual (Mayan Trip 6) where they can wade together in the shallow, turquoise-colored pools between the beach and the reef. Then they can rinse off in the outdoor showers behind some of the beachfront restaurants, and have lunch together in one of the open-air restaurants along the beach. Perhaps they can take a short nap on a beach towel or hammock. Kids will see countless handicrafts of all sorts, and large pink or orange conch shells, offered by the many small vendors along the beach. In the evening, when we get back to the plaza in Bacalar, they can play with the local kids on the large plastic pirate ship, next to the real pirate fortress, and they can try the different local snacks, such as corn on the cob, crepes with bananas, and sliced mangoes with sauce.

Sunday morning is a good time for kids to sleep in for a while, then have some “down time” with their parents. On Sunday afternoon, a parent can take them to the dock where Calle 36 ends at the lake, where they can join local kids, parents, and grandmothers wading and swimming in the shallow water, then relaxing in the shade under the thatched roof at the end of the dock. Later on Sunday afternoon and early evening there may be some weekend entertainment going in the plaza, though less than on Saturday.

Kids are welcome to be in the Kids Program for more than one week. The counselors rotate the places they visit on the short field trips, and the things they do, so kids staying more than one week will visit new places, and have new experiences, during their subsequent weeks. In addition, as kids learn more Spanish as a second language, the counselors will speak to them in more advanced Spanish. Some parents mistakenly think that kids should not be raised bilingual because it confuses them. It's true that there is a brief period around age 3 and 4 when they get confused, but after that, they duly sort out the two languages, and become more advanced than most of their classmates even in their primary language, plus their second language, as well as math and music. If you want your kid to excel in reading and writing in their primary language, as well as math, music, and their general understanding of the world, staying at Camp Toucan for several weeks will be a great addition to their education.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

When kids travel from one country to another, it’s best if they travel with both parents, so there will be no border-police issue about whether the other parent gave permission for the trip. If they will be traveling with only one parent (or with a relative or guardian), it’s very important to research the documentation that will be required for the trip, well in advance, and double-check that the required documentation is indeed ready, in advance, complete with whatever official notarization or authorization is required. It’s best to check with all three entities involved:  The airline, the government of your home country from which you will be departing, and the government of the country to which you will be arriving (Mexico, and any intermediate destination).

Kids of any age need a passport, and for kids the passport needs to be re-issued more frequently than for adults, since the photo needs to be changed more frequently as the kids get older. So parents should check the passport expiration dates, for every member of the family, well in advance. (New passports take longer to arrive than they did years ago.)