By Evan
We’re fortunate at Camp W to have the benefit of extensive facilities – both inside and outside – giving campers room to run in the sun, playing baseball, football, Tower Power and more, after which they can cool off inside while participating in activities like podcasting and our virtual reality experience. It’s perhaps the most versatile and dynamic campgrounds around, which is why we get kids from all over Long Island – Plainview, Melville, Dix Hills, Huntington, Commack – you name it, they come to us because they know we have premium attractions and a caring, professional staff that’s second to none. They can see and feel the genuine enthusiasm that our staff display.
When parents visit us for tours, in fact, they often get a workout just walking around to see everything. One parent I was showing around once compared it to visiting the Met or MoMA, saying that there’s so much to cover and so many activities to see that she just couldn’t take it all in at once.
It is a bit overwhelming, it’s true. Outside we have our Gaga pit, soccer field, football field, volleyball courts, Nerf battlefield, playground, Kiddie Village, Junior whiffle ball field, outdoor remote control cars, Water Village, human fusbool, and more.
Inside you’ll find kids doing karate, relaxing in the camp lounge, playing in the game room, designing something in Arts & Crafts, building a plastic modeling, computer coding, DJing, et cetera. They might also be performing or taking in a show – and we get some of the best talent on Long Island to come to Camp W.
Our extensive grounds also make for better, more engaging events. We have a field dedicated just to Capture the Flag, for instance. And when we have a scavenger hunt or Color War (one of our favorites at Camp W), it’s like campers and counselors are traveling through the Seven Kingdoms.
Being surrounded by high fencing and having a well-kept security perimeter and small staff to camper ratio allows us to give campers a sense of freedom while providing parents with the peace of mind that their children are both happy and safe. Our Middle and Upper Camp kids benefit from choice periods that enable them to get a taste of everything Camp W has to offer. Our youngest campers, meanwhile, think of camp like a giant play area where they can let loose with their imaginations while laughing with their friends, singing songs, and learning new skills.
Having spacious grounds also gives us the opportunity to bring new things in each year and to let our creative juices go to work to produce unique experiences for our campers. It’s led us to build an RC car track for our Kiddie Camp, to add our popular bungee trampolines, and to install our giant waterslide. And when we have our Crazy Olympics, they really do get crazy – with so many athletic and artistic activities, campers come home tired, but telling tales of triumph.
One quick anecdote: My favorite comment about our grounds may actually have come from a parent from Farmingdale. I like to get very involved in things, as he knew. And so he asked me, “How many miles would you say you do each day just walking around this place?” He estimated that I must put in at least a hundred miles each summer, just going from activity to activity and checking on the campers. I’m not sure if he was right, but he was probably in the ballpark. It was after that, in fact, that we decided that the best way to show Camp W might be by one of our golf carts or by drone. You can find our drone video here. Come fly with me.
