Hartselle Parks and Recreation held the first annual Camp Chaos and welcomed nine students for summer fun. Campers took part in a food fight, crafts, a water balloon fight, games and more throughout the week. 

Heather Drinkard helped organize the camp and said it was created to get kids out and socializing during the summer months. 

“It’s just to get kids out of the house and give them something different to do. It’s something different, a new event to add, but mainly it’s just getting kids out and getting them active,” Drinkard said. 

During the camp students took part in various activities to build social skills and responsibility. Students helped prepare their own lunch each day and made crafts to give to the senior center. “We do several things with the seniors, but they enjoy new people coming in and getting to socialize. It’s good for the kids to give back, for them to spend time working on something and then to give it to somebody else and see their reaction,” Drinkard said. 

The camp was open to boys and girls ages 8-12. Drinkard said they took part in activities that allowed the campers to make new friends and grow more skills. 

“They’ve gained people skills through socializing and making new friends. We have them clean up after themselves, they are not here to work, but they have to clean up their mess and take care of their own stuff,” Drinkard said. 

According to Drinkard the highlights of the week have been the pool and the food fight. She said the students also seemed to enjoy playing games like Bingo. “We have played Bingo several times which is surprising that they like Bingo, but they are huge fans,” Drinkard said. 

Parks and Recreation have offered the camp for the last two years, but this year is the first year they have had enough participants to hold the camp. Drinkard said they hope to expand next year. “We are excited about it. It’s been tiring, but it was fun. We have a great group of kids. We definitely want to do it again,” Drinkard said.