We LOVE Dr. Seuss at Camp Kern!  The timeless designs, memorable characters, and great messages are really powerful for kids.  This points to so much of what Camp Kern does with kids.  The YMCA’s values of Caring, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility come out in the every-day interactions of campers and counselors, and are often just as subtle and textured as the wonderful Doctor’s.

We’re all excited for another summer of camp, for the Lorax movie, and the opportunity to continue to make a difference in the lives of kids!

Natalie performing the Camp Kern song at Harry Potter Week!

Written, performed, recorded, mixed and made awesome by Natalie Jones, Counselor Summer 2011

Check it out in the Camp Kern 2012 Summer Camp video

Check out some of Natalie’s other work here

After two years of single-day Percy Jackson and the Olympians themes, Camp Kern is now expanding the Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter theme for an entire week of overnight camp!

Check out all the photos from Camp Kern’s 2011 Percy Jackson Day!

Demi-gods are needed to fill out the ranks at Camp Half-Blood.  The cabins are ready, Dionysus is grumpy, and there are dark stirrings.  There are quests awaiting, training sessions planned, and monsters to be vanquished.  Are you ready to join our ranks?  Are you ready to test your character and courage against the same challenges faced by Hercules and Jason?  We’ll see you this summer!

Check out the great article about the Percy Jackson world and author Rick Riordan done by Rock Center with Brian Williams.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ozone Zipline gift certificates make perfect gifts for the entire family. Good for two years and available for all our 2012 tour options, they are sure to be a hit with anyone lucky enough to receive one this year.

Call 513-932-3756 to order yours today.

Today as I was walking across the athletic field I had an uncomfortable moment.  I stepped in a mole tunnel.

If you have never noticed such a thing, you’ve obviously never seen some of the fields around Camp Kern.  Yes, moles live here.  There is certainly some crazy contraption out there which could either catch them or, I shudder to imagine, smash them.

Yet, we let them live.  They normally aren’t much of a disturbance, just a slight annoyance when their tiny tunnels grow too large or their mounds of dirt too high.

But that all changes when it rains.  When it rains, their previously unobtrusive tunnels turn to gooey mud-filled traps for unwary feet.  And that’s what happened to me and my just-cleaned boots.

There is something important here for us, and for our kids.  How many days do our kids go without really playing outside?  When is the last time your kids were covered in dirt, or rain, or snow?

Camp Kern exists to reconnect kids to nature, and through that connection to foster an appreciation for our world and a willingness to engage without fear.  This is why we do things like Winter Camp and (even muddier) Spring Camp.  This year, Winter Camp looks to be less “White-out Wonderland” and more “Tough Mudder”.

We’re OK with that.  Whatever the weather, there are amazing things to see, smell, jump and splash through in the outdoors.  And here, there are not only 485 acres of outdoors, but willing companions on the journey.

So, as I’m cleaning off my previously sparkly clean boots, I remember the moment two days ago as I rode a brand new zipline across the Little Miami, and saw a river which is flooding it’s banks, and tiny runoff streams raging like the Colorado River.

There is nothing quite like a rainy day to make you remember why our planet is so amazing.  We hope you can join us in our little corner very soon.

Register Here!

Reasons to come to Winter Camp:

• New campers are encouraged to come to Winter Camp to get a taste of what Camp Kern is all about.
• Everyone loves Hot Cocoa.
• Experienced Summer Camp Counselors ensure everyone has a Safe, Fun and Magical time!
• Get in the holiday spirit.
• Mom and Dad have time to go shopping…
• Meet great new friends.
• Get outside and play in the snow!
• Elves.  Enough said.

Register Here!

Camp Kern’s own Executive Director has been featured in the November/December edition of Camping Magazine! His article, “Why the world needs summer camp” has been posted on Camp Kern’s blog before, but now it is being shared with even more people across the Camping industry. Check it out on the American Camp Association website here:

http://www.acacamps.org/campmag/1111/why-world-needs-summer-camp

or read the rest of the online magazine here:

http://www.acacamps.org/campmag/1111