BOCA RATON, Fla. – Summer camps across South Florida have been forced to re-think how they do everything due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Many have gone virtual, but the pandemic also led to a very bright idea for one summer camp.
Carefully and delicately, campers are building something special thanks to 5 ArchiCamp.
“I like to do the windows because I get to color them blue and blue is mostly my favorite color,” one camper, Grayson, told Local 10 News at his home in Boca Raton.
Working with blueprints and model kits, 5 ArchiCamp is hands-on.
The idea was born out of the pandemic. Architects Kenia and Matt Forget found that because of the quarantine, camp options were limited.
“We really couldn’t find anything that was engaging enough for them, that kept them active, that kept them focused,” Matt Forget said.
So the couple built on their love of architecture.
“They get to build a cabin. It has solar panels and side panels, which is what the kids have been working on -- siding panels -- and they also build a base with trees, which is another thing you’ve seen them work on, and they actually assemble a site as well for the camp,” Kenia Forget said.
Children returned to camps across South Florida this week.
Larah Araujo had one word to describe how she felt about returning to the Austin Hepburn Center in Hallandale Beach.
“Excited, because I haven’t seen a lot of my friends and teachers,” she said.
Parents say camp helps with childcare and makes up for the loss in learning since school abruptly ended.
5 AchiCamp is virtual as campers work from home with video instruction.
“It was an activity for me and my little brother to do together. So it was some time that we could take away from the screen and really use our brains to build something,” camper Alyssa Cabarcas said.
5 ArchiCamp says they have been surprised by their sudden success. The cost of the five-day camp is $100. The two-day camp is $50.