Wow! What an amazing 4 days with the kids! On August 6th, Wet Planet held their second annual kid’s kayaking course for ages 10-12. Wet Planet Whitewater is located in the beautiful Columbia Gorge, which makes it a treat to paddle local rivers, for any age group. We had three returning kids from last year - Manon, Camille and Hope - and one newbie, Rion. Rion was in a tough spot, being that he was the only new kid AND that he was the only boy. However, with Rion’s sweet personality and passion for learning, he fit right in with the entire group.
This blog contains bits and pieces from the instructors and the kids themselves. I am including a lot of photos as well . . . enjoy!
DAY 1
We started with introductions and then proceeded with talking about the gear. One fun thing we did with the gear was a “gear relay” - We put the gear into piles around the grass we were sitting in and in teams of two, the kids started at pile #1 (the spray skirts) and raced to each pile, putting their gear on (it had to be perfect - like the pfd’s had to be tight) and then once all the gear was on and checked by the instructor, they tagged their teammate and their teammate cycled through the piles. We had lots of giggles during this game and was definately an “ice breaker” for all the kids.
We spent the rest of the morning in the pool playing with our boats. A couple of fun activities that we did in the pool where:
1. The kids tried climbing into their boats without tipping them. Once they mastered this, we then had them sit in their boat, stand up and sit back down. Both these games were great for the “fun”factor and for learning balance.
2. We practiced holding our breath on land and then holding our breath underwater - so the kids could see that they can actually stay underwater for a reasonable amount of time IF they are relaxed.
3. From here, we went into the wet exits without spray skirts - concentrating on perfect form - a couple of the kids were nervous at first, but once they tried it, they wanted to wet exit over and over.
4. This advanced into the normal “wet exit” and then into a quick introduction of the roll (only because one of the kids asked if we could teach them the roll). . . SWEET!
Here is the great pyramid we made before lunch (this was my first pyramid ever . . . I was never a cheerleader)
After lunch, we headed to a lake to play more games. The first day was pretty much “game day”. We played relays to practice forward strokes and sweeps and also “Sharks and Minnows”, using a pyranha sponge for the “weapon” of choice.
Each day, before wrapping up the class, the kids were asked to write down their thoughts on a couple of questions. Every day, we asked them “What was your favorite thing you did today?” and then came up with one more question which was different each day. On day 1, the other question was “Why do you want to learn how to kayak?” (Remember these are all 10-12 year olds).
“What was your favorite thing you did on Day 1?
The Wet Exit
The gear “relay”
Going to the Lake for game-playing
“Why do you want to learn how to kayak?”
“My dad recommended the class, and I thought awh, what the heck!”
“Because it’s a super cool thing to do!”
“Because it sounded really fun. I always loved to go on boats and swim. I also wanted to come back because being on whitewater in the middle of nature is just great. I also met a great friend and kayaking is all about friendship.”
This wraps up Day 1 of Wet Planet’s Kids Kayaking Course. Stay tuned for Day 2 . . .to learn more about the kayaking programs Wet Planet has to offer, check out www.wetplanetwhitewater.com
Heather Herbeck
