Last month, my children spent 2 weeks at the 2015 DVA Delft School Holiday Camp. We moved to the Netherlands three years ago now (which you can read more about over on my Dutch Australian website). As a working parent (something else I write about! Over at Professional Parents Network), school holidays can be a tough time – the children are off school for 6 weeks and often both parents still need to work. There are daycare options and a whole range of daycamps here in the Netherlands, but most are really expensive. However I happened to discover the DVA gem last year, which was just a short cycle away and only 30 euros per child per week, including lunch! This is due to the fact it’s a not-for-profit organisation that has run for many years, and they have a large team of volunteers. Last year was the girl’s first time there and the theme was Disney I think.
This year, I just loved the theme: Time Travel. I am translating from Dutch but here are the daily themes:
First week:
- Monday: Prehistory
- Tuesday: Greeks & Romans
- Wednesday: Cities and Knights
- Thursday: Vikings
- Friday: Workshop day
Second week:
- Monday: Golden Age
- Tuesday: Renaissance
- Wednesday: Disco/Flower Power (70s)
- Thursday: Future
- Friday: Circus Day
They also gave us a list of inspiration if the children chose to come in fancy-dress each day: (again I’m translating from Dutch and have learnt a few Dutch words!).
Prehistory: Primitive lifestyles, leopard prints, bones through your nose or head
Greeks & Romans: Leaf laurels, Togas, Sandals, Greek or Roman Gods or Goddesses
Cities and Knights: Kings robes, helmets, Princes, princesses, swords, chainmail, horses.
Vikings: Fur coats, beards, plaits, axes
Golden Age: Michiel de Ruyter (famous Dutch Admiral), sailors, pirates, eye patches, golden coins
Renaissance: Ballgowns, wigs, white faces, red lips, blouses
Disco/Flower Power: Glitter, bright colours, disco balls, lang hair, owl glasses, bellbottoms
Future: Aliens, Aluminium Foil, UFOs, coloured hair, computers
One of the things I love most from a cultural perspective is that though I grew up on the other side of the world in Australia, all of these themes were familiar to me.
My eldest daughter really enjoyed researching the themes and dressing up most days. My youngest wasn’t really interested – except for the princess day!
I love how the volunteer staff got into the themes though, here are some fabulous photos from the DVA Facebook Page:
Here are a few of my own photos:
