Pinecones (Ages 3-5)
Mission: Create a summer experience for our families so exceptional that it creates campers for life!
At Pine Grove, we offer a 5 full-day program as well as a 3 full-day program and 5 half-day program. Our Pinecone Division boasts the lowest camper to staff ratio in camp. Groups are typically between 10 and 12 campers with 3 to 4 staff members. Plus, each activity is run by one of our Pinecone Specialists who are hired and trained to specifically work with our 3, 4, and 5 year olds.
The focus of the Pinecone Program is threefold: development of gross and fine motor skills through athletic and creative activities, learn to swim, and social development.
Pinecone Athletics
At Pine Grove, we have MINI versions of EVERYTHING!! Whether it is mini-soccer, mini-basketball, t-ball, or gymnastics; we have modified traditional activities so our youngest campers can experience success. Your camper will enjoy learning the basic skills of traditional sports with our athletic specialists, who are specially trained to teach and engage our 3, 4, and 5 year old campers.
Creative Arts
Pine Grove’s Creative Arts Center is second to none. Your child will be exposed to a variety of artistic activities in air conditioned classrooms led by art teachers. At least once a week, our campers attend Ceramics, Music, Cooking, Drama, Nature, Dance, Arts and Crafts, Jewelry Making, and more.
All of our Pinecone groups perform a Dance routine in our annual Dance and Drama Production. This is no small production! It is traditionally held the 6th week of camp in the evening at Pine Grove’s indoor theater, complete with professional sound and lighting!
Low Ropes and Confidence Course
Climbing and Ropes Courses are a big part of the Summer Camp experience. At Pine Grove, we built a low ropes course not only to help develop our Pinecone’s gross motor skills but also gain some of the tools they will need to tackle our Climbing Tower. Our Pinecones spend their time at the Low Ropes Course climbing, exploring, and swinging while just inches off the ground.
The Pine Grove Confidence Course contains many of the same elements as our High Ropes Course but it is only 5 feet off the ground so our campers are able to become comfortable with being on belay and traversing the elements while still close to the ground.
Our ropes courses are inspected before each season by the same company that built the courses and daily by our certified ropes instructors, who also lead the groups through all of our ropes courses.
Learn to Swim
Swimming is not only a life skill, but there is no better place to teach your child how to swim than the over 12,000 square feet of heated pools at Pine Grove. We teach and train our own instructors every year and our swim techniques are based not only on the American Red Cross but over 25 years of practical experience in getting children to learn how to swim.
For our Beginners, our state of the art Aquatic Facility has two shallow pools so even our youngest camper can stand. This dramatically increases their comfort level as well as their initial progress. Every morning, our campers participate in a 40 minute Swim Lesson lead by one of our certified swim instructions with the assistance of the group counselors and every afternoon, our campers return to the aquatic complex for 40 minutes of free swim where they are able to play with other campers as well as the group counselors.
Social Development
The most magical aspect of camp is that children learn to get along with other kids in a group setting, and in doing so become more confident and independent. While traveling from activity to activity, the group will also work on building friendships, working together, sharing, and learning to interact in a respectful way with other campers and staff. Pine Grove offers a caring environment where children learn the emotional and social skills necessary to succeed in life.
Pinecone Lunch
In order to better serve the nutritional needs of our preschool campers, Pinecones eat separately from the rest of camp and get the first lunch period of the day. If need be, we serve them extra snacks during the day as well. The Pine Grove Staff will accommodate any dietary needs your child may have.