Living in a land-locked state, how are Colorado kids supposed to learn about and appreciate the wonders of marine ecosystems? Ocean First Swim School has the answer with its Marine Science and Mini Swim Camp.
The Boulder-based, weeklong mini-camp focuses on educating children ages 4-8 about ocean-dwelling animals, marine ecosystems, conservation and swimming safety. Campers spend each day learning about a different ocean-life concept in a classroom setting, where they conduct scientific experiments and engage in hands-on activities, crafts and games.
“We teach them how Colorado and [its] rivers are connected to the ocean and how we impact the marine ecosystems, even from here,” says Lauren Pacheco, business development director and instructor for the swim school. “It’s also important to teach kids swimming as a life-skill. The second part of each day of the camp is an on-site swimming lesson with our instructors, where the kids will apply what they learned in class during pool activities.”
According to Ocean Crusaders, each year 100,000 marine creatures and approximately 1 million sea birds die from plastic entanglement alone. The instructors at Ocean First’s Marine Science camp strive to instill young campers with a sense of urgency about this global issue.
During “sea turtle day,” kids perform interactive experiments that highlight the dangers of plastic contamination in the ocean. They are taught how a plastic bag strongly resembles a jellyfish and how the bags often confuse and harm major predators, like sea turtles. Jellyfish are a major food source for sea turtles, which are often found posthumously with plastic bags in their stomachs. The kids are shown how their behavior can directly harm marine life, and are encouraged to develop good practices, like bringing reusable bags along on shopping trips.
The hope is that campers will pass lessons on to their parents who will alter their own habits and shift toward a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
“Some adults are super set in their ways, and if their children are trying to pass along their knowledge, I think [parents] will be more likely to listen,” Pacheco says.
The Schlut family has been taking lessons at Ocean First for years; the parents were scuba-diving-certified at the center and their two children are currently enrolled in swim lessons. Five-year-old Wyatt Schlut participated in the Marine Science Swim Camp last year and is coming back for seconds this summer.
“Wyatt has always been interested in the ocean and fish, and it gave him something educational to do over the summer to fill the free time,” says his father, Joe. “We want him to learn as much as he can about the environment and how to preserve it.”
Wyatt’s mother, Monica, says she appreciates the swim school’s small class sizes and “attentive, passionate instructors.”
“You feel comfortable trusting your children with them,” she says. “Wyatt’s favorite part of the camp was definitely his instructors; he loved them so much.”
His parents say Wyatt’s natural curiosity about marine life was fostered every day at camp, and his most memorable experience was the deep-sea creature day when campers learn how different marine animals communicate with each other through bioluminescence and electroreception. During the activity segment of camp that day, kids use flashlights and metal detectors to imitate these animals and signal each other. Later on, in the pool, the lights are dimmed so kids can pretend they are these creatures, swimming in the depths of the ocean.
The Schluts hope to pass on their love of scuba diving to their children when they are old enough. They plan to enroll their kids in increasingly immersive camps at Ocean First to teach them more skills, and it looks like the Schluts are in luck: Pacheco is currently developing a camp for kids 8-12 year old, which will offer snorkeling and scuba diving lessons.
The swim school’s goal is to inspire a lifelong passion for the ocean in their students.
“There’s a high school kid school who’s interning with us currently. He started out doing our swimming lessons. He then got scuba-certified here, and today he told us that he has done over 120 dives all around the world and that it has been a huge influence on his life,” Pacheco says.
A fundamental education in marine life, conservation and ocean safety is where a child can develop an enduring passion for the ocean.
