Angela Collins (above), who is the instructor for the School’s Out program, helps out this youth tie-dye an egg

The City of Martensville’s “School’s Out! Program” provided a great outlet for children to have fun during the Easter break (April 5 to 9).

Each day, throughout the week there were four separate hour-long time-slots were children ages 5-12 participated in a STEM (science, technology electronics and math) project along with a physical activity at the Martensville Athletic Pavilion (MAP).

“School’s Out was designed as a program so kids can come in and do something during their break from school,” said Jamie McCulloch, program coordinator for the City of Martensville.

Since COVID-19 guidelines had to be followed, there was a maximum of eight children that were allowed to take part in each of the four time-slots, as there were a total of 32 youth who were registered for the program.

All of the activities that were part of the program had to be done with social distancing in mind which presented a challenge.

“You have to really think outside the box, (for example), how do we play tag, now that we can’t make that contact and what games can we play that we don’t have to share equipment,” said McCulloch.

Even though the group sizes are smaller than what they would usually be for a program like this, that didn’t stop the youth from enjoying what the program had to offer.

“You can really make sure the projects that they are doing are a little bit more challenging and you can do more because you have a smaller number of kids,” said McCulloch.

“If they need help, they can get that help with their project, versus if you have a lot of kids, you have to simplify a few of the things, so kids can do it on their own.”

There was a spring theme to the program, so all of the crafts and activities the youth did were all spring related. One of the projects that they made was a bird feeder.

“The kids had a chance to design and engineer their own bird feeder, and they had the opportunity to decorate it, and get it all ready to go so the birds can have a snack,” said McCulloch.

There are not that many extra-curricular activities right now where children can interact with each other because of the pandemic, and this program was a great way for them to do that in an environment where COVID-19 guidelines are still being followed.

“That was the reason why we decided to run this program, was to get kids interacting with kids they might not be able to see very often now because of the restrictions,” said McCulloch.

This is the second time this year that the city organized the School’s Out! Program as there was one during the February break.

As long as there is a demand for it McCulloch said that the city will keep organizing programs like this during those week long breaks during the school year

the School’s Out Program provided the opportunity for children to participate in some outdoor activity