Let the games begin!

Children at Merrick Woods, a day camp on Merrick Avenue near the Merrick and East Meadow border, took part in a cavalcade of games and competitions last week as part of the camp’s Olympics. In between the opening ceremonies on Wednesday and closing ceremonies on Friday, campers played sports, ran relays, jumped rope, climbed over obstacles, learned cheers, wrote sing-a-longs, made banners, and carried out a scavenger hunt.

Merrick Woods’ Olympics centered around four teams: Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, West Point Army and American University. The teams, which each comprised about 90 campers, wore white, blue, gold and red, respectively. Counselors got into the action too, participating in a water balloon toss, hot dog-eating contest, scooter race and belly flop competition while the campers cheered them on.