Kids get wet and wild at sanctuary's camp in Oyster Bay

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The steamy summer day felt slightly cooler underneath the canopy of trees at the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary Center in Oyster Bay. On Aug. 9, campers and counselors from the center’s Summer Adventures program returned from a rousing game of capture the flag, their skin slick with beads of sweat.

As they made their way inside for snack time, the counselors-in-training were putting the finishing touches on a wet and wild obstacle course, which they built as part of the camp’s Aquatic Adventures week. The construction took less than an hour, according to CIT Spencer Ross, of Port Washington.

“This is an obstacle course for the younger kids,” Spencer, 14, said, “And since it’s Aquatics Week, we have things like the hose and a water shooter to get them wet.”

He paused to survey the completed course. “We had to do this all this morning before everyone came, and at first we had a plan,” Spencer said, “but then it was all improv, and we were sort of building it as we went.”

The CITs spent the morning hauling material for their six-part obstacle course from the center’s utility shed. Items like beanbags, bouncy balls and hula hoops were incorporated into the design. Throughout the course, campers had to follow a path marked by colorful square placemats called “rainbow road.”

The first obstacle was a dodge ball station, where campers had to avoid getting hit by balls being thrown back and forth between two CITs. They headed toward the fire pit to the next station, where they had to jump over a wooden bench. As they maneuvered, CIT Kayla Fives, 13, of Port Washington, sprayed them with a water gun, eliciting a chorus of gleeful screams.

The third station required the campers to sink a ball through four suspended hula hoops. Then they raced through a set-up of circular rings — their feet quickly alternating in and out, and in again — while Spencer sprayed them with a hose, sending a constant hiss through the exhilarated space.

For the last two stations, the campers tossed beanbags into designated spots on the ground and walked across a balance beam — in this case a sodden two-by-four — before crossing into the winner’s circle.

Kayla has attended the center’s Summer Sanctuary programs since she was 4. As a CIT, she has found a great sense of accomplishment leading the programs that she enjoyed as a camper. “I feel helpful,” she said. “We help the kids, tell them the rules, and teach them how to play the games.”

In addition to enjoying a makeshift obstacle course, the aquatic adventurers were given a chance to explore a nearby cove to get an up-close look at marine wildlife, and engage with touch tanks filled with frogs, fish and other aquatic critters.

The campers weren’t the only ones who ran through the obstacle course. Counselors as well as Julie Nelsen, the center’s education director, got in on the wet and wild wonderland. Nelsen said she was very impressed with the teamwork demonstrated by the CITs in constructing the course.

“I’m hoping we can do this every week next summer, because they really create positive bonds with the children,” Nelsen said. “My favorite part was watching the children who wouldn’t normally want to get wet or want to do this get encouraged by the CITs, because they’re modeling that great behavior.”

The CIT program instills a sense of leadership in children at a young age. Nelsen said this is inherent to the camp’s family values. “A lot of our children have been with us since they were really tiny, and it’s so important for them to now be the leaders for the next generation of campers that are coming here.”