Summer camps for children and youth aged six to 14 at Yukon University have been approved to operate with limited capacity this summer.

The OK from Dr. Brendan Hanley, the Yukon’s chief medical Officer, came last Thursday. Registration reopened the next day and, as of Monday, many camps were full.

The camps remain operating under the title YC Kids Camps.

They focus on providing age-appropriate, hands-on activities in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) and Trades, which encourages participants to explore their sense of wonder. Camps will run from June 15 to Aug. 14.

All camps will take place at Ayamdigut campus in Whitehorse.

Camp staff have implemented numerous measures to ensure the health and safety of themselves, participants and their families:

Group sizes will be limited to 10 — eight participants and two facilitators.

There will be no larger, mixed group activities. Each camp group will have a designated indoor and outdoor space and washroom facility for their use only

Camp groups will not share class materials and any re-used materials will be disinfected prior to use by another camp.

Activities for each group will support physical distancing; however, given participant ages, staff would like parents to be aware that physical distancing will not be rigorously enforced within each group.

Extended care before and after camps each day will not be available.

Campers will not be allowed to attend camp if they are presenting any flu-like symptoms — parents must sign a COVID Screening Agreement in advance of camp and be present for the active symptom screening of their child(ren) at drop-off.

Given the unprecedented circumstances and need to maintain strict health and safety measures, if exhibiting any symptoms of illness, registered participants may withdraw up to one business day before the camp begins and receive a full refund.

Information on camp themes, registration and waitlists can be found on the YC Kids’ Camps page at YukonU.ca.

Registration for camps initially opened in March, then closed due to COVID-19 response measures.

Before reopening registration last Friday, camp staff prioritized those campers who were registered in March, then made remaining spaces available.

“Our summer camps are extremely popular,” said Anya Zimmerman, the co-ordinator of Youth STEM Outreach.

“Each year, children and youth return to dive deeper into their exploration of STEM and trades. We are pleased to offer what we can under the current measures and thank the Yukon chief medical officer of health and his team for their guidance.”

Since will be fewer people at Ayamdigut campus overall this summer, Zimmerman said, “we have more space for camps to spread out and ensure appropriate distance between them.

“We’re hopeful that participants and parents will work proactively with camp staff to maintain the necessary health and safety measures in place to protect all of us.”

One of the biggest impacts of COVID-19 response measures is that, unlike previous years, camp staff will not be travelling throughout the territory to deliver camps in the communities.

“Due to this, we are instead working with youth programmers within First Nation governments and community recreation departments to support them in incorporating STEM and Trades content in their summer programs,” said Cian O’Neill-Kizoff, the co-ordinator, First Nations and Communities Youth STEM Outreach.

“We have prepared activity plans and offered materials and support for staff training,”

Since pandemic response measures were implemented across the Yukon, Youth STEM Outreach staff have used social media to share fun, accessible STEM activities and experiments children and youth can try while at home.