Cobb County

Summer day camps move inside as extreme heat hits North Georgia

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — It’s hot outside. So hot that Cobb County made the call to move children at their summer day camps inside recreation centers for the majority of the day.

“It’s extremely hot,” Cobb County’s Recreation Facility Manager Clinton Jones said.

He told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that the children do get to go outside, particularly in the morning, but when the temperatures hover above 90 degrees, his staff finds ways to keep them engaged and having fun inside.

“We actually bring them indoors,” Jones said. “We’ll start out in the mornings maybe doing some activities for about 30 minutes or so, maximum, and then we bring them inside to cool off.”

Jones said the camp directors and counsellors make sure the kids have fun playing games, playing indoor sports and doing arts and crafts.

“They can stay cool and be creative and still have fun,” Jones said.

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The Fair Oaks Recreation Center has about 50 kids enrolled in its day camp. Marcus Golston-Thomas is the director of that facility.

“It’s not really challenging for us, because all of my counsellors are extroverts,” Golston-Thomas said. “They get the kids to engage. We’re giving out water. We have them playing sports throughout the day.”

Tuesday afternoon, the day campers played a spirited game of dodgeball inside the gym. Kids versus camp counsellors.

“We play dodgeball and do a lot of stuff,” said day camper D.J. White. “We have different random stuff to do. But in all, it’s very fun.”

Cobb County has four such day camps, and it’s making sure all the kids are safe from the heat at all of them.

“Summer camp is a busy time for us,” Jones said. “We’re all excited. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun.”

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