We love living free and using our imagination in fun and creative ways... this afternoon we had such a show-stopping time together learning acting techniques and how to stay in character.. then we broke out the costumes and split into groups to makeup our own plays.. After rehearsal, we put on a spectacular performance full of smiles and laughter for our friends and parents! It was so much fun!!! We are so grateful to have had the week off and were able to have a happy, healthy, creative and fun time together meeting new friends and trying new things with Camp SoulGrow! Wonderful memories made forever!!!!
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We know that together we can accomplish great things, so it was really awesome to collaborate and work with each other to make a communal 9x12ft Camp SoulGrow mural. We primed the canvas then picked colors and decided to paint all different types of stars .. because that’s what we are— shining and bursting with creativity, life, and gratitude! We had a fun and chill time sitting and painting and working so close on such a big and special project.. Stay tuned for our final masterpiece!

TARGET PRACTICE

What a fun morning we had using and being grateful for our energy! After letting loose we decided to sew it up (haha) and we learned how to thread a needle, sew a running stitch, and use stuffing to make our own custom pillows! We had such a great time sewing, creating using our hands, having real conversations, helping each other, and learning practical, valuable skills to last a lifetime!

We started out our day with a fun hiphop class taught by our Head Kid where we learned about isolations, how to warm up and how to be loose but keep control... We had a fun time learning a combination to “I Know I Can” and had such a fun and funky time dancing and singing off!!! After hiphop we had a lunch party and played games.. It’s SOUL great to spend our days off together growing!!!

We all know that Life is what you Bake of it (wink!) so we had such a blast baking together, making special memories and desserts!!! We put on our custom Camp SoulGrow chef hats & aprons and went into the kitchen and made Strawberry (& Blueberry) Shortcakes together! It was so much fun being in the professional kitchen and creating our own fun and delicious desserts to enjoy! We had a great time learning and laughing.. and of course, eating what we made!!!! FUN & YUM!

ACTING

SEWING

We had such a fun time in target practice where we learned different ways to focus and hit different types of goals... we challenged ourselves and had so much fun sharpening our aim and learning traditional skills! And special thanks to Ms Ashley for the push pops!

YOGA

We love being creative, expressing ourselves, and getting painty so of course we had the best time doing tie dye & spin art together!!! We each had our own paint spinning machines and made dozens of unique and one of a kind spin art masterpieces… also we got our own hand-painted Camp SoulGrow tshirts and tie-dyed them to take home and wear to show our personalities! We finished the day with a SoulGrow dance party and didn’t want to leave!!! We are SOUL grateful for each other and excited for the future!!!

BOOT CAMP

MURAL PAINTING

HIP HOP

TGIF!! And it’s been an amazing week together!!! We started the day off with Boot Camp, where we learned about the different branches of our military and how to train like a soldier! We honored the people we know who serve and have served our country, and we learned some real boot camp drills and disciplines. We had such a great time learning new exercises, pushing ourselves and got a great workout with tons of laughs! After boot camp we made cards for our Veterans, thanking them for their service! We feel strong and proud to be American! We then of course had a Friday-afternoon pizza party! These are the best days and we are so grateful!

Camp SoulGrow 2023 Holidays at The Buras YMCA - February

TIE-DYE & SPIN ART

BAKING

We started our post-Mardi Gras Camp SoulGrow Holidays at the Y with gratitude, peace, focus and mindfulness by practicing morning yoga together. We set our intentions, worked on our breathing, lit incense and learned over 30 poses from each other. We each got in the center and picked yoga flash cards, practiced the poses, and said positive and affirming mantras for each one. During shavasana, the lights were off and the teens fanned us while we went deep into a relaxing, peaceful and rejuvenating state of mind. We meditated, laughed, stretched, challenged ourselves, and worked together expanding our body and souls. We felt centered and strong and grateful. What a wonderful way to start the day! After yoga we went in the kitchen and made ourselves big plates of food and had a lunch party!