Medfield Parks and Recreation Offers Summer Programs

With schools getting ready to close for the summer, parents will be looking for something for their child to do during the summer break.

The offers the most affordable summer programming options in the surrounding area, with something for everyone between 4 and 12 years old, while also offering parents the flexibility of extended day options for late pickup. All of the programs are available to both town and out-of-town residents.

The Summer Discovery program, which includes both a half-day (for ages 4 to 8, runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and full-day (ages 4-8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) options, is one of the more popular summer offerings. In this program, children will have experiences in art, drama, science and nature and sports and games. The activities will be planned by our experienced specialists, led by camp director Eric Kevorkian, who are all college educated and experienced childcare providers. Each participant will attend daily activity classes on a rotating basis, and each specialist plans an age-appropriate activity for each group.

Summer Discovery starts on July 5 and runs every week for six weeks. You may register for just one week, or multiple weeks, there isn’t a minimum. Some of the special themes planned for this summer include Summer Kickoff, Hollywood, Sports, Game Shows, To The Xtreme and Wet & Wild. Cost for Summer Discovery is $199 per week for the full-day option ($180 for the first week) and $125 per week for the half-day option ($100 for the first week). Late pickup is available for the full day program until 5 p.m. at an extra cost of $10 per hour.

The Adventure Program is a coed program for ages 8 to 12 that will offer sports, games, adventure activities, swimming, one field trip per week and much more. The daily activities, led by camp director Liz Nugent, will take place at the fields and courts and each afternoon (except field trip days) the group will walk to the Hinkley Pond for free swim. One day each week, the program jumps on a bus and heads out on a sports or adventure related field trip to a location usually within an hour or so of Medfield.

Adventure runs each day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting July 5 and running six weeks. Some of the special themes planned for this summer include Summer Kickoff, Hollywood, Sports, Game Shows, To The Xtreme and Wet & Wild. Cost for the Adventure Camp is $225 per week ($180 for the first week), which includes all field trips. You can take advantage of late pickup until 5 p.m. at an extra cost of $10 per hour.

Parks and Recreation also offers summer junior tennis programs for ages 5 to 7 and 8 to 13 at the courts at Metacomet Park. This summer, the program will be taught by the qualified and experienced professionals from Waterfall Tennis, led by head pro Dick Waterfall. The program will run weekly for six weeks, starting July 5, with ages 5 to 7 on the courts from 9:15 to 10:30 a.m., and ages 8 to 13 on the courts from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. Cost is $89 per child per week ($72 for week one).

Once again, Parks and Recreation will team with the U.S. Sports Institute to offer unique and exciting sports camps this summer. The first week of the popular Mult-Sports Camp will be the week of June 27 at the fields outside the Pfaff Center. Other offerings with USSI in June and August include World Cup Soccer, Girlz United Soccer, Sports Squirts (ages 3 to 5), Golf, Flag Football and Lacrosse. A full listing of the camps, costs and dates and times can be found on the town website.

For those looking for something a little different, MPR will be offering science and drama camps this summer. The Drama program will be officered in conjunction with Drama Kids and will take place Aug. 22 to 26 at the Pfaff. Cost is $225 per child, and the camp will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily for ages 5 to 12. The science camps offered this summer will be Rockit Robot and Make It and Take It Home. Both will run the week of Aug. 15 to 18 and cost is $150. More information can be found online for both programs.

Another way to beat the heat this summer will be to head over to Hinkly Pond on Green Street. The pond will be fully staffed with certified lifeguards and water safety instructors starting on June 18. Residents and nonresidents are invited to purchase memberships, which starts as low as $40. Other options at the pond include swim lessons with our trained and certified staff and the swim team.

Summer fitness classes for adults start the week of June 27, and here is a sampling of some of the classes being offered: 

• Coed Yoga: Enjoy getting a workout while releasing stress. This Vinyasa flow yoga class synchronizes breathing with movement as you flow through a creative sequence of yoga postures. Class will meet Tuesday evenings starting July 5.
• Run Your First 5K: This program is for the non-runner or beginning runner who would like to either run their very first 5K or their first 5K in recent years. The group will meet twice per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays over a 7-8 week period progressively building toward running the Medfield Day 5K road race on Sept. 17. First class will be held Aug. 2.
• Step, Strength & Stretch: Even if you've been afraid to try Step aerobics, or if you have tried it and thought it was too difficult, this class is awesome. This step aerobics class gives you 30 minutes of great cardio exercise and then another 30 minutes of an energizing, complete toning workout. Class meets on Wednesday nights starting June 29.
• Body Sculpting: This is a low impact program that sculpts your body with simple movements and exercises to shape your thighs, abdominals and arms. Not strenuous, but highly effective! Class meets Monday nights starting June 27

As always, the offerings range for something for toddlers all the way through adults. If there is a program you don’t see offered, but would like to become part of the Parks and Recreation programs, contact program coordinator Kevin Ryder at medfieldpr@comcast.net or stop by the Pfaff Community Center. We are now starting to put together information for our fall offerings, so if there is a class you’d like to see, now is the time to let us know.

Registration can be done online on the department’s website at www.town.medfield.net with a credit card, or in person at the Pfaff Center, while a copy of the summer brochure also is available on the Web site. For many of the summer programs, don’t wait too long and be shut out of a program!

 The recreation office is located inside the Pfaff Center at the corner of North and Dale Streets. To mail your registration to Parks and Recreation, send to Medfield Parks and Recreation, 124 North St., Medfield, MA 02052. You can always contact the Parks and Recreation staff via e-mail at medfieldpr@comcast.net.