During the 2021 vacations, My Space Love Foundation organised Forest Camps by the sea. We wanted to get the children out of their homes, from in front of their computers, and bring them to nature. We wanted our sports arena to be the forest as a natural environment that is conducive to physical activity due to the direct contact with nature and clean air. Our camps aimed to inspire children to actively spend time outdoors, increase motivation to exercise and take care of their health, as well as to fight diseases i.e. obesity and posture defects among children. We wanted to show how important and healthy it is to have contact with nature, and to broaden the sports horizons of children whose financial situation does not allow them to do so. We provided children with a lot of joy, energy and laughter, but also with the knowledge of how physical activity improves mental health, reduces anxiety, improves the quality of sleep, develops the sense of responsibility, increases self-confidence and self-esteem, and stimulates empathy, creativity and social skills.
The summer camps over the course of 3 rotations were attended by 60 children from Municipal Social Welfare Centres in the Tri-Cities. The children spent their entire days outdoors, hiking in the woods, playing on the beach and learning how to dance. We also organised cooking workshops, during which children learnt how to make sushi. Safety was supervised by qualified staff and instructors.
The project also aimed to combat the negative effects of the COVID pandemic.
We hope that the children had a good time, learnt about the positive impact of physical activity on their physical and mental health and made new friends, as well as that we will be able to repeat such projects every year.