When in doubt, kayak it out!

Week 4 of the Connect: Paddle Royale Program

We were too excited to get started that we forgot to take any photos!

Today we got to go in the kayaks again, BUT before getting into them we played a game called “ninja”. This is a game we played a couple of times and it’s so much fun! After playing ninja and doing some stretching we walked up to the storage shed and got our life jackets, paddles, and kayaks. This time everyone got their own and we didn’t use and of the two-person ones. After finally getting them into the water, our instructor showed us different ways to get in and out of our kayaks - many of the Littles tipped over while practicing these.

We then got to practice different techniques using our paddles, some of the Littles struggled, but most caught on very fast! Learning these techniques would help us move faster, and hopefully help us from tipping over. I think only a couple of the littles tipped their kayaks but they were eager to get right back up and try it again!

Once everyone perfected their technique we did some more practice using the bouee lines as a guide, and this was a hard one… at least for me, the littles got the hang of it super fast. After lots of practice we split into teams and played capture the flag using a plastic ring. We had to throw the ring to our team mates once they were over the marker… everyone was very competitive here. In the same teams we also played hungry, hungry, hippos again and everyone was super fast at collecting all these balls.

Finally, at the end we all talked about if we liked being in kayaks or canoes more, and what we found as challenges or what we liked the most. A majority of the Littles all said they enjoy kayaking the most, as they can go as fast as they want, but they all also said they love learning how to canoe. Only 2 weeks left until the program is over - can’t believe how fast it’s going! But stay tuned for more fun in the water!

August 16th, 2022
-Madison, BigsNBC Volunteer