From free swim lessons to pop-up summer camps around the city, your support for the People for Parks Fund is helping to get kids into the fresh air this summer

Going to summer camp is a great Minnesota tradition, but getting there can be a grind. 

Day camp hours don’t always line up with parents’ work week routine. Busy young families can often find enrollment is full by the time they’re ready to register. And cost can be a big barrier for families–especially with multiple kids in different age groups.

But on a recent afternoon at Whittier Park, kids in the neighborhood got the chance to sample some of the best things summer camp has to offer through a new pop-up camp that’s on its way to twelve different Minneapolis neighborhood parks throughout the summer. Featuring everything from an inflatable archery range  to a camp kitchen for frying up fish and roasting s’mores, the Minneapolis parks’ new Summer Pop-Up program grew out of a pilot project that proved popular at East Phillips Park last year. 

“The philosophy is all about meeting the community where they’re at,” says Rebecca Lewis, the city-wide program lead for MPRB’s diverse roster of neighborhood day camps, which includes everything from Arts Dabbler camps for creative types, to Cycling Explorers , to innovative Farm-to-Table camps for budding foodies. “The idea was to introduce some of these speciality pieces from summer camp, but to alleviate barriers like registration, making a time commitment, or having to figure out care for a younger sibling,” she says. “This is a way to put quality, intentional parks programming together, and then bring it across the city where it’s needed.” 

Finding innovative ways to get kids into the outdoors is part of the mission of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s People for Parks Fund, which is supporting the Summer Camp Pop-Up initiative at North Commons, Stevens Square, East Phillips, and Loring and other neighborhood parks throughout the summer. It’s also the driving force behind the Foundation’s longtime support for swimming lessons and scholarships through the parks system. This year, the People for Parks Fund will support an expansion of swim lessons scholarships to include five sites this summer–North Commons Water Park, Webber Natural Swimming Pool, Jim Lupient Water Park and the main beaches at both Lake Nokomis and Theodore Wirth park. 

The funding is targeted to help bridge the “swimming gap” in neighborhoods of color, which have historically had less access to pools and lakes than in predominantly white neighborhoods. That gap has made the risk of drowning two to three times higher for Latino, Native American, and Black kids than it is for white kids. Swimming lesson scholarships and reduced fee sites may be part of solution, says MPRB Aquatics Manager S. Patty, noting that more than 40 percent of Minneapolis residents have opted to participate in swim lessons at a reduced rate or free of cost. 

But teaching kids to be safe in the water is more than an equity issue, it’s also about enjoying the summer to its fullest. “We have programs at every level, for three year olds up to age 18, and as they grow as swimmers, there’s always a next level to work toward,” she says. For instance, junior swim club prepares youth for the fun of swim teams but without the competition, introducing kids to stroke technique, and the foundations of water safety at every age level, from Sunnies for kids under 8, to Muskies, ages 13 to 17. “The best part is that there’s something for kids of every age,” Patty says. “We have kids who’ve grown up with us through swim lessons in the parks, and who are now on staff with us as lifeguards.”

To learn more about swimming classes, lessons, clubs and scholarships, visit: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/activities-events/water-activities/classes_lessons__clubs/