All summer long, a group of local kids have been passing the warm days away by spending time at the Decatur County Family YMCA, during the organization’s summer day camp.

Seven of those youngsters worked together to create a unique version of the American Flag, in honor of the summer camp’s Patriotic Week. Using only themselves, a canvas and some red and blue paint, the kids pressed their feet and hands to the blank page to produce their masterpiece. The flag now hangs in the main lobby of the YMCA.

The summer day camp continues to the end of summer and the start of school, YMCA CEO Diane Hart-Dawson explained. The camp has local kids attending weekly field trips, practicing swimming, taking part in the creation of crafts and working on their physical fitness. Participants are also working with the Food and Fun curriculum, which teaches campers to eat healthier.

The campers are spending a lot of their time at the local parks, Hart-Dawson said. During Patriotic Week, the kids took a field trip to Fort Benjamin Harrison. During Animal Week, the kids take trips to zoos.

According to the YMCA’s childcare director Angie Hersley, the kids at the camp are also working on obtaining “keys” representing four values, which are teamwork, attitude, quality and service. At the end of every week, the camp counselors decide which kids earn which values. The awards also feature a “camper of the week.”

There is still time to sign up kids for the YMCA’s summer day camp. Both the summer day camp and the preschool camps can last from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hart-Dawson noted that parents can sign up their kids for just one day, a week or for the entire camp. There are fees for both the preschool camp, ages 3 to 5, and the summer day camp, ages 6 to 12.

More information can be obtained by contacting the Decatur County Family YMCA at 812-663-9622.