MARSHALL - With a brush in one hand and a straw in her mouth, Emilie Larson realized that she was running out of paint for her art project during daycamp at the Marshall Area YMCA.
"We need a new palette," Larson said to Marshall Area YMCA daycamp counselor Mallory Kuhlman as she dabbed paint onto her paper. She blew the paint around with the straw.
Evan Schotzko finished his painting.
"I'm ready," Schotzko said to Kuhlman.
Kuhlman asked Schotzko if he wanted a different-colored sheet of paper to do his next painting. He nodded, and she handed him a light green piece of paper.
Pretty soon, flowers, a scarecrow and scenes from cartoons materialized on the kids' projects.
For the entire summer, the Marshall Area YMCA has daycamps for kids - Camp Discovery for pre-school aged children and Camp Spirit for kids ages 5-12. About 15 to 25 kids come to camp on a regular basis, said Monica Vierkant, director of youth development.
Each week the kids in Camp Spirit do activities that revolve around a particular theme, such as "The Wonders of Nature," "You've Got Talent" or "Around the World."
"Obviously the kids have their favorites from year to year," said Vierkant. Some ongoing favorites include science week and "The Wonders of Nature."
If a theme doesn't work with the kids, Vierkant said she will do research and see what other Ys are doing.
Vierkant said the older campers will also help the younger kids during activities.
"It's kind of a leadership role, like a counselor-in-training," Vierkant said.
Cameron Lohre looks forward to science week at daycamp. Last year, the group went to the Science Museum of Minnesota, he said.
"I'm good at science," Cameron Lohre said. This year, the kids get to go to the Kirby Science Center at Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Lindsey Logan said she enjoys some of the games the campers play during the day. Every day, they go to a different park around town. One of Logan's favorite games is "Kaboom," where a ball is tossed around for 30 seconds. The goal is not to have the ball at the end.
In the "Wonders of Nature" week, the counselors and kids went to several area parks, including Alexander Ramsey Park in Redwood Falls, Camden State Park and the Upper Sioux Agency State Park. The kids said they got to go on hikes, roast hot dogs and make s'mores.
"We told ghost stories," said Caitlin Lohre.
"It was pretty fun," said Dominic Quigley.
Kids got to go to the Marshall Aquatic Center for "Splash" week.
"(We) basically get wet," Allen Christensen said.
The kids played water games, such as "Drip, drip, drop."
"It's like 'Duck, Duck, Gray Duck,'" Christensen said.
The kids are kept going from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a day chock full of activities. In the mornings, the kids work on arts and crafts projects. On a recent Tuesday, they were making maracas out of styrofoam cups and doing paintings.
During the week, the kids hit the Y pool on Wednesday and Friday. Every first and third Monday of the month, they visit residents at Boulder Estates and do a craft project. Christensen said he's built a friendship with a man named Myron who is deaf.
This past week, the kids tried to figure out what they wanted show off at the talent show they were performing for their parents as a part of "You've Got Talent" week.
"There's songs sometimes, we play instruments," Logan said. Some other talents have included dance and doing backflips, participants said.