Magical Music Garden at Chartwell Happy Day Camp Sparks Creativity in Campers
A new Music Park in New Jersey has officially opened to children to be inspired to create music in the great outdoors in its new 15-acre Magical Musical Garden.
Chartwell Happy Day Camp has made significant investments to enhance its creative arts programs for its kids, which include a wide range of percussion instruments. The camp already boasts a Performing Arts Center area and stage, as well as its Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, to help save the endangered Monarch butterfly and to educate the kids about their life cycle and small ways in which they might help the Monarch. Outdoor musical instruments from Percussion Play are now the latest interactive initiative by the team at Chartwell Happy Day Camp to come to fruition.
Earlier this year, the team created an area within its 15 acres called Chartwell’s Magical Musical Garden to help make it a fun and inviting area for the kids. The kids now migrate over to the area during their free time to play the instruments. Since the installation, the camp counselors have been taking the age-appropriate kids at the day camp to the area to play the instruments. They have also introduced the gardens to the parents and had a drone video made with all the kids playing and having fun to help promote Chartwell’s Magical Musical Garden. They are in the process of formally incorporating the activity into its drama and music activities at the camp.
James Johnston, Owner of Chartwell Happy Day Camp, comments, “At the American Camp Association Convention in Orlando, we came across Percussion Play and their range of outdoor musical instruments. We sat down with a representative at the conference to learn more about the company and decided Percussion Play instruments could be a good part of our anticipated creative arts program at Chartwell Happy Day Camp. We were looking to expand our day camp program, and music was one of the areas we wanted to expand. We were impressed by the quality and sound of the instruments, they were made to last, and we were convinced that they were the type of instruments that could add value to our learning programs at Chartwell Happy Day Camp.”
The camp, which is a family-friendly summer day camp for kids aged 3-14, decided to include the Liberty Bells, Petal Drums, Rainbow Cavatina, Music Book, Harmony Bells, and Rainbow Chimes.
James Johnston comments on his favorite instrument; “I find myself having fun playing the Percussion Play Cavatina (Xlyophone) more than any of the other instruments, but I like them all!”