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Camper sliding down a water slide

Banner Activities

The Banner Approach

At Banner, every day is a fresh mix of sports, swimming, arts, adventure activities and games. We foster a non-competitive environment that focuses on individual skills and personal achievement. Led by encouraging counselors, small groups of campers engage in activities that develop social skills, athletic ability and self-esteem. Each activity area is outfitted with top-tier equipment, sized to fit varying age groups. Banner is committed to expertly staffing each of our specialty areas, with approximately one staff member for every three campers, to ensure safety and fun. At the end of the day, campers go home feeling confident, capable and excited to return.

Banner Day Camp’s comprehensive sports program gives campers extensive opportunities to develop their athletic abilities and have a ball! Banner offers a tremendous range of sports options. Our campers enjoy playing and developing their skills all summer long. Sports instruction and game play meet the developmental needs of campers at various age levels. Banner focuses on skill development and individual development leading to higher self-confidence and resiliency all while emphasizing sportsmanship and teamwork. Campers gain instruction from experienced sports specialists who play or coach at the varsity or collegiate level.

Campers that have completed 2nd grade and up have the opportunity to participate in Banner’s Competitive Sports Leagues. Campers choosing this option are placed on teams for the duration of the summer. Campers compete in baseball, basketball, soccer, flag football and floor hockey. Daily scores and standings are kept leading to the Banner Cup Championship Game. Throughout the league, coaches and staff help campers develop sportsmanship, teamwork and a love for the game.

Brad Greenberg
 

Brad Greenberg

Sports Director

At Banner Since 2000
I am so excited to have spent over 20 years at Banner with the last decade of it being on the Leadership Team. I am the Athletic Director and help to coordinate all specialty areas. I love working with the campers and helping them have fun while developing their skills and confidence. I am currently a physical education teacher at Kipling Elementary School in Deerfield. I met my wife, Lisa, at Banner. My daughter and son, Joie and Blake, are both Banner campers.

  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Competitive Sports League
  • Flag Football
  • Floor Hockey
  • Gaga
  • Gymnastics
  • Kickball
  • Lacrosse
  • Sand Soccer
  • Sand Volleyball
  • Pillo Polo
  • Soccer
  • Trampball
  • Wiffle Ball

Swimming is at the very center of a Banner summer. Banner’s four heated pools have been built to accommodate swimmers of every age and skill level. Ranging in depths, and heated up to a warm, comfortable temperature, campers enjoy swimming at least once every day – and offer twice a day when the weather heats up. Campers also enjoy regularly scheduled trips to our junior and senior lakes. The junior lake is a shallow water lake, complete with a water slide, sand play and fishing. The senior lake provides more water fun with paddleboards, paddle boats, funyaks, waterslide, water trampoline and fishing. All aquatics activities are supervised by lifeguard certified staff and leadership to ensure safety.

Banner’s swim program has been expertly designed to allow for regular camper progress and success. Campers learn everything from basic water safety to competitive strokes and endurance. Banner campers receive small group swim instruction Monday – Thursday. Swimming is taught by one of our over 40 lifeguard certified pool staff members and trained group counselors. All instructors teach from the water so campers get constant interaction and support in the pool. Swim instruction is taught Monday – Thursday, followed by a recreational swim. Fridays are all recreational swim.

Becky Hasselson
 

Becky Hasselson

Pool Director

At Banner Since 2004
As your Pool Director, I spend every summer at my favorite place – the Banner pools. I love to swim and have a strong background in teaching swim instruction and lifeguarding. I was a former middle school teacher, but now spend my school year at home with my son, Noah, and work part-time in the Banner office. Noah loves everything at Banner and I enjoy seeing the excitement of camp through his eyes! I’m a Starguard Elite Lifeguard Instructor and train all Banner lifeguards and swim instructors. My goal is to ensure that all campers have a safe and positive swim experience at Banner and I am available to talk about your camper’s swim progress anytime.

 

Kelsey Gorelik

Pool Director

At Banner Since 2008
The Banner pools are my very favorite place at camp! I love spending the summer making sure the campers are safe and learning new swim skills. Along with Becky and Allison, I oversee every aspect of our swimming program here at camp – from supervising the staff to helping campers be successful to talking with parents about their campers’ swim progress. I have spent every summer since college at Banner. A graduate of Tulane University, I now teach Kindergarten at Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School in Chicago.

 

Allison Sullivan

Pool Director

 

  • Aqua Climbing Wall
  • Aqua Jump
  • Bumper Boats
  • Canoeing
  • Diving
  • Fishing
  • Junior Lake
  • Kayaking
  • Paddle Boats
  • Senior Lake
  • Swimming
  • Waterslides

Summer at Banner provides so many opportunities for creativity and imagination to soar! Passionate, experienced specialists bring out camper’s creative potential. They turn up the fun guiding campers through engaging fine arts activities. Banner’s beautiful grounds are an inspiring setting to embrace the arts and develop talents.

As campers grow, so do their options at Banner. Campers in elective and Tween programs have the opportunity to experience even more within our arts program. Whether it’s creating a beautiful, ceramic piece to be fired in our arts studio, developing a brand new recipe at cooking or learning a new song (or instrument!) through Camp of Rock, each day at Banner provides endless opportunities.

Wendy Cheyney
 

Wendie Cheyney

Arts Leadership

At Banner Since 2014
I love being a part of the Banner team and helping plan and lead our arts program. I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and Master’s of Arts in Teaching from Xavier University and have 15 years of teaching experience in Kindergarten, 1st grade and 5th grade classrooms prior to staying home with my three kids – Caleb, Mikayla and Susan. I cherish my summers at Banner and hope to make each summer better than the last!

  • Arts & Crafts
  • Camp of Rock
  • Ceramics
  • Clowning & Magic
  • Cooking
  • Creative Creations
  • Dance & Poms
  • Drama
  • Drumming
  • Hip Hop Team
  • Jewelry
  • Juggling
  • Lanyard
  • Model Building
  • Painting
  • Rocketry
  • Sewing
  • STEM & Design
  • Songs
  • Yoga

Junior campers enjoy an extensive program of creative play. These activities foster growth and socialization. Enthusiastic counselors and specialists set up opportunities for imaginative play throughout the day. Campers love to play pretend games at Bannerville, our village of paved sidewalks and mini playhouses. At Banner’s shaded playgrounds and sand play areas, junior campers test their skills and learn cooperation and teamwork.

The Banner Farm and Nature Center help to develop a love of the outdoors here at camp. Campers have the opportunity to care for our animals – goats, sheep, pigs and rabbits – and even help hatch baby chickens and ducks! Time at our nature center inspires campers to care for their environment. Did you know? A study conducted at UC Berkeley shows that children who spend time outdoors, in nature, are more generous and community minded.

Even the playgrounds at Banner are about more than just fun! While campers enjoy playing in the Bannerville houses or on the train or ship at our playgrounds, they are developing important skills through play! They are learning how to collaborate, how to be creative and how to solve problems. The laughter and smiles are contagious and the growth is inspiring.

  • Banner Builders
  • Banner Farm
  • Bannerville
  • Nature Center
  • Imagination Playground
  • Sandbox
  • Sensory Tables
  • Ship Playground
  • Storytelling
  • Train Playground

Every day at Banner brings new thrills and innovative opportunities for growing camper’s confidence. Excitement awaits as campers jump, climb, zoom and glide in Banner’s Adventure programs. Each activity has been carefully designed to provide maximum safety and age-appropriate fun. Caring counselors and expert specialists help children master each area.

Banner’s adventure activities are unmatched on the North Shore. Campers in our elective and Tween programs have the opportunity to experience our high ropes course, complete with a giant swing and zip line, drive our dune buggies or cook on a camp fire at pioneering. The adventure elective combines time at the climbing wall, high ropes course, archery range and dune buggies for a well-rounded and thrill-filled week.

Patrick Reynolds
 

Patrick Reynolds

Adventure Leadership

At Banner Since 2006
I’ve spent every summer since my freshman year of college at Banner Day Camp and can’t imagine a summer anywhere else. I love working outside with amazing people who help create such a supportive and exciting place for children to be themselves. I enjoy planning so many amazing activities for the campers each summer. When I’m not at camp, you can find me teaching and spending time with my wife, Alyssa, and two children, Jake and Eloise as well as my dog, Jerry. I graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in Elementary Education and a Middle School Social Studies Endorsement.

 

Laura Nardini

Adventure Leadership

  • Archery
  • Balance Bikes
  • Banner 100
  • Bungee Trampoline
  • Dune Buggies
  • Go-Karts
  • High Ropes Course
  • Plasma Cars
  • Pioneering
  • Rock Climbing
  • Slingshot Paintball
  • Traversing Wall
  • Zip Line