Summertime for kids should be spent outside: running, jumping, playing and getting a little dirty. It’s in their nature.

Bainbridge Leisure Services is looking to give local youth that outlet this summer with the Oscar Jackson camps.

Five weeks of outdoors activities will give kids the chance to “Branch Out”, as the camp’s theme says.

“We want kids doing stuff they normally don’t get to do,” BLS Youth Director Joey Lee said. “Kids coming up dirty and tired at the end of the day because they have been running and playing outside.”

The first week available is June 1-3, is for ages 7-10 and will cost $100. Week two is June 13-17 for ages 11-14 for $150. The last three weeks are June 27-July 1, July 11-15 and July 18-22 for ages 7-14.

Activities will range from fishing, kayaking, geocaching and hiking at Providence Canyon in Lumpkin.

Kids attending the first week of camp will also have the opportunity to visit the Flint River Aquarium, where they will learn about the ecosystem and how the river works.

The other four weeks of camp will feature a day at Brentwood Plantation and teach kids about quail hunting and dog training.

BLS Assistant Youth Director Valerie Faircloth said this was a great way for kids to put down the technology and unplug for a week. The skills the kids learn at camp make it easier to develop and discover what they like to do.

“It’s a way for them to get in touch with their creative selves,” she said “Also, some of these kids go to different schools and may not know each other. They might be leaving with a new best friend, so the camp is about making friends too.”

The first week of camp is half-full as of Friday, May 20, and there is still plenty of room for campers the other weeks.