Business is good for Zapa Projects co-owner Kaylee O'Sullivan. So good, in fact, that her downtown Acton coffee shop is now home to a summer camp.
The camp has been open for about two weeks now and is busy keeping local kids active during their time off from school.
"They're going home very tired. They have a lot of fun, which is great," said O'Sullivan, who runs the cafe alongside her Australian husband John. "It keeps them away from screens. I have two boys and if they are at home, that's what they are doing."
The camp is run through Zapa Projects' sister business, Peanut Butter and Zilly - known for its bouncy castles.
Arts and crafts, active play, trips to the Prospect Park splash pad and bouncy castle time are just some of the activities for the children.
The camp operates out of Zapa's basement, where children can find an arts and crafts room and a gym room. And of course, there's the bouncy castle room on the main floor. While programming is held each day for the kids, it's not rigid. Kids can pick and choose what they want to do.
"You get a kid that's heavily into arts and crafts and they're happy painting and colouring and making paper mache and bracelets all day. And then you get another kid who just wants to kick around a soccer ball," said O'Sullivan.
This flexibility is available to parents also. They don't necessarily have to book the whole week, with single-day drop-ins available.
"Our world is changing," said O'Sullivan. "People work from home and then they go into the office maybe one day a week or two days a week. So they only need two days of camp for the kiddos."
The business has taken this ethos of flexibility further and allows parents to pick up their children as late as 5:30 p.m. at no additional cost.
"That takes the pressure off, especially in this day and age," she said. "There might be a day when they can't get out of the office or a meeting runs late."
The camp is geared to a maximum age of 10, but O'Sullivan says that is not set in stone to account for different children's needs. Potential enrollees have to be turning four this year.
The camp currently has two counsellors and two more in training.
For more information, visit peanutbutterandzilly.ca.
