Camp News

Category: About Frogbridge

What Families Love About Frogbridge

Before you know it, the weather will be warming up and it will be time for summer camp! In honor of Valentine’s Day, we asked some of our Frogbridge Families to share what they loved about Frogbridge on Instagram and the responses were overwhelming! We thought we would share some of the various comments from parents and campers alike.

What Both Campers & Parents/Guardians Love About Frogbridge

“The overall vibe of pure friendship and catching the Frogbridge fever!” “My son might say Totally Tubing and making new friends.” “This next summer will be 10th year at Frogbridge. Every summer has been better than the last. All the great activities, phenomenal Friday events and, of course, color war. Can’t wait for next summer!” “Coming back every year (for 13 years) and seeing the amazing opportunities that this camp has to offer! From rock climbing to kayaking, Frogbridge truly has it all!“ “Swimming, arts and crafts, ceramics, & Miss Lilly’s.” “ALL OF IT!!” “Coming back every summer to smiling faces and making lifetime friends!” “True friendships that will last a lifetime!!!!!!” “My favorite thing is the zipline and the lunch is AMAZING!!!! #Frogbridge” “Friends and everything.” Here are some of the new and exciting additions to camp this year:
  • New Rockwall
  • New 500 ft. Ziplines
  • New Pool Slides
  • New Photography Class
We can’t wait to hear from the campers and parents as to what they love most this summer!
Want to see Frogbridge for yourself? Visit us at our next open house or call (609) 208-9050 to schedule a private tour.

Did You Know Frogbridge Also Has a Preschool?

Year Round Preschools in Millstone Township, NJ

Looking for a preschool for your child?  Are you interested in giving your children the Frogbridge experience all year long?  If so, we have just the place for you.  We call it Tadpole Village. Led by Dr. Lisa Polvere, the school is owned by Frogbridge and operated with the same high-level expertise you’d expect.

Who Can Attend?

Students can attend from 2 1/2 years old through 6-years-old. There is also a mommy and me program, as well as a before and after care program, available from 7:30a.m.-5p.m. The program even takes children before being toilet trained.

What Amenities Are Available?

With such a beautiful property, the preschool is able to utilize many of the same facilities used for camp, such as Harrison Square Garden, our indoor 6,000 sq ft. gymnasium, as well as an outdoor playground, a computer lab, with a PC for each student in class, a craft studio and more! Classes are held in our Main Street buildings, where many of our youngest campers attend camp. Children even eat lunch and snack in our lunchrooms, located in the same building our classes are offered, which ensures the classrooms will always be clean.

What Does the Curriculum Cover?

Our curriculum is very hands on. The children have so much fun they do not even realize they’re learning! We utilize Everyday Math, and a phonics-based reading program called Let’s Begin With the Letter People, for all of our preschool students, while our kindergarten students also work with McMillian-McGraw Hill Treasures. With such an extraordinary facility, rather than taking our students on field trips we take the field trips to Tadpole Village.  Events even include bringing in penguins from Jenkinson’s Aquarium!

How Many Students Are in Each Class & What Safety Precautions Are Taken?

Class sizes are small, with ratios as low as one teacher to five children for our youngest students and one to up to ten for our kindergarten classes. This allows the teacher more one-on-one time, working at each child’s individual level. We have licensed teachers and mature adult moms on staff that truly want to be here and it shows in how nurturing and caring they truly are. All administrators, teachers and aids are trained in CPR, first aid and epi-pen use. Our staff members will go to great lengths to ensure the well-being of our students.

What Events Take Place at Tadpole Village?

There is always something special going on at Tadpole Village. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the fun special events keeping our students and their families involved throughout the year:
    • October – It’s time for our Halloween event called The Frogtoberfest! Hayrides, pumpkin picking, trick or treating magic shows, petting zoo’s, carnival rides, a Halloween parade and so much more!
    • November -  A Thanksgiving feast catered by Chef Will, our executive chef from our own Windows on the Water catering hall. Our menu includes turkey with all the fixing.
    • December – Our Holiday Show featuring our children singing live on stage, as well as a visit from Santa Claus!
    • February – It’s Special Person Day! Children bring in a special person to spend time with them, such as an aunt or uncle.
    • March – It’s time to celebrate Read Across America – Mystery readers come in and surprise the children. This is usually a child’s family member reading a book to the class. The children are so excited when their own mystery reader arrives!
    • April – The chicks are here! The pre-incubated chicks arrive and the children enjoy watching them hatch!
    • May – Mother’s and Father’s Day is celebrated with a catered parent picnic on our property.  Preschool families can go boating, play mini golf and utilize many of the sports offered throughout the camp’s facility.
    • June – It’s time for our stepping up ceremony for the 2 and 3-year-olds and our graduation day for our Pre-K/Kindergarten Class, including a cap and gown ceremony as well as a delicious barbecue catered by Windows on the Water.
Other ways we engage the children throughout the year include a monthly music program visit, in addition to the music we offer in class. We also bring in Scholastic for a book fair twice each year, where the children love picking out their own books. This also encourages them to want to read.  Just like Frogbridge Day Camp, we take pictures that you can view online, so you can see your little one at school. Professional photos are taken twice a year too! Our programs help to develop your child’s skills for future academic success using their own creativity. Tadpole Village Preschool is dedicated to developing your child’s social and academic skills through active, age-appropriate activities. With a sensitivity to every child’s varying abilities and learning styles, our educational program provides your child with the foundations for learning with opportunities for choice, experimentation, creativity and problem-solving.
Want to learn more? Call 609-208-2114 and speak with director, Dr. Lisa Polvere or email her at [email protected].

How Frogbridge Gives Back to Monmouth County & Beyond

How Our Campers, Staff & Parents Give Back to the Community

Here at Frogbridge, we’re thankful for each and every one of our campers and the smiles they bring to our team members faces every day. While many people think of giving back to those in need around the holidays, Frogbridge tries to also give back in times where donations may be scarce and there is a high demand. This is what we like to call campers helping kids. We feel that it is our job to not only teach our campers to swim, dance, and play, but also how giving back to those who are less fortunate is a great thing to do. Here are some of the ways we give back throughout the year.

Summer Fundraisers

Each summer, Frogbridge hosts food drives and fundraisers for groups such as the Pediatric Cancer Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Fulfill NJ, the JAR of Hope Organization for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, among others. Highlights of our fundraisers include raising tens of thousands of dollars for childhood cancer and juvenile diabetes.

Birthday Cards & Boxes

What would camp be without the celebration of all of our campers’ birthdays! We don’t only celebrate the birthdays of all of our campers, but we also celebrate the birthdays of children we don’t even know. Our annual “birthday boxes” tradition involves our campers making birthday cards for children facing poverty or life-threatening diseases. Our arts and crafts constructor decorates the boxes collected by our team members and all birthday cards will be put inside. Also in each box are birthday cake mix, icing, candles, and gift cards donated by Frogbridge Daycamp and its team members.

Toy Donations From Frogtoberfest

As you may already know, Frogtoberfest is one of the most popular events we hold all year round. The best part? The voluntary price of admission for the entire day with all of the amenities is quite simple…one new, unwrapped toy per household. We’re able to bring donations to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia during the holiday season, and the K Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore Medical Center during the spring. Thanks to the increased participation in our Frogtoberfest toy drives, we’ve been able to add the Bristol Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital to our roster of hospitals we donate toys to. Here are some other organizations that benefit from our toy drives: Thank you to all of the parents and campers who make it possible for us to give back each year. Want to learn more about “what’s hoppening” at Frogbridge?

Making a Splash in 2016 with a New Pool

Just two months after the 2015 camp season ended, we began working on one of the biggest projects in all of our eighteen year history – a brand new, state of the art, heated swimming pool! We are proud to say that we now have FOUR pools at our camp. Even more exciting is the new pool complex they will all be a part of. Groundbreaking occurred on October 29 and is expected to be complete at the start of the New Year. The new pool is being constructed by Custom Pools of Rockland County. This pool will add to their impressive resume of constructing over 3,400 pools, both residential and commercial. The decision to add a new pool was largely to focus on reducing the number of participants in our swim groups. In the past, swim groups have had as many as a dozen campers whereas now swim groups can have almost half as many, thus allowing us to offer a more intimate lesson with more personalized, one on one instruction. The pool is an in ground pool, as all of our others are, and is 40 feet wide x 80 feet long, and will vary from 3 feet to 5 feet deep. The heated pool also features a grand entrance feel with a 16-foot wide main stairway entrance. As always, there will be multiple lifeguard stands around the perimeter of the pool as well as several ladder exits. Conveniently located near changing areas and the restrooms, the new pool will now be part of a much larger pool complex. This new complex will include a 2,000 square foot patio area with tables and umbrellas, giving our camp groups additional shade areas when not taking lessons or swimming. The additional shaded area between the new pool and the existing pools will be complete with lounge chairs (available both in or out of the shade), a towel station, and brand new fencing around the perimeter, all overlooking the lake. Be sure to follow our Facebook and Twitter pages for photos of the finished pool, coming soon!