"You have a lot of fun while learning things. Every time, you tend to do different things, so it doesn't get boring," was ten-year-old Hailey Quig's assessment of the Bermuda National Trust's youth camps held at the Axis Education Centre, Paget.

The Bermuda High School student was attending the current camp at 'Waterville", "Because I've been here a lot of times, and it was very fun when I came."

She is not alone in her opinion. Of the 14 young ladies and one young gentleman attending the camp, ten had attended a previous camp organised by the Trust.

BNT education officer Tania Stafford explained that the current camp's theme of "Spring into Easter" combined Easter traditions with signs of Spring, so that on the first day, following a get-to-know-you game, the young people explored the dunes of Warwick Long Bay, looking for longtails, buds and butterflies — all signs of a Bermuda spring.

The afternoon was spent making boxy kites under the direction of Al Seymour, Jr., who, along with his knowledge, shared his memories, "taking them back to the good ole days".

A native of Dock Hill, Devonshire ("the best kite-making neighbourhood in Bermuda," he claimed), Mr. Seymour regaled the children with kite tales — the good, the bad and the down right ugly entanglements.

The boxy kite of fennel sticks and brown paper bag suit the BNT's environmental ethos, but is also, declared Mr. Seymour, "So simple to fly, that with a good breeze it will almost fly itself."

Its added advantage, Ms Stafford pointed out, is that it's suitable for any age group.

This was especially important in an era when, as Mr. Seymour recalled, "If you didn't have a homemade kite, you couldn't come outside."

Brandon Tully, who was attending his second BNT camp, is a veteran kite-maker, having been taught by his granny Wendy Tully.

"I've done this at my house, but with different sticks and just paper," he explained.

Although he admitted it was "weird" to be the only boy, "I like it here," he said. "It's fun. They do all these cool activities."

Another camper no stranger to kite-making was nine-year-old Zoe O'Connor, whose grandpa, Eugene O'Connor Sr., of Pembroke, has been making and selling kites for over 50 years.

"He's beginning to teach me, and I really like it," she added. Of her camp experience she noted, "I've been here before and really enjoyed it. But I was sick for two days, and wanted to come back to enjoy more."

She finished off her brown paper kite by "writing my name in colourful ways."

Zoe Exon, attending with her elder sister Abby, thought the best thing about the camps was, "You get to play games and go places and make things which you never made before."

Ms Stafford elaborated on the planned schedule for the week, which will entail, among other things, a visit to the butterfly garden in the Botanical Gardens and making hot cross buns.

"We try to choose presenters who are tradition bearers, who have a passion for what we're asking them to do."

Julianna Brewer, a student at BHS, heard about the camp from one of her best friends.

"I heard it was very fun," she explained, and she hasn't been disappointed.

When asked was she would say to others about the camp, Abby Exon summed up, "They're really fun 'cos you get to go places. You should come 'cos you'd learn about Bermuda."