Childcare Information: Gaia for Girls Ages Five and Up

The following provides information and registration materials for Gaia Childcare for girls ages five and up. Please read the information carefully and send in the Registration Form and Waiver of Liability postmarked by July 21st to register your child(ren) for Gaia. If you do not register your child by the July 21st postmark date, you should plan to provide your own childcare throughout your stay at the Festival.

Using our experience and your feedback we have thoughtfully planned how our childcare areas are organized. Please respect and participate in these organizational efforts so that we can continue to provide safe, secure and fun childcare for our wonderful, growing number of children. Our childcare areas get better each year because of input we receive from Moms, so get involved and let us know what you think!

How Does Gaia Operate?

• Gaia Girls Camp will be open on Monday from 1pm to 9pm. We then operate from 8:30am to 5pm, and from 7pm to midnight, Tuesday through Sunday. Gaia is closed from 5 to 7pm every day for dinner so please plan to pick up your child(ren) by 5pm.
   
• Since continuous childcare in this new environment can be stressful for younger children, moms of girls aged five to seven can choose two four-hour childcare blocks or one six-hour block each day of the Festival. Also, because the evening and night are the most difficult times for girls this age to be away from their parent, you can choose up to (but no more than) three evening childcare blocks during the six days of Festival.
   
• We appreciate your support in picking up your daughter(s) before all meals, on time at the close of any childcare block and no later than midnight on any night.
   
• Prior to utilizing Gaia care, plan to make time to do an on-site check-in and orientation with your child, even if you are familiar with the Festival and Gaia. While you're there we'll get additional information about your child, provide you with more detailed information and go over the procedures and daily routine of Gaia.
   
• Please bring any adults who are responsible for your child to your on-site orientation so the Gaia staff will recognize the womyn who are authorized to bring your child to or take her from Gaia.
   
• We ask parents to do one of their two Festival workshifts at Gaia.

Meals
Meals are not served at Gaia. Please plan to share mealtime (breakfast, lunch and dinner) with your daughter(s) at the Festival Kitchen. Gaia does serve some snack foods throughout the day - primarily fruits, granola, crackers, rice cakes and peanut butter - but we ask that you not consider these snacks as replacements for meals, and that you make the important commitment to eat each meal with your child. Please do not send food with your child(ren) unless they have special food needs that you have already communicated in your pre-registration and on-site orientation.

Activities
Gaia girls enjoy a combination of structured and unstructured activities. They play "new games" (non-competitive, everyone-can-do sports), do daily arts & crafts activities and attend workshops designed specifically for them. The girls also learn about the Michigan woodland environment and enjoy campground activities like fireside games, nature walks, etc. On Saturday evening, the girls put on costumes and host their very own Gaia Parade to the cheers of the night stage audience.

Festival Environment
The Festival is a wonderful event to share with your daughter, and many girls and families experience a unique feeling of safety and freedom on the Land. We want to stress that you should not confuse the overriding safety of the Festival with an absence of the need for supervision and guidance for your children.

It is important to remember that the girls need time to get re-acquainted with Gaia and Gaia staff each year. Please take into account how your child(ren) adjusts to changes in daily routine and what her process is for getting acquainted with a change in her childcare environment. You should also keep in mind how much time your child(ren) is used to being away from you. She may need to spend less time at Gaia the first few days of the Festival than she spends away from you at home as she gets used to us. Please work this into your Festival family routine.

You are responsible to make choices with your daughters about what curfew is appropriate or what activities are fitting for them to attend. The Festival is child-friendly, parent supportive and safe; it also supports adult-only space. We make every effort to be clear about which parts of our program are not suitable for children. Adult-only events and areas are announced, posted at One World and/or noted in the program. However, we rely on you to exercise responsibility for your children.

What to Bring
Please mark all clothes and other belongings with your child's name. It's very important that you bring the following for your children:

We would appreciate you not having personal toys or dishes in Gaia. The area has community toys and dishes and given the large number of girls, it is very difficult to store and track personal items.

Siblings/Toddlers/Brother Sun
If your family includes children who will be in one of the other childcare services, please take some time to talk within your family about the different childcare areas and the reality that the kids will be separated for the days of the Festival.

Sprouts Camp is for girls and boys ages infant through four. Families that include infants or toddlers are welcome to camp in the Family Campground located adjacent to Sprouts. Many moms find this a warm and supportive place to connect with other moms, and an easy way to have informal shared care of infants. If your child is aged infant through four, Gaia Girls Camp will not provide care for her.

Brother Sun is a six-day camp for boys five through ten years old and operates from 8am to midnight. It is located on its own section of the Festival land, and is serviced by a regular shuttle service. Moms of boys enrolled in Brother Sun must camp in Brother Sun to care for their sons overnight. Families that include both boys and girls are welcome to camp in the Brother Sun Family Campground located at Brother Sun.

Children's Ticket Information

• There is a moderate ticket fee (see ticket information for prices) for children aged three to sixteen and there is no additional fee for childcare. Your child is not automatically registered for childcare when you purchase her ticket - you must fill out, sign and return the registration form postmarked by July 21st to register your child.
   
• You will not receive a confirmation of your child's registration in Gaia. Please call us before the July 21st postmark deadline if you would like to confirm your child's registration. If you can't purchase your tickets by the childcare registration deadline, but you know that you are coming and will want childcare, please register your children before the deadline anyway.

How's the Weather?
Michigan weather varies from the high 90's during the day and can go as low as the low 40's in the evenings, so pack to be comfortable across the full range of summer weather.

• Registration Form and Waiver of Liability

return to top