Weeks one through three, our youngest campers will enjoy discovering and exploring the rainforest through literature, science, geography and art. Together we will create a classroom rainforest, complete with tapirs, kinkajous, and tree frogs! "Oh the places we will go" during our second three weeks! We will explore how people travel throughout the world, learn about various types of transportation and even create our own transporting machines! Campers will work individually as well as in cooperative groups to enhance their social skills and strengthen their unique talents.
Acting Out: Lights, camera, ACTION! This course will have you singing, dancing, pretending, telling stories, and creating puppets and scenery. Learn trust exercises and improvisational skills to let your imagination soar in a safe and creative environment. Use both words and body language to tell a story, and create and film your own commercials!
It’s A Small World After All: Grab your passport and get ready for a tri-continental adventure! Travel around the world to learn and explore various places and cultures, including Asia, Australia, and Europe. This class will include multicultural literature, writing, geography, cultural math activities and games, and so much more!
'My-Landia': Are you ready to explore the amazing and exciting plant kingdom? This summer, you will explore biomes and plants to see how plants adapt to the conditions of their environment. Then, using the book, Weslandia, by Paul Fleischmann, as a model, you will select a biome and create your own imaginary garden based on all you've learned.
Break The Code: Labyrinths, sudoku, cryptography, oh my! Get ready to stretch your minds to the limit solving many different puzzles and brain boosters during this class. Create your very own brainteasers to try and stump your friends and family! Work cooperatively and independently while solving and creating challenging puzzles.
Masterpiece Theatre: This course will put you right in the story and have you acting, singing, and dancing! With costumes, puppets, and pantomime, you will learn not just how to read or tell a story, but how to bring it to life! By adding music and movement, you will learn the full spectrum of musical theater storytelling.
Art Explorers: Come explore the world of multicultural art though an exploration of various materials, styles, techniques and cultures. You will learn about different cultures and how their artistic styles differ from one another. This class will help you continue to develop your skills in basic drawing and painting, while allowing your imagination to run wild!
It’s A Zoo In Here!: Do you love animals? Explore the world of zoology! Work with a variety of live animals, including lizards, snakes, and arthropods. Learn how animals are classified, how to care for and maintain several exotic species, how habitats influence adaptation, and basic comparative anatomy. Spend your summer working with an animal you may have only seen in zoos!
Leaping into Literature: Campers will explore Caldecott Award winning books, create prequels and sequels to some of our favorite pieces of children’s literature and write and share original pieces of poetry. Our journey will end with a special Poetry Celebration where students will share original poems with each other.
Around the World in Three Weeks: Join us on an interactive, technological journey where we will be researching the various Wonders of the World, both Ancient and Modern. Which new and original “wonder”-ful destination would you include as a new Wonder of the World? Create a travel brochure including fun facts and persuasive elements of your chosen destination, as well as a travel video using film techniques studied in class.
Artistic Pursuits: This course will have you engaged in creating multicultural works of art that challenge you both artistically and creatively. Through the use of different mediums including shaving cream, watercolor, and pen and ink work, we will create art projects that will incorporate work from cultures all over the world. We will develop a greater understanding of cultures and mediums while stretching our imagination to the limit!
Zoology 101: Have you ever wondered what a leopard gecko eats? Or what eats a leopard gecko? Do you want to learn how to care for a fire-bellied toad? Come find out the answers to these questions and more! We will explore branches of zoology such as ethology (the study of animal behavior), phylogeny, taxonomy, advanced comparative anatomy, and animal psychology while working with a large collection of exotic animals.
Summer Brain Benders: Come boost your brain through a series of riddles, puzzles, logic problems and other enigmas to entangle the mind! We will analyze the Fibonacci Sequence, discover the Golden Ratio, unravel the Tower of Hanoi, and examine the mystery of Pi. The session will finish with the “Math-Olympics” in which campers will compete in a variety of puzzles and games.
The Summer Super Stars Press: From page design and digital imaging to writing articles about current happenings, this literacy class will provide a multi-genre writing experience as students produce and publish their own magazine. Campers will meet deadlines, conduct interviews and persuade potential consumers.
Asian Art in our Modern World: Explore and create art with an Eastern influence. This class will include creating Indian Mandelas, Chinese ink landscapes, and Japanese "woodblock" style printmaking. Enjoy making your own rubber stamp out of an art gum eraser to be used for a signature logo. We will also play an active role in designing the set for our summer performance!
Weird Science: Back by popular demand, this year campers will take part in wide range of new and exciting science experiments each day, drawing from the areas of biology, chemistry, and physics. From floating eggs, to exploding watermelons, to slime mountains, to playing with Newton’s Laws, students will employ scientific inquiry and draw on their problem solving skills as we have fun with weird science!
What’s Your Point?: Have you ever wanted to argue and NOT get in trouble? This summer learn how to make strong arguments about a variety of topics as we practice the art of debate. You will have the opportunity to debate age-old issues, study current events related to this year's presidential election and student-centered issues that can impact you. You will also learn to play a part in the United States Justice system through Mock Trials.
The Recreational Afternoon consists of a balanced mix of social and recreational activities which include lunch, daily swim (Red Cross Certified Swim Instruction is also available), recreational computing, sports, drama workshops, arts and crafts, book clubs, chess and more . Fridays are for field trips and on site events. AM Only campers and all parents are welcome to join us on field trips. Parents who join us will be asked to supervise small groups of campers. Our annual last day Barbecue/Picnic at Krucker's is included for all campers.