Summer Camps

Learn to be a Dungeon Master and forge your own adventure! In this inclusive camp about creative storytelling, kids won’t just be playing D&D as an adventurer, they will build magical worlds, draw amazing maps, and weave fantastic stories. Campers will use craft materials to bring their campaigns to life, practice improv techniques, and learn the rules of D&D so that they can lead their own adventures. Then, working in groups, we will create characters and take turns running games for each other. At the end of the course, kids will take home custom adventure kits to share with friends and family!

Bring your story to life by making stop motion animated movies! Working in teams, we will build sets and characters using LEGO® bricks, clay, and other materials, then write, direct, and edit unique stories. We will learn about narrative structure, setting the tone, and using special effects to communicate stories to an audience. This program takes a strong social-emotional learning lens and focuses on skills like empathy, giving and receiving feedback, and goal-setting. By the end of the session, kids will complete multiple animation exercises and a final film project to share with the world!

Bugs are everywhere! Did you know that 90% of animals on earth are insects? We’re here to see that bugs aren’t scary, they are cool! We will explore our outdoor spaces for local bugs, use pitfall traps to collect and observe them, and make crafts that explore the evolution of insects. We will also search for things we can look at with our special microscopes and catalog them in our wildlife journals. Get to know the critters and miniature life in your backyard with Bugs & Microscopes!

Note for camp coordinators: You must have accessible natural areas on or nearby your location to run this camp. We will inspect your space to determine if it’s suitable.

Join us to look, listen, and learn around your school’s scenic woodlands and waterways. In this camp for young naturalists, we will venture outdoors and observe birds and plants in their habitats. Each morning, we will spot local plants and wildlife and explore the science of our green and feathered friends. Campers will use binoculars, collect plant specimens for various projects, dissect owl pellets, play bird-themed games, and learn about bird conservation. Our budding botanists will identify local and invasive plants, create artwork from natural materials, and use handheld microscopes to make closer observations of various plants and flowers. We will learn about the importance of conservation, native species and the preservation of local ecology. Birds and plants are all around us, let’s take a closer look and cultivate our appreciation while having fun outdoors!

Note for camp coordinators: You must have accessible natural areas on or nearby your location to run this camp. We will inspect your space to determine if it’s suitable.

Design and build your very own video game!
Campers will use Stencyl, a kid-friendly game creation engine to make 2-D video games on the computer. Each day, kids will receive a short lesson, followed by guided creative building time. Lessons focus on designing fun and challenging platformer levels. The primary focus of this class is not coding, but students will have the opportunity to customize their games using block-based programming similar to Scratch. At the end of the course, students will have a game they can play and share with friends and family!

PREREQUISITES.
*** Students must have basic computer skills: be able to save and load files, switch between programs and type on the computer. ***