August Classes
We still have room in the following classes!
July 31-August 4
Homemade Instruments Jamboree
(ages 8-11)
Lahri Bond
Playing music is one of life’s many joys, especially when it’s created on instruments you make yourself. Using a wide variety of repurposed materials, we will turn household junk into beautiful, colorful, and very playable musical instruments, including tin can drums, spool drums, baking pan gongs, homemade shakers, maracas, tambourines, and rain sticks, bottlecap castanets, panpipes made with straws and a range of experimental stringed instruments. Children are also encouraged to experiment with the materials to create whole new, original instruments. We spend time learning to play our new instruments and create music together as part of a junkyard band. An equal share of the day will be spent playing noncompetitive games and exploring the beautiful woods of the Hampshire College campus. Please bring a lunch, water, and a snack.
Mon.-Fri., July 31- August 4, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
$340.00 - price includes materials
August 14-18
Pollinator Palooza
(ages 7-11)
Deborah Bazer
Thanks to pollinators, summer is alive with a myriad of brightly colored, fragrant flowers and our gardens are growing beautiful, tasty vegetables. Insects (bees, butterflies, wasps, moths, flies, beetles) are the most common pollinators, as well as 1,500 species of vertebrates and mammals, such as hummingbirds, flying foxes, fruit bats, possums, lemurs and even geckos also serve as pollinators. We’ll celebrate through art-making, the pollinator system of plants, animals and insects and learn how closely we are connected to them. Using our hive minds, we’ll collaborate to create artwork together as well as individually. Working with natural found materials, paint, charcoal, and clay, we’ll make paintings, leaf masks, drawings, fanciful headdresses, leaf pressings and sculpture. We’ll share stories about plants and animals and look to other artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Andy Goldsworthy and Georgia O’Keeffe who were inspired by the beauty and awesome design of nature.
Mon.-Fri., August 14-18, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
$340.00 - price includes materials
The camps below are full, but you can request to be put on a waiting list. Please email us with the class you are interested in.
July 31-August 4
Muddy Days: Clay Session II
(ages 7-10)
Deborah Bazer
With delightfully muddy hands, we will create a wide array of art using clay, that gorgeous squishy stuff that comes from the ground! You can push it, pull it, poke it into just about anything you can imagine. Come learn about where clay comes from, and how to make amazing art with it. We'll use coil, pinch and slab techniques, and then finish it with colorful slip (liquid colored clay) and glaze. We’ll also have plenty of time outside for playing games, exploring other malleable materials, as well as hearing and telling stories of magical and muddy places. All artwork from this session will be fired and ready for pick up a month after class. Please bring a lunch, water and a snack.
Mon.-Fri., July 31- August 4, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
CAMP FULL - Please email us to be added to a waiting list
Camp Full
August 7-11
Earth, Air & Water:
Mythic Journeys with Foxes, Seals & Ravens
(ages 7-10)
Deborah Bazer
Stories of foxes, ravens and seals abound in the myths and legends of cultures from around the globe. We’ll look to Japanese, Slavic, Native American, Celtic legends and beyond, for tales of clever and cunning, mischievous, playful and helpful animals of the air, water and land. These three animals, fox, raven and seal, have fascinated people for centuries; often thought of as transformational creatures, they have a magic all their own. We’ll hear stories and explore a variety of art that depicts these animals, to gain inspiration. Then, we’ll delve into making art of our own using paint, pencil, paper mache and natural materials, as well as learning about these animals through games, play-acting and wearable art.
Mon.-Fri., August 7-11, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
CAMP FULL - Please email us to be added to a waiting list
Camp Full
August 7-11
For Ages
10 -14
Magical Tabletop Game Creation
(ages 10-14)
Lahri Bond
Tabletop gaming is a great way to enable kids to use their natural sense of wonder to learn how to work co-operatively and solve problems. This introduction to Role Playing Games (RPGs), begins with kids creating their own characters such as wizards, elves, knights, dragons, and enchanters. Each child will make their own unique tabletop biomes, terrain, and magical creatures from recycled supplies, paint, glue, and natural materials found in our immediate surroundings. We will build our collective worlds both in the classroom, and outside among the trees. The class will create imaginative terrains from ordinary materials, while supporting and fostering cooperation, mutual creation, decision making, and creative problem solving. An equal share of the day will be spent playing noncompetitive games and exploring the beautiful woods of the Hampshire College campus. Please bring a lunch, water, and a snack.
Mon.-Fri., August 7-11, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
CAMP FULL - Please email us to be added to a waiting list
Camp Full
August 14-18
Dog Days of Summer:
Chill Out & Make Art
(ages 5-9)
Lahri Bond
As the summer comes to a close, we celebrate this hot, lazy time known as the Dog Days of Summer. Kids will spend the week trying out different materials and techniques of their choice; from drawing and painting to paper maché, Sumi-E ink paintings and mask making. There will be plenty of time spent outside, playing noncompetitive games, and exploring the beautiful woods of the Hampshire College campus. A fun and relaxing class for kids who are “camped-out” by summer’s end. Please bring a lunch, water, and a snack.
Mon.-Fri., August 14-18, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
CAMP FULL - Please email us to be added to a waiting list