At Maker Studio Kidz, our passion is crafting exciting week-long holiday and summer camps that blend imagination with hands-on learning. We love to dream up kooky themes, inventive projects, and exciting new skills to teach to the kids that come through our studio. Today, we are thrilled to unveil the inner workings of our camp planning process, and offer you a glimpse into the collaborative magic that fuels our work. Whether you’re an educator seeking curriculum development advice, or a parent curious about your child’s week of fun, we’ve got you covered!
Develop a Concept. It all starts with a spark of imagination. Looking ahead at school breaks, our leaders, Marissa and Jessica, dream up stories, themes, and skills that they believe would be exciting for kids. This summer, they devised the Maker-topia Adventure Camp, where students will save the magical land of Maker-topia from the hands of the bumbling Jessamonster. They also developed the concepts for additional summer camps, including Sew-Cool, Pop-tastic Creations, and Games and Gadgets.
Delegate Curriculum Development. With concepts in hand, teachers pair up and claim a week or two of camp to program. It is a collaborative effort from start to finish!
Hone in on Skills and a Story Arc. Working closely with Marissa, teachers narrow in on the specific skills that they would like campers to develop, as well as the overall storyline of the week. For example, in our Pop-tastic creations camp, students will be focusing on printmaking and sculpture, with the end goal of creating their own miniature candy shop! Other camps focus on skills such as cardboard construction, painting, electronics, and sewing.
Choose Daily Activities. With themes set, it’s time to fill in the days with exciting activities. Keeping in mind the age range of campers, teachers scour past curriculums, browse the web, and brainstorm their own ideas. Projects start simple and ramp up in complexity, leading to a final day of free maker time for campers to explore their newfound skills.
Allot Play Time! Amidst all the learning, we make time for play! Snack breaks and lunches at the playground allow campers time to unwind, and on Fridays we dial down the intensity to give everyone a chance to present their work.
Pack. This is the most involved part of our process! After we have planned what we're going to do, we have to order all the supplies, gather the materials we have, and create examples for every one of our project. This gets extra crazy when we have multiple camp locations going at once!
We hope this behind-the-scenes look has provided insight into our camp-planning process! It is our favorite thing to do, and we love to share it with you!
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