Monday, July 25, 2011

Just Girls



We had so much fun at girls camp this week! We had the greatest group of girls...all ready to jump in and have some crafty fun!

We made rope baskets where the girls got to dredge yarn in goopy glue and then create swirly patterns on a balloon. We then hung them outside to dry. Once dry, they'll pop the balloons and have a sturdy basket made only from yarn. They were so colorful and pretty!

We also made clay beads. The girls had fun rolling and swirling all the colors together to make their beads. We baked them and then the girls got to take them home to put on their favorite necklace or bracelets.

Another project we made was a lace up basket. These were made from fun foam sheets. The girls cut out the templates we made for them, punched all the lacing holes and then used coordinating colors of silky ribbon to lace up each of the four corners. We added a carrying handle and the basket was complete. To accessorize our baskets, we made paper flowers with tissue paper and pipe cleaners. The girls loved getting to crinkle up all the sheets and how real they looked afterwards!

We ran out of time to work on our paper beads and friendship bracelets this time...perhaps at the next girl camp!

Be sure to check our website for upcoming dates!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Minute to Win it

This camp was a huge hit! We had a great turnout so there were lots of kids to participate in our fun games. For those of you who haven't seen the hit TV show that this camp was modeled after, there are challenging and wacky games or activities that you must do for 60 seconds in order to win.


We didn't want to focus on individual competition like the TV show so we divided the kids into two teams. Each time a child could complete the task they scored a point for their team. At the end, the winning team members each got a tootsie roll pop. It was fun and friendly competition and the kids surprised themselves (and us!) by what they could do in 60 seconds!

Some of the activities pictured here are (listed clockwise):

  • version of "suck and blow" where they had to suck up a candy using a straw and then blow it onto a waiting straw to balance
  • sliding a cookie from your forehead to your mouth using only your face
  • balloon relay where they had to get a balloon from point A to point B using only a squirt bottle
  • balancing 6 dice on a Popsicle stick for 60 seconds using only your mouth

There are still a few Minute to Win it camps coming up...don't get left out of the fun!

Boys will be Boys


The boys took over Bouncing Off the Wall last Tuesday! We had customers peeking into the camp room wondering if we had some sort of demolition or construction project going on... hammers were swinging, sweat was flying, boys were being BOYS! It was great to see all of them so engaged in our activities (and there were lots of them!)

We started off with a marble maze construction project. The boys got to take a 12"x12" piece of plywood and create a checkerboard colored pattern on it for the background of their maze. After that, they hammered nails at all the + junctions so they could attach rubber bands around their board to create the pathways for their marbles. The coolest part was getting to try out the maze and re-make it after they'd completed one. The boys passed around their boards so others could 'TRY THIS ONE!!"

The other construction project we worked on was string art. The boys L-O-V-E-D this one! They took a 8" square board and hammered tack nails around it in a clock pattern. Once they were sturdy, they got to choose 2 colors of embroidery string and create cool designs as they strung it around their nails. They used 24' of string so you can imagine what a task that was!

We also made wood dough (sort of like play dough but with saw dust and laundry starch), wood burned door hangers and rubber band balls.

This is a camp not to be missed by boys!

Australian Adventure


Our journey to the Australian Outback was a hit! The kids absolutely loved the projects especially since they got to work with so many different forms of art medium. Many of our projects are pictured above. We made and played didgeridoos (an instrument that makes a deep sound), Bumpy Blotto Beasts (where they learned about symmetry), Aboriginal Face Drawings (with oil pastels) and sand cliff drawings. We even baked our own Australian snack-- it was delicious!

We hope your child can join us in an upcoming Australia camp!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Beach Blast!

We started camp off with a big blast this year! A beach blast that is and the kids couldn't have been more excited. To get started we read about pirates, sand, treasure and adventure!

With our minds away at the beach we were ready to begin! Between making moon sand, underwater beach scenes, sandpaper castles and shell rubbings,the campers were very busy. And that's not even counting any bouncing time!

Underwater beach scenes drawn with oil pastels. They were later painted over with water colors to create the underwater look


In the middle of all the fun and crafts was the best of all (or so the kids say).

Edible Sand Castles!




Made of graham crackers, sugar cones, icing and lots of candy. They were a big hit!

We still have two more beach blast camps scheduled for this summer and spots are available.

Sign up today!