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Summer Camps 2008 - Descriptions

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Theater Arts Camp

4 weeks
July 7 - August 1, 9am - 3pm

Theater and music are inseparable at Aurora School. This year's camp includes the return of Daniel, Sonja, Regina, Heidi, Nick and Brianna. Eve Decker, our beloved camp director from past years will be taking on a new roll this year as the scriptwriter. Eve's tradition of directing will be continued with the help of Nick and our new and wonderful music teacher, Holly.

Aurora Theater Arts Camp is proud to present this year's musical production of "Mary Poppins".

Campers are broken into age groups with age appropriate activities. Older campers help design costumes, build sets and assist in directing younger campers. Children are introduced to a variety of theater activities, including playing instruments, singing, dancing and movement, all in the context of the acting experience. All campers have the opportunity to be in the performance.

As is the tradition of Aurora's Theater Arts Camp, our performance is adapted to be age appropriate and accommodates all attending campers. We accomplish this by simplifying some of the characters' lines as well as having multiple actors playing the same character. For example, having three Mary Poppins, two Mr. Banks, and many children. These actor changes make the performance and camp so much fun!

A very popular part of camp is our fabulous musical instrument-building with Daniel Schmidt, which all campers participate in, set and costume design with Regina Gulligan, choreography by Sonja Sutherland and time for special projects.

A dress rehearsal is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, July 30, with the main performance on Thursday, July 31st. at 7pm. Every child will have a role in the play. If a child is not comfortable performing in front of people, we offer behind-the-scenes parts, such as set changers, curtain managers or sound effects specialists.

This camp runs in one-week sessions, campers must sign up for a minimum of 3 weeks, and must be able to participate in the last two weeks. This brings consistency for all participants and a much better Theater Arts experience for all.

Introduction to Tennis

(5-7 years old and 7-12 years old)
This camp is designed for children with little or no tennis experience, as well as those with a bit more experience. Tennis camp uses modified equipment to work hand/eye coordination, skill development and allows children to have success at tennis more quickly. We use smaller courts, shorter rackets and a variety of tennis balls. We begin with a foam-type ball, transition to a non-pressurized ball and finish by using a traditional tennis ball. We incorporate many drills and work toward a real game situation. This technique of learning tennis fosters fun and success. This camp is not designed for those with more advanced skills.

Basketball

(5-7 years old and 7-12 years old)
This camp features skill development, games and fun in a non-competitive environment. Skills included in this clinic-style camp are dribbling, passing, shooting, as well as strategies of the game. This camp is a fun way for your child to get acquainted with basketball in a small environment.

Spanish

(5-7 years old and 7-12 years old)
Spanish camp is for beginning and low intermediate speakers. Children will have a great time learning Spanish through a variety of interactive and hands-on techniques. Campers learn new vocabulary, sing songs, read, tell stories and play games around specific themes.

Teaching Engineering to Kids with LEGOStm (TEK with LEOGOS)

Green Engineering (7-12 years old)
Design and build machines powered by alternative energy sources. Race solar cars, build a wind-powered electrical generation facility, enter the human powered vehicle competition and invent a machine powered by stored elastic strain energy.

Junkyard Challenge (7-12 years old)
Your team will compete in designing and building the fastest, strongest, smallest, largest, lightest, heaviest, most maneuverable and coolest machines and structures to accomplish a variety of tasks. Success in the competition will require campers to build trucks, bridges, elevators, bulldozers, conveyor belts, and other motorized and alternatively powered contraptions that will help them overcome obstacles.

Bash-n-Bots (7-12 years old)
Create a wrestling robot to compete in a ring. Then re-engineer it to be a battling bot and take on another challenge.

Pre-Engineering (5-7 years old)
Create, play and learn. Build a town, city or star base with houses, tall buildings, pyramids, bridges, tunnels, towers and more. Build motorized cars, trains and trucks; race them, crash them and repair them.

Engineering Fundamentals (7-12 years old)
Design and build motorized machines, catapults, pyramids, demolition derby cars, truss and suspension bridges, buildings and other constructions. Explore concepts in physics, mechanical engineering and architecture, while playing with your favorite creations. Returning students will work on new projects and challenges.

Camps by Linda Lemon

3-D Art (5-7 years old and 7-12 years old)
Campers will use plaster, both as a molding, and as a casting material. This camp will also include making sculptures out of a treasure trove of junk.

Fiber Arts (5-7 years old and 7-12 years old)
This camp includes paper-making and tie dyeing. Campers will make apple sauce and make art out of the remaining fibers. They will also make books, butterflies and more.

Camps by Judy Richardson

Soft Sculpture Animals (5-7 years old)
You'll draw and paint animals you want to make, then create your own cloth collage materials with a variety of special painting techniques. You will be rolling, brushing, stamping and texturing. These materials will be cut up and combined to form your amazing animals. The animals can look real, silly, or scary, it's up to you. The animals will be made into soft sculptures you can play with.

Design and Build Architecture (5-7 years old and 7-12 years old)
Plan, design, draw and build your own city. You will decide on the kind of city you want, including roads, paths, train tracks, tunnels, ponds, pools, lakes, and parking lots. You will draw, paint, and build from the ground up! If your city needs cars, boats, trains, people and animals, you will build these things out of wood, foam, clay, cloth and cardboard.

Comic Strip and Storyboard (7-12 years old)
Create your own comic strips or storyboards in this series of drawing sessions. Learn how to draw the human figure, create your own stories, characters and settings. You will see lots of different comics from established artists to help you get ideas of your own. You will be using professional pens, paper and markers, and you will take your own book or storyboard home at the end of the camp.

3D Wonderland (5-7 year olds)
Create rocks, volcanoes, rivers and mountains to form a 3D landscape! You will be casting and carving, sculpting and painting. You will learn about different kinds of rocks, and make them look beautiful, colorful and real. Your sculpted mountains can be topped with snow, your volcanoes boiling with lava. Each of you will draw and paint a background for your 3D wonderland.

Pop-Ups (7-12 years old)
Create a world of pop-ups, from your "Fantasy Bedroom", to a town, city, jungle, forest, or other environment of your choice. You will be drawing, painting, and using collage to make your pop-ups. You can make small, personal scenes or large panoramic views. At the end of the camp all of the pop-ups will be set up together to create a giant pop-up installation.

Animal Sculptures (7-12 years old)
You will build large-scale animal sculptures using toy models to work from. You can start with observation, then move on to imagination to make your animal as fantastic or crazy as you want. You can add texture; paint and decorations, then paint a backdrop environment for your animals to live in.

MONART Camps

Children at any level of experience learn how to express themselves creatively and with confidence.

MONART camps are divided into two parts. During the first part campers engage in a MONART drawing or painting lesson based on that camp's theme. After a short break, campers explore working in three dimensions through skillful craft projects all geared to complement that week's camp theme.

Cartoons & Clay (5 - 7 years old and 7 - 12 years old)
From the classic to the contemporary, learn how to draw cartoon people and animals, including how to make the characters run, jump, and kick in true action figure form. Campers will learn MONART drawing techniques and the fundamentals of animation by drawing a variety of characters, creating a flipbook and storyboard, sculpting their own clay creature, and making their own clay animation short film. They will receive their and their fellow campers' movies on DVD. This summer's camp includes new cartoon favorites.

Ocean Exploration (5 - 7 years old and 7 - 12 years old)
Explore the depths of the vast and mysterious underwater world and create artwork inspired by the fascinating creatures that dwell above and beneath the sea. From sharks to whales, dolphins, seahorses and divers, with an abundance of ocean life to draw, each session will include a new variety of projects. Campers will explore MONART drawing techniques and create original crafts based on saltwater beauty.

Myths & Magic (5 - 7 years old and 7 - 12 years old)
Travel though a magical realm where mythical creatures roam. Drawing and craft projects will be based on fantasy themes. From griffins to dragons, unicorns, centaurs and wizards, each of the four Myths & Magic sessions will include a study of these mysterious characters, with tales and scales and ways to draw them. Campers will learn MONART drawing techniques and use a variety of media to create original compositions beyond their wildest imaginations.

Africa Adventure (5 - 7 years old and 7 - 12 years old)
Take a journey to our African Adventure to discover the beauty of its people, wildlife and landscape. Campers will learn MONART drawing techniques to create artwork and craft projects inspired by the culture and arts of Africa during this fun and enriching experience. From the ancient tribal art patterns to its varied landscapes and amazing wildlife, Africa offers a theme rich in diversity with something of interest for every young explorer and artist.