Summer camps

Recently I offered (because I don't have quite enough on my plate with being a mom/wife, working, being the PTA Treasurer, etc.) to help B's old preschool set up their summer camp program.  As we get closer, more information can be found here, on their website.  I have found myself having so much fun with that, putting together themes and ideas.  Some of the ideas we came up with are (including some one day camps, as well as week long ones):

• Nature Camp - old school crafts like the God's Eyes that Blair did here, singing campfire songs, doing leaf rubbings, etc.
• Magic Camp - learning how to do magic tricks
• Board games (one day)
• Amazon - learning about the rainforest, I found some great craft books and websites.
• Sherwood Forest - Robin Hood, Maid Marion and their band of merry men
• Ring of Fire - learning about the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia and other places that form the "Ring of Fire" in the Pacific Ocean
• Olympics Camp - they did this one last year and it was great
• Sailing the 7 Seas - Pirates, sharks, whales and everything under the sea
• Theater - putting on a play they work on for the week
• City of the Future - I love this one as I was (and am) fascinated by the future as a kid.  Looking at what things go into making a city, and what they think the city of the future will be like, then building a model of it.
• A Week at the Museum (a play on the title of the movie, A Night...) - where they will learn about different arts - photography, still life, sculpture, abstract art, pop art, etc. and then go see it all in the museum.
• Young Chefs - learning about cooking and all that goes into making the food we eat, visiting a "pea patch" to see how food grows, visiting a working restaurant kitchen, cooking some dishes, learning about composting and nutrition.
• Space Explorers - Basically a Star Wars camp with less emphasis on the "wars" part.  Mask making, crafts, some cooking (we have the two Star Wars cookbooks), and developing their own planets - creating a world with it's own climate and creatures.
• Wet - Sticky - Fuzzy  basically a crafts camp, making all things wet, sticky and fuzzy.  

I found myself so enthused putting this together, it goes back to the ideas I was trying for with the Organized Chaos group I wanted to form, creative ideas of ways to teach children about new things.  I just wish I could teach the camps too, but since that's not going to happen I guess planning is the next best thing (or maybe better, right?).  My friend and I are still doing Organized Chaos outings with our kids, our most recent to come in a post tomorrow, another nature walk.