Parks & Rec. is bringing the camp to summer this season.
By: Amy Filippone, Dept. of Parks & Recreation
For the slightly younger set, this year’s Summer Art Camp for K-5 also has an interstellar theme beginning Monday, Aug. 6 through Friday, Aug. 10 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Artist in residence, Sophia Geiger, will be taking kids on an intergalactic voyage. This year’s sci-fi theme will have children creating all things to do with outer space — aliens, rockets, astronauts and robots. There will be five different stations that each child rotates through twice: 3-D sculpture, painting, drawing, and scientific based art. Some projects will use recycled products and will include an alien flip-book and a terrarium complete with an alien venus flytrap. The sky is not the limit; it’s just the beginning.
Sophia Geiger has been teaching for the Moorestown Parks and Rec. Department for more than 11 years. Her classes run throughout the school year as well as recreation’s summer camps and the week-long summer art camp. Sophia graduated from Drexel with a bachelor of science in design and is a certified art teacher with the state of New Jersey.
For the first time, Moorestown Parks and Recreation Department will be offering Robotics Summer Camps for grades four through grade. There will be three different sessions each consisting of four days on Mondays through Thursdays (three hours per day) on the 3rd floor at the Church Street Recreation Center.
- Session One — Build Your Own Motorized Robots:
This session will take place from July 9 through July 12 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Children will be designing and building motorized projects such as airplanes, race cars and bridges with the 30-in-1 design of the Engino model. There will also be “free building” where students can build or invent anything they like. More than 100 models can be made with the kit, so kids can continue to entertain and challenge themselves over the summer.
- Session Two — Space Robot Workshop:
This session will take place from July 23 to July 26 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Students will build a space station, a moving astronaut and more all powered by solar and light energy. Kids will learn about space and how robots are currently employed to explore Mars. The focus will be on the future of space travel, alternative energy sources and robots traveling to the outer reaches of space.
- Session Three — Catapults and Crossbows:
This session will take place on August 20 through August 23 from 9 a.m. to noon. Children will learn how projectiles work, the mechanics of force and how a change in design impacts range of motion and the distance an object travels. It will be a very dynamic lesson in physics. Yes, there will be nerf-like bows and arrows but also mechanical, motorized, medieval type of catapults will be built to demonstrate the physics of distance and motion.
Alanna Wright, who was raised in Moorestown, has specifically designed each camp to be a fun way of learning scientific principles and to spark curiosity. Wright has a bachelor of science and is currently teaching professionally. Feel free to choose one or try all of the robotics camps.
“I hope that if they enjoy the first one they’ll continue to come the rest of the summer because they’re all unique,” Wright said. “One of my favorite things about doing camps over the summer, specially when I work over a few sessions, you see friendships grow and build. The kids are always really excited when they come back and see their friends are there.”
For full details on these programs and more, please visit www.moorestownrec.com
