Although school may be over soon, summer brings great opportunities for children to continue to learn while having new experiences or exploring interests in more depth — all while having fun at camp. There is an amazing diversity of interesting summer camp offerings, including some special ones right in our own backyard.
Dunes Learning Center Camps — Lake Michigan and the dunes are such special features of our back yard and the Dunes Learning Center in Chesterton is a special place to experience them.
The Dunes Learning Center has a wide range of programs and activities year-round, in addition to their popular summer camps. One of their camps is the Dunes Adventure Camp, a 4-day 3-night program open to youth ages 14 to 17.
“Participants in this program get to choose an adventure. This year these are: kayaking; fishing and archery; nature photography and nature art; or wildlife rehabilitation,” explained lead naturalist Madison Beatty.
The camps are designed for campers to have an outdoor experience which, in addition to the adventure, will include swimming and a beach party on the shore of Lake Michigan, hiking, a campfire and night program and a stewardship activity. The tuition fee for this camp is $399.
“Our goal is to spark curiosity about the surroundings in our campers, and to instill a sense of place and of stewardship. One benefit we have is in our partnership with the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and the programs will all have a national park component.” Beatty added.
For information on the Dunes Adventure Camp or other camps and programs for preschoolers to adults offered by the Dunes Learning Center, go online to www.duneslearningcenter.org or call 1-219-395-9555.
Challenger Learning Center Summer Camps — This Northwest Indiana institution is well known as a school field trip destination as well as for its popular summer camps ranging from the Astro-Tots Science Explorer Camp to the Underwater Astronaut Training Camp in the neutral buoyancy lab.
The Challenger Learning Center also has two newer summer camps: CyberCamps and the Rebel Training Camps.
Hammond’s Challenger Learning Center is one of the sites selected from across the county to host the second year of the Air Force Association’s CyberCamp Program. This camp is open to campers, ages 12 to 15, who will learn about cyber safety, cyber ethics, how to secure their personal devices, network security and more. The program concludes with a team competition dealing with a simulated cyber security threat. The fee is $135 for 5 days of 6-hour sessions, funded in part through a grant from the Porter County Community Foundation.
“Cyber attacks are a very real threat to all of us, and helping kids not only see the importance of computer safety and teaching them how to prevent hacking, but exposing them to skills that are in high demand, can have a tremendous effect on their future and even national security,” said Rebecca Manis, Challenger Learning Center director.
Cyber Camp 101 will be a camp for younger students, ages 9 to 11, offering an introduction to computers, coding and cyber security. The cost is $95 for 2 days of 6-hour sessions.
In the Rebel Training Camp and Junior Rebel Training Camp, youths ages 7 to 12 will explore the science and technology behind explosions, lasers, holograms and intergalactic travel — the forces and technology used by a band of rebels in a legendary movie saga.
For information on these or other camps or youth and family programs at the Challenger Learning Center, go online to www.clcnwi.com or call 1-219-989-3250.
Summer Design Camps in Wright’s Studio — Frank Lloyd Wright’s beautiful Oak Park, Ill., Home and Studio is open for public tours throughout the year. In the summer the studio becomes the setting for design summer camps for students entering 7th through 12th grades.
“Two camps are offered: Architecture Design and Build, which focuses more on designing structures, and Designing for Beauty and Utility, which focuses on the decorative arts and designing furniture, lighting and decoration as Wright also designed furniture, accents and interior ornamentation for his homes. Both camps are in the drafting room at reproduction tables like those in Wright’s studio in the early 1900s,” according to Kim Scata, senior manager for education at the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust.
“Students don’t have to have previous skills in architecture or design to attend, but we also have returning students with strong arts or architecture interests and so we have a different theme every year. This year’s theme is Designing for Accessibility, and students will look at what that means and how to incorporate that into design. For example, the needs of someone in a wheelchair include wider doorways and are very different considerations than designing for someone with a vision impairment,” said Scata.
Two sessions of each of these 5-day, 3-hours per day camps will be offered. Admission to each is $250. A $50 discount is available through May 31. For details, go online to www.flwright.org and click on Youth and Family Programs.
Joan Dittmann is a freelance columnist for the Post-Tribune.
