Summer Explorers
- For rising 5th and 6th graders
- Summer Explorers camp is held on the Guilford Campus at 1128 New Garden Road.
Summer Explorers is a level of summer camp that allows rising 5th and 6th graders to explore new activities and themes in an age-appropriate group. Themes for this program were created using a blend of ideas from both our Adventures and Middle School Electives’ sessions, giving the participants a bridge between the two camps. In addition to activities on campus, we offer several field trip opportunities. The smaller group size in this program provides the opportunity to do more in-depth and developmentally appropriate activities and projects.
2020 Summer Explorers schedule will be available in early March.
2019 Summer Explorers Sessions
June 10-14 - League of Legendary Explorers ($200)
Our campers will follow in the footsteps of explorers both fictional and historical, as they journey around the world to explore hidden locations and find legendary treasure. They will learn how the great explorers of history navigated and deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs and Viking runes and use this knowledge to investigate mysterious locations such as the labyrinth of Crete and Egyptian tombs. In the downtime between adventures, we will stave off hunger by trying ancient recipes and keep boredom at bay with board games from the civilizations we will be examining.
June 17-21 - Duct Tape ($200)
What can’t you do with duct tape? Really?! Come find out as we explore the wondrous world of duct tape and other adhesive marvels. Participants will make duct tape wallets and other accessories and develop their construction skills, which will be used to complete daily challenges that will be judged by a panel of tape experts. Bags, hats, ties, flower pens, piggy banks, and world landmarks are just a few of the projects we will create. Participants showcase their creations on Friday for everyone to enjoy!
June 24-28 - Carpentry ($220)
Building on our Carpentry week from Summer Adventures, this session will give participants the opportunity to hone basic skills using hand tools and do more finish work on their wood creations, including sanding and staining with eco-friendly stains. Each builder will choose a project from many options and plans, including the classic treasure chest, bookshelves, toolboxes, and more. If participants want to create their own project, we can help make their idea a reality. We will complete other wood craft projects and expand on the exploding Popsicle stick project!
July 1-3, 5-* - Weird Science ($160)
Tackle feats of science this week with all kinds of fun chemistry experiments and see Science in Action! We will mix lots of gooey concoctions to create slime and oobleck and make bouncy blobs, lava lamps, and tie-dye shirts. We will explore forces like gravity and magnetism and experiment with light. Can we predict chemical interactions? How do common everyday items really work? Can we discover the reasons for certain optical illusions and physics tricks? Can you measure the speed of light with household materials? Don’t worry parents; we will take the utmost safety precautions and never do anything dangerous! Let’s see if these investigations can be tackled by our crack team of non-professional scientists!
*This is a 4-day week, as we are closed Thursday for the national holiday, 4th of July.
July 8-12 - Outdoor Adventure ($200)
Strap on your hiking boots and fishing gear. Don’t forget your compass and paddle, and definitely bring a bathing suit! Learn all about “roughing it” as we learn how to pitch a tent, use a compass and GPS, cook s’mores over an open fire, and build emergency shelters. We will go on a “survival challenge”, make sun prints, cooling bandanas, and paracord creations. We will be visiting area parks, playgrounds, and lakes, including Hanging Rock State Park. We will hike, fish, swim, and canoe our way through the week while we learn about the great outdoors!
July 15-19 - First Contact ($200)
Put on your thinking space helmets as we create our own sci-fi worlds. Campers will work together to create a story about first meeting aliens from another world; then they will get to construct models of their characters, ships, planets, and of course, alien life forms. When everything is ready to go to press, we will have a cover photo shoot to create an epic image for the front of our stories. This week of sci-fi fun will be both about science, as we discuss astronomical phenomena and experiment with the fundamentals of space travel, and fiction, as we design our own UFOs and constellation origin myths and even learn some phrases in Klingon and other “alien” languages.
July 22-26 - Farm to Table Fun ($200)
Ever wonder where your food comes from? Or how all those items get to the aisles of the grocery store? This week we’ll go farm to table, literally! With visits to an orchard, a grocery store, a local bakery and restaurant, we will go behind the scenes to learn all about how our food is raised, grown, shipped, delivered, and prepared. And of course, we’ll don our chef hats for some kitchen creations of our own, including tasty appetizers and delicious desserts.
July 29-Aug. 2 - Ancient Rome ($200)
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but we are going to learn as much as we can about it in one week! From Romulus and Remus to Caesar Augustus, we will spend the week learning how Rome became the most powerful culture in the world. Come learn the game of Trigon, make and play dice games, build a mosaic, and sample Ancient Roman cuisine. We will design and race remote controlled chariots, make Roman shields, learn about young Romans’ daily life, and defend the empire from Barbarian hordes. We will mix up scented oils, make Roman helmets, mint coins of the empire, and design our own Roman standards.
August 5-9 - Goofballs ($200)
This session gives participants the chance to have fun playing crazy, weird games and sports, and venturing out to discover fun around town. We will play games like secret documents, croquet, Frisbee golf, and lots of different tag and card games. We will go out to eat one day, go swimming, watch a movie, and make some tasty treats to enjoy. Come hang out and have a goofy, fun week!