The Sense of Wonder Summer Day Camp 2010

The purpose of our program is to nurture the discovery and appreciation of our beautiful world ~ environmental and ethnical diversity ~ to become closer to it and learn how to love and care for it. To appreciate the very small wonders as well as the enormous ones and to realize how one person can make a difference. We blend all the ideas together in our daily creative activities of art, music, nature, community and cultural awareness.

Our Camp Staff 2010:

Pam Benjamin:
Director & Instructor
Artist, art teacher, dancer, sailor, mother, environmentalist, humanitarian, mentor

Five Adult Instructors:
Seychelle Roberts, Becky Williams, Tobey La Roche, Mark McColgan, Rosa Parker
Artist, sculptor, musician, singer, songwriter, poet, gardener, sailor, environmentalist, humanitarian, mentor

Counselors in Training:
Hudson Bausman, Kyle Joba-Woodruff, Rosie Margetson,
Julia Sharpe-Levine, Truda Silberstein, Eli Berlow, Jack Yuen and Emma Yuen

Summer Camp 2010 Information:

• One or more week sessions.
• June 28th to August 13th
• Ages 7–12.
• Monday–Friday; 9–1pm
• $250 per week

Summer Camp 2010 Application:

Call by phone 508 693 3142 to confirm the availability of space at camp
Online Application
PDF Application
Information Sheet
Medical form
Permission form

Financial Aid and Scholarships available.

The Sense of Wonder Weekly Programs
and Projects 2010

This is a rough outline of what we will be doing during the summer of 2010. There will be more announced as we get closer to the end of June. At the Sense of Wonder Day Camp engaging and capturing young people’s imagination is the most important and foremost aspect of our programs, this invariably influences the addition or timing of our projects. The weekly themes will stay the same, but the activities might move around or be added. The campers who attend SoW are the ones who are the deciding factor in what we choose for our curriculum. We adjust the programs to what is age and interest appropriate for who would like to participate. The other important factor is to have fun because, after all, it is summer!! So let us know what your children dream, imagine, envision, or wonder about and would love to experience and we will do our best to provide it for them. All our plays, puppet shows and songs are original and each has a meaningful storyline and message.

Additional Information:
There are principal activities and projects which will be continuing all summer long. All kinds of Art, Music, Theater and Nature Discovery are available to the kids if they choose it, in some form every day. We will be Planting and Nurturing our Garden, Exploring Nature, Learning about the Ecology of Martha’s Vineyard, Different Cultures, Enlarging the understanding of Peace and Justice, Improving social skills and Learning how to be more respectful, tolerant and accepting of Differences: ethnic backgrounds, religion, race, gender and interests…..All of this while having fun at the same time.

Other activities and projects include the Creation and Raffle of a large papier-mâché Sculpture to benefit a conservation group and the Painting of a large 8 by 4 foot mural on canvas to exchange with a children’s orphanage or school in a foreign country. We will have some fund raising events for the benefit of Haiti and a School in Afghanistan. Lessons will be available for learning how to swim, drum, juggle, walk on stilts, make a hoola hoop and lots more.

**** Our Very Exciting news is that we hope to have a CD release party for our Sense of Wonder Songs written by the campers and counselors on Friday July 23rd.  It will be sold to benefit local and global environmental and humanitarian organizations. Every Friday at noon, there will be an Art Show and Performance for campers, parents, relatives, friends and the Community at the Sense of Wonder Studio.

Educational Outreach is inherent in our mission; at Sense of Wonder Creations when we use the word “We” please understand that term includes Campers, Counselors-in-Training and Junior & Adult Counselors. Please email or call Pam if you have any questions or concerns. psb@senseofwondercreations.org
508-693-3142

Weekly Programs & Projects:

Week 1: June 28–July 2nd:
Wilderness Awareness, Tracking, Creatures and Wild Edibles:
We will have visiting Nature Guides coming in this week to lead us on an exploration of the Natural World. Geoff Cassel will talk about Coyote Mentoring Traditions, wild animals, birds and lots more, and a Naturalist will show us how to recognize trees, edible wild plants and insects and more. We will learn about how to improve our observation skills and abilities, tell stories about it and also learn how to live in the wild without manmade tools or conveniences. We will play educational games geared toward helping us become closer to nature. The campers will be able to tell stories about their own close encounters with wild animals and nature. We will gather wild edibles and cook something in our Solar Cooker to share. We will begin to plant our organic garden with vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers. The campers will also have the opportunity, to draw, paint, write poems, stories, a song and or a play this week about our weekly theme.  There will be an art show and performance on Friday at noon.

Week 2: July 5–9:
Creativity, Locally Grown Produce, Farm Animals
This week we will explore different art mediums and discover the deeper meaning of creative expression and creative planting and growing. We will also get to touch and be close to some sweet Farm Animals. Doug Brush will visit camp from Flat Bush Farm accompanied by some animals and his guitar. We will plant vegetables, fruits and herbs in our Organic Garden and expand the Bee, Hummingbird and Butterfly garden. We will learn about worms, companion planting, how plants and animals relate to one another and the surrounding environment, and natural pest control. We will also learn about eating locally grown produce, the slow food movement and sustainability. Throughout the summer everyone will have the opportunity to work and care for the gardens.
We will have an art show and performance at noon on Friday.

Week 3: July 12–16:
Music and Multicultural week, Africa and Haiti
We will explore and do art projects from Africa and Haiti. Rick Bausman will  come in to do a World Music workshop with the campers. Our own counselor, Tobey La Roche, will be joining in and bringing his collection of musical instruments all summer long. We will fabricate musical instruments inspired by the ones that Rick and Tobey will bring in.
The campers will break up into groups if they would like and form small bands or
do a solo performance with their new instruments. Some visitors will come in from
Haiti and Africa to show and tell us about their indigenous culture with folk tales, art, sculpture, music, food and clothing. We will do some fund raising for Haiti this week. Fund raising events TBA. We will begin painting a 4 x 8 foot mural to exchange with an orphanage in a country in Africa. TBA
We will have an art show and performance on Friday at noon.

Week 4: July 19-23:
Ocean Life, Puppetry and Music
We will be focusing on the Ocean and the Wildlife that inhabit it through research, exploration, discovery and creativity. The campers will be able to draw, paint and sculpt creatures out of paper, cardboard, clay, papier mache’ and plaster gauze. We will be taking a field trip to a beach and inlet where the kids can have fun walking around up to their knees exploring and observing Sea Life. A puppeteer will be here to help us fabricate some Huge Puppets that the campers choose (possibly a whale, dolphin, Squid etc.) out of Papier Mache’ wood and fabric. The kids will also get to make smaller creatures of their choice. And if that was not enough... The Singer Songwriter, Laura Benjamin will be coming in mid week to sing with us. We will have an Art Show and Performance with music and lyrics that the campers and counselors wrote together during the last few summers. Laura was very instrumental (pun) in creating some of the songs of original socially and environmentally conscious SoW music. Friday July 23rd at noon there will be an Art Show and Performance.

Week 5: July 26–30:
Puppetry, Individual Puppet Shows, Ocean Life and a Public Performance
Please note, there is an extra charge of $40 per child this week to cover the cost
of the Puppeteer and materials.
Master Puppeteer Dan Butterworth will lead puppet making and performance workshops this week. The campers will get to imagine and fabricate all kinds of puppets: sock, shadow, rod, stick, hand and Huge. The campers and counselors will research and write original puppet shows that will be performed at noon on Friday.  We will also be working on a Public Performance that will happen at 6 PM at Owen Park on July 30th. All of the campers and counselors are invited to participate in this exciting experience. We will be fabricating hand puppets, costumes and larger than life size puppets of big Sea Creatures and varying sizes of Props and Set Pieces of Ocean Life and Vegetation. Jennifer Walton of the Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institute will help us. The campers and counselors will participate, by choice, in all the performances. Some of the large and small puppets will walk through, in and around the audience during the performance to give the feeling that we are an ocean community. There will be a stage, backdrop, live and recorded Music. The Campers will give individual performances at noon on Friday.

Week 6: August 2–6:
Bountiful Creativity, Dance, and Forgiveness and Healing
Bobby Brown the Artist and his wife Joan Green, a Dancer and Artist will visit from Cambridge with lots of recycled materials from corporations that have been donated to Excl - Extras for Creative Learning, www.exclrecycles.org, a children’s resource center in Dorchester, Massachusetts. We will make Totems, Drums, Masks, Sculptures, Mixed Media Collage and whatever inspires the kids creative imagination. We will learn about how to be creative with what you find on the beach, forest and in the SoW Studio while helping to clean up litter. Joan will also give a dance workshop for anyone interested.

Melanie Demore will do a workshop with us this week on Tuesday For all who would like to participate. Melanie DeMore: Singer-songwriter Melanie DeMore has a remarkable voice, weaving the fibers of African American folk music with soulful ballads, spirituals and her own original music. DeMore beautifully brings her audience together through her music and commentary. She has toured
extensively, singing at festivals, universities, in coffee houses and concert halls. Her recordings 'Share My Song' and 'Come Follow Me' are both heartfelt collections of her music. In addition to her solo work, DeMore facilitates vocal workshops for professional and community-based choral groups and has taught her program called Sound Awareness in schools, prisons, and youth organizations in the
US, Canada, Cuba and New Zealand.

There will be an art show and performance on Friday at noon.

"A Random Act of Kindness" - a song written during camp, Summer 2004. View the lyrics here.