School’s out the week of February 19. What are you going to do with the kids?
Here are some of the organizations offering vacation camp this year:
Know about a camp we missed? Shoot us an email and we’ll add it to this list.
Actor’s Playshop Camp for Kids
Cornwall Town Hall • grades 1-6 • February 19-23 • morning session (grades 1-3): 10 a.m. to noon; afternoon session (grades 4-6): 1-4 p.m. • $100-120/morning session; $150-180/afternoon session (sliding scale available) • Click here for more information, or to register.
Campers will start by getting playful with their movement, senses and imaginations. Playing theater games will help them get to know each other. Once warmed up, they’ll begin to explore the Who, What and Where of theater. Kids will experiment with pantomime, dramatization and improvisation in ways that flow naturally from play. The week culminates with an informal showcase.
Aurora Learning Center
Middlebury • age 5 years to grade 6 • February 19-23 • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. • $200 • Click here for more information, or to register.
Campers will go on hikes, build campfires, roast hot dogs and s’mores, track wildlife, do indoor crafts and activities, and play group games.
Bristol Recreation Department
Bristol Clay Studio • ages 6-12 • February 19-23 • $110 • Click here for more information.
Common Ground Center
Starksboro • grades k-6 • February 19-22 • 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. • $180 • Click here for more information, or to register. Or, call 802-453-2592.
Spend time outdoors, learn about local wildlife, and go sledding snowshoeing and hiking.
Ilsley Public Library
• Stop-Motion Animation Advanced Filmmaking Camp
Middlebury • grades 4 and up • February 20-23 • 9 a.m. to noon • Click here for more information, or to register.
Ilsley Public Library’s Kurt Broderson teaches kids to transform a series of still images into incredible animated films. The camp is intended for kids who have already attended a Lights, Camera, Action! camp, or at least five sessions of Youth Media Lab.
• Young Writers Group
Middlebury • grades K-5 • February 20-23 • 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. • Click here for more information, or to register.
Young authors and illustrators create original stories for submission to the PBS Kids Writers Contest.
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Vergennes • grades 2-12 • February 19-23 • 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (early drop-off and late pick-up available) • Shuttle available to and from camp in Middlebury and Vergennes • $250 • Click here for more information, or to register.
Campers will learn about life in the winter months for the wildlife who inhabit our forests, mountains, lakes and fields. We will keep track of the weather and play a variety of winter activities and sports. LCMM Living Historians will teach us how people in the past lived during the long, cold winter months here in the frontier wilderness by building fires and shelters. When we need to warm our fingers and toes, we’ll do indoor crafts and art activities, expanding on what we learn outside in the snow.
Middlebury Recreation Department
Grades 1-6 • February 19-23 • 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. • $185/residents; $212.75/non-residents; or daily rate of $40/residents; $46/non-residents • Click here for more information, or to register.
Campers enjoy a fun-filled week celebrating the 2018 Olympics. Each day children will participate in different arts, crafts and competitions while representing different countries around the world. They will closely follow the medal count, and the week will culminate in a field trip to Lake Placid to visit the ski jump, bobsled track and the Miracle on Ice Arena, as well as skating on the Olympic oval track and visiting the Lake Placid Olympic Museum.
Town Hall Theater
Middlebury • ages 12 and up • February 19-23 • 9 a.m. to noon • $250 (scholarships available) • Click here for more information, or to register.
Middlebury Actors Workshop Artistic Director Melissa Lourie leads “Much Ado in a Week,” in which campers tackle one of Shakespeare’s most revered comedies, Much Ado About Nothing. Working with a slimmed-down script, they will bring the story of Beatrice and Benedick to life, while training their voices and bodies to bring as much clarity and heart to the text as possible in a week’s time.
A gallery of hilarious supporting characters and notable villains bring tremendous acting opportunities for the whole group. The week culminates with a production. Adults welcome too!
The Willowell Foundation
Monkton • ages 8-12 • February 19-23 • 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. • $270 • Click here for more information, or to register.
Come to Camp Snow Fire to explore the natural wonders of the Willowell Foundation’s 230-acre property. Children will learn and play throughout Willowell’s forest, fields and wetlands. Activities will keep them warm as they learn from and explore the land. Some activities will include learning to build igloos, animal tracking, learning to start and tend fires, and engaging in winter-inspired hand-crafts and games. Kids will discover their own inner flame, learn how people of the North have thrived on this land for centuries and follow the curiosity nature evokes in us.