Camp CREATE

A typical day at Camp CREATE

While this is the basic structure of our day, it can often look different based on field trips or adventures!

9:00-9:10 Drop Off, Check In & Morning Meeting

10:00-11:00 Theme Based Activity/Project 1

11:00-11:30 Morning Recess/Group Game

11:30-12:10 Theme Based Activity/Project 2

12:10-12:40 Lunchtime (students bring sack lunches)

12:45-1:30 Tinker Time (Theme based exploration at individual level)

1:45-3:00 Choice Activities: Adventuring and Exploring campus, Arts and Crafts, Field Games etc.

3:15-3:45 Snack Time & Clean Up

3:45-4:00 End of Day Circle Game/Sharing

With so many programs in Central Oregon, why should you choose to join our camp this summer? Here are five different reasons why our program may be the best summer opportunity out there for you and your kids.

1) Quality Staff

We believe at Camp CREATE that a successful camp experience stems from having positive role models and leaders throughout each week of camp. When selecting staff for our program, we aim for the highest of standards and strive to select the best candidates possible for our specialized camp experience.

• All instructors are college level or higher and have two or more years of experience working with children.
• Safety is a priority for us, and all staff are First Aid/CPR certified and trained by Camp CREATE educators.
• Each staff member values, encourages and facilitates experiential, hands-on learning through fun and joyful practices.

2) Education, Recreation, and FUN!

With weekly themes, guest educators, excursions, group games, and more, our program provides a well-rounded day camp experience. Children learn some amazing life skills from summer camp, so why not enhance their knowledge and skills in a specific topic as well? Our weekly themes give campers the opportunity to take part in some of their favorite parts of day camp, like songs and games and outdoor exploration, while also providing them some engaging educational opportunities. It’s the best of both worlds!

3) Storyline Themes

Here at Camp CREATE we believe that students learn about a topic by experiencing and doing it first hand, especially with others. Each week at our camp we strive to give students the opportunity to truly explore their theme by working on week-long projects, taking excursions to places in our community, and collaborating with educational collaborators, instructors, and peers in completing team-initiatives and projects. To make it even more engaging, we have made the weekly themes Storyline-based to give your campers the opportunity to become fully immersed in the topic. Instead of just building a LEGO robot or making a stuff animal, why not become a real astronaut or toy maker? We believe this makes learning a whole lot more fun and helps the knowledge stick!

4) Our programs are designed for students entering kindergarten all the way through fifth grade

It’s a wonderful thing when children of all ages can collaborate with each other, but it's also important that kids be challenged appropriately so they can get the most out of their camp experience. Our day camps are offered to students entering kindergarten through fourth grade and are scheduled throughout the day so that they can work together as an entire camp and work on projects designed specifically for their age groups. Camps for Pre-K students are specialized, half day camps operated outside of the K-5 cohort.

5) Excellent instructor to student ratios

Each week of our program is designed so that we can successfully manage groups of children, ensure their safety, and assist them as much as we can with their educational needs. Each instructor will oversee a group of no more than ten campers to make sure your campers are being looked after properly while attending our camp, and our camp volunteers (C.I.T's) also work hard to assist campers in their learning adventures.

Safari Station

Let’s go on Safari! Jump into the animal kingdom, explore the ecosystems they live in and design resources to further support life in the deserts, jungles and plains! Create a solar-powered overland vehicle to crawl through the most difficult topography, design a map to navigate rough terrain and build a highly specialized LEGO robotics animal who can survive any challenge. 

 Arcade Entrepreneurs

Imagine designing games like pinball, the claw machine, or skeeball in your very own arcade. Campers will create their very own arcade from the bottom up using found objects and special tools from our IDEA (innovation, design, engineering, and art) lab. To truly make our arcade come to life, campers will take part in designing their own uniforms, tickets, advertisements, prizes, and more! For our final day, these entrepreneurs will name and showcase their new arcade to customers ready to play!

 TechTown

Put on your design hat, it’s time to think, plan and build a whole new world. From your imagination to reality, we’ll use coding, augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D printing and drone exploration to create new and innovative worlds - that solve a problem. By the end of the week campers will offer interactive and insightful experiences for their guest consumers to engage with that may just be the start of something new in our community and beyond. What will you create in your town?

Outdoor Leaders

What skills, tools and attitude does one need to be a capable and aware leader outdoors? This week we will adventure though state and local parks, learning basic first aid, how to build a tent, waterproof gear, cook in the wilderness and be an ambassador for others by embodying the ethics of  Leave No Trace.

Toy Makers Workshop

Design, build and decorate functional art! Explore and use an abundance of artistic modalities ranging from sewing to ceramics, basic circuitry to LEGO robotics as methods to building a group of speciality toys, that tell a story. Campers will create their own, fun and wacky toy shop to display and sell products for community customers. 

Spelunk and Splash

Become a Camp CREATE hydrologist and geologist as we explore Central Oregon’s unique rock and water landscapes! Everyday we’ll take fun-filled field trips exploring various locations splashing in the water and spelunking through various caves, learning about the role of rocks in our history, examine water ecology.

Lights, Camera… BLAST OFF

Immerse yourself fully in a space-themed, theater-based camp in partnership with BEAT Children's Theater. Students will build galactic plot, design wacky characters, create colorful costumes and produce dynamic props to enhance their interactive production. This will be a multidisciplinary week full of creativity, expression and connection. By the last day of camp we will host a play, truly out of this world!

Tomorrowland

Inventors and engineers unite! Explore your inner innovator and challenge yourself to think dynamically about the future that awaits us. Build items like solar-powered cars and electric-powered turbines while also designing sustainably sourced inventions. This camp is perfect for any young visionary that loves to tinker and problem solve through fun, hands-on projects!

Castles & Dragons

Travel back in time and discover what life was like in the Middle Ages with this STEM-filled program! Design your coat of arms, construct your own juggling balls to test your skills, build a trebuchet, and design a 3D model of a castle to keep out the dragons. Get ready for a week of adventure!

Space is the Place

3, 2, 1, blast off! This week, we’re shooting for the stars, and Camp CREATE is looking for a team of engineers to help them in their endeavor. Throughout this program, campers will design and program a LEGO robotic Mars rover, launch rockets, build lunar landers to withstand a landing, and construct a 3D model of a Mars colony.

The Wizards of Cascades Academy

Accio, campers! Cascades Academy has transformed into a school of magic, and we solemnly swear we are up to no good. Create magnetic slime, build a light up wand, play Quidditch, and design a robotic magical creature with unique abilities. You’ll discover just how magical our world is through the lens of STEM-focused activities.

Superhero STEM

Discover how superheroes use their powers for good (or bad) and construct your own superhero identity throughout this week of fun-filled STEM projects. Campers will take on their superhero persona by learning skills such as bending water and moving objects while also designing and programming a LEGO robotic sidekick to help them in their work!

Get a Clue - Forensic Investigation

Campers, we need your help solving a mysterious crime! Using various investigation techniques to collect evidence like fingerprints, hair, and clothing fibers, you can help us solve a “who dunnit” case before school starts! We’ll be transforming the IDEA lab into a crime scene investigation lab. The culprit could be anyone, so keep your eyes peeled and pay attention to clues.

We believe at Camp CREATE that a successful camp experience stems from having positive role models and leaders throughout each week of camp. When selecting staff for our program, we aim for the highest of standards and strive to select the best candidates possible for our specialized camp experience.

Guest educators and instructors at Camp CREATE are all highly qualified individuals with years of experience in education, youth development, and leadership. Our guest educators each week are teachers from Cascades Academy that are highly trained and experienced with their weekly theme. The curriculum for our varied themes are co-designed by the program director and guest educators and are developed to appropriately challenge students and ensure a well-rounded experience with the activities and excursions provided. We believe our camp provides a unique and fun learning opportunity, and it is with such qualified and specialized guest educators that this is possible!

We strive for the best camp experience possible for your child, and selecting staff and educators well-suited for our program is of the utmost importance. We consistently maintain an instructional staff to student ratio of 1:10 or better each week of camp to ensure an individualized experience that your camper will never forget! All of our instructors and educators are First Aid/CPR certified, have passed a criminal background check, and have completed two years or more of college education. We always make sure to select individuals who are excited to work with and teach children and feel extremely passionate about doing so. Having this combination of skills allows for a well-guided summer camp experience for your child that is coupled with high standards of safety and professionalism.

Please see more on our "Summer Employment" page