Camp Themes

For kids 11 - 15 at Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore

A crime has been committed. Do you have what it takes to bring the perpetrator to justice? Law & Order camp is an opportunity for students interested in the law, public speaking, or theater to learn about advocacy and the justice system by presenting a mock trial. Participants will collaborate to prepare the trial from the perspectives of both the prosecution and the defense, playing roles of investigators, attorneys, and witnesses. 

Together participants will develop trial strategies, prepare questions, and write opening and closing statements based on a fact pattern. Bring your imagination and enthusiasm to help restore Law & Order!

This is a full day camp only.

For campers 5 - 8 at Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore

"You’re invited to...The Royal Swarthmore Ball!" Join us as we prepare for the annual celebration of the Royalty of Swarthmore. Create your royal character, design and assemble your costume, learn new dances, songs, and stories, and meet the other majesties of the realm. We will end our time with the promised Royal Ball with dancing and performances for all to enjoy. 

For campers 5 - 12. Congregation Beth Israel of Media

OUR MOST POPULAR CAMP! This summer we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to TCLR's school of magic and wizardry! Campers will experience the wonder this best-selling series in a whole new way. The books will come alive as we are sorted into houses, take flying lessons, go to classes such as Herbology, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Divination. The wand chooses the Wizard and you will need a good wand to DUEL. Who will compete in the Tri-Wizards Tournament? Which house will win the House Cup? And don't forget real-live Quidditch.

The older you are the farther you have made it through school. You'll need your marauder's map to play our Escape game. At the end of the week, get ready to take your O.W.L.'s or N.E.W.T.'s. Will you pass? If your child has ever wanted to visit Hogwarts, now's their chance! Keep an eye out for visiting professors, Owl Mail and the dreaded Howler!

We will make the most of the outdoor space in our Media location and the walking trails into the "Forbidden Forest". 

Halls of Hogwarts I & II follow similar plan, but not exactly the same. We have multiple weeks because of the theme's popularity. With different teaching artists, special guests and of course camper roster makes each week a bit unique!

For Ages 11 - 15 at Park Avenue Community Center. Full Day 9-4pm

PAC will be transformed into a working newsroom for this four-day camp with middle school-aged cub reporters learning the ins and outs of reporting and writing news stories and features. Each day will have a different theme and writing assignment for students to research, report and submit while also working on a longer feature to be considered for publication. Special guests will share about their experiences and we’ll hold daily press conferences to hone interviewing skills. Students will also build confidence through collaborative editing sessions and work on specific skills through individual coaching. Previous journalism experience is not required but an interest in writing, reading, research and exploring interests in timely subjects relevant to Swarthmore, Delaware County and beyond will certainly come in handy. 

The Swarthmorean has endorsed this program and will be involved as advisors and have offered space in a summer issue for student reporter articles that meet their publishing standards. See your name on the by-line! 

For youth 11-15 at Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore. Full Day 9-4pm

Led by artist and animator Keville Bowen young artists will dive into the art of illustration, exploring how visuals bring children’s books and literature to life. They will study various artistic styles, including cross-hatching, watercolor, and ink techniques, then apply their skills to illustrate a collaborative story in their chosen style.

From classic Sunday comics to modern webcomics, campers will explore the history and evolution of comics. They will learn to craft engaging 3-6 panel comic strips, design expressive characters, and develop their storytelling skills.

As with all classes Keville leads, he includes plenty of drawing tips and tricks throughout class along with online clips and examples of a variety of illustration genres from history and around the world.

For campers 5 - 12 at Congregation Beth Israel of Media.

Water Balloons, Super Soakers, and Geysers Oh My! Campers will use unconventional methods to produce MESSY MASTERPIECES each week with our indoor and outdoor activities. Campers will participate in color-filled activities as we utilize water to color the world around us. 

We hope for a scorcher of a week so we can be outside all day.  Water balloons, squirt gun painting, colored shaving cream darts, texture painting and tie dye! Lots of water-based group games and challenges. We'll also set up our mad-scientist art lab for some STEAM projects! And of course our fan-favorite from last summer the DIY Slip-n-Slide! 

Projects may include: DIY watercolor paints and sidewalk chalk, chlorophyll paintings, DIY Spin Art "machines", Story Stones, homemade bubble gum, Shaving Cream Twister, and of course SLIME. Projects will be an age-appropriate challenge! 

Typically, campers have been grouped by age ~5-8 and 9-12. 

For campers 5 - 12 at Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore

Triple Threat! Let’s Dance, Sing and Act… Cabaret Style! In just a week, our budding performers will work together to learn popular musical theater songs and dance interludes along with several scenes to create a full cast production number. A theme will tie all these sections together and crafting a few key costume pieces and props will complete the show. No prior dancing, singing or acting needed, this week is a great opportunity to see how musicals are produced. 

Performance will take place on Friday at noon.

For campers 5 - 12 at Congregation Beth Israel of Media.

Jedi Training Academy (Campers 5-9). Train as Padawan learners to prepare your mind and body to fight the evil Empire. Build droids, craft lightsabers, compete in pod races, and learn the ways of the Jedi. Visit the Forest Moon of Endor (Indian Orchards Walking Trail). A Jedi knighting ceremony completes the week. 

Camp Half-Blood (Campers 8 -12). Wisdom, strength, and the power to rule the oceans…the Olympians have arrived! Inspired by the Percy Jackson book series, campers will be sorted into cabins according to their god parent, and train together to stop Kronos. Campers will have to work together to learn and answer Mythological trivia, complete team games and obstacle courses, and master sword-play. Will your team rise up victorious in capture the flag? The "Glen" at BI will serve as a perfect spot to construct a real-life Camp Half-Blood. Only the brave may enter!

These camps have separate registration tabs, but are the same week and same location. Sibling discount applies!

For campers 5 - 12 at Congregation Beth Israel of Media. 

Explore, discover, and grow with us this summer at the Nurture Nature Summer Camp! Designed for curious minds ages 5-12, our camp offers a unique blend of outdoor adventures, creative arts, and hands-on learning experiences that inspire a love for the environment and a sense of wonder.

Camp Highlights: Nature Explorers: Embark on guided nature and creek walks, scavenger hunts, local wildlife and ecosystems; Eco-Art Creations: Use natural materials like leaves, rocks, and clay to create beautiful art projects that reflect the beauty of nature; Gardening Gurus: Learn the basics of gardening while tending the BI vegetable garden, raw food cooking (kale chips are a fan favorite; Outdoor Games & Adventures: Enjoy team-building games, obstacle courses, and water play that promote cooperation and physical activity.

STEM in Nature: Engage in science experiments and activities that demonstrate the wonders of the natural world, from building bird feeders to making eco-friendly slime Mindfulness & Mediataion: slow down and experience the small moments through daily yoga practice and mindfulness and meditation.

On location at BI with Linvilla Orchards as our backdrop AND on Middletown Township trail system, we'll use these amenities in our favor all week long!  

For campers 5 - 12 at Park Avenue Community Center. Led by Val McAdoo & Pete Postiglione of The Actor's Co-op

Let's Make a Movie! Campers will have the chance to go on the backlot and behind the camera and film their own short LIVE-ACTION movie. From concept to completion, the choice of which characters show up in this TCLR original will be their hands. Campers will also experience the film production shop painting backdrops, constructing sets and styling costumes. Story boarding, directing, prop and costume production and even a little stage combat will be part of the experience. Movie trailer and a director's cut film screening (including a blooper reel!) completes the week on Friday at noon. 

For youth 11-15 at Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore. Half Day 9-12pm

Unleash your creativity and bring your stories to life in our exciting Creative Writing Workshop! In this hands-on class, you'll learn how to create memorable characters, craft vivid scenes, and build conflict that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Through fun writing exercises and personalized feedback, you'll explore how to add depth and drama to your stories, making them truly unforgettable. Plus, you'll have the chance to share your writing with others in the group, offering and receiving feedback in a supportive, encouraging environment.

Whether you're a budding novelist or just love to write, this workshop is your chance to develop your skills, ignite your imagination, and take your storytelling to the next level!

For campers 5 - 12 at Congregation Beth Israel of Media. Led by Matt Ralph, Educator/Owner of Snapology Newtown Square

Minecraft IRL: Ever wondered what Minecraft would look like in real life? In Minecraft IRL campers will get a chance to explore ways to take the game they love from video screen to a real world space. They’ll use LEGO, cardboard and other materials to recreate their favorite components of Minecraft and hone a variety of offline skills - from creativity and design to problem-solving and engineering - to complete tasks and challenges.  

Brick City: Campers will turn into city planners, architects, engineers and builders as they explore the many components that go into creating a city, from the vehicles that make a city run, to the government, utilities, landmarks, bridges, highways, parks, sports venues and recreation areas that make a city a home. They’ll be challenged with different brick builds each day that reinforce a variety of STEM concepts and also work together in teams to adapt their models into life-sized structures. 

We will also bring in other building and design techniques including game design, puzzles and the 6 concepts to build Rube Goldberg's simple reaction machines! 

Campers will be split into groups by age (~5-8 and 9-12) and switch between the two modes throughout the week.

For campers 5 - 12 at Congregation Beth Israel of Media.

Creativity. Improvisation. Problem-Solving. Teamwork. These are the skills needed to play the world’s greatest roleplaying game. Before you start rolling the dice, join us to strengthen those skills through a series of live-action theater-based games and activities. Create your characters through backstory, magic, and costumes. As you play, your character will make friends, vanquish foes, solve puzzles, discover loot, and complete quests. By the end of this week, you’ll be an expert in collaborative storytelling and character building! Led by experienced Dungeon Masters (DM), who have backgrounds in education, story telling, and theater/drama to immerse campers in this fantastical world!

The DM's will determine if there is an older camper cohort ready to take on the table for D&D game play in the afternoons. Learn more about the World of D&D

For youth 11-15 at Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore

Brainstorm and craft monologues, stories and scenes in this supportive creative writing intensive. In a safe and peer-driven environment, campers will use point of view, improvisation and playwriting prompts to create multi-faceted characters in unique settings and situations. The week will culminate with a sharing for family and friends on the final class day.

Led by Playwright Kate McGrath

For campers 5 - 12 at Congregation Beth Israel of Media.

Calling All Crafters! If you like to sew, glue, glitter, bedazzle, fringe, frey and tie-dye, then this is the week for you. We'll be creating wear-able and gift-able works of art, mixing up homemade lotions, scrubs and tonics, painting, molding with clay, and crafting with recyclable materials. In recent summers, campers have delighted in the DIY Design Challenge. And we have busted out the tools to ensure all campers know how to hammer a nail, use a screwdriver and drill, find a wall stud and hang a picture! 

Let the tag say "handmade by me!" Along with fun crafts and of course lots of D.I.Y. SLIME, campers will compete in our 5th annual CUPCAKE WARS! 

Typically, campers have been grouped by age ~5-8 and 9-12 for most of the week, gearing projects for each age range.

For youth 11 - 15 at Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore

World Issues. Diplomacy. Global Affairs...perhaps an Intergalactic Treaty?

In this Olympic year, what better to understand world relations and rivalries than to bring them to life. Model UN is a role-playing experience to understand how different countries negotiate with each other to solve global issues.

This week you play the role of "delegate" on different sides of a central issue, engaging in negotiations, discussions and lively debates, to achieve compromise and resolution, and even attempt to solve world peace... in just 5 days! 

Learning about the Model UN process, you will develop skills in public speaking and presentation, persuasion, analysis of situations, research and critical thinking. During simulations, participants represent a nation or group and its point of view, considering a topical situation at hand. You could be representing a cold-weather or a warm-weather country's interest in how to combat climate change; how to handle gender-equality and inclusion facing the International Olympic Committee, even a debate on whether or not to allow Muggles a place in the Ministry of Magic! 

As always, our programs are experiential in nature, so as planning finalizes for the delegates ahead of Summer, we will decide if a real-world scenario or a more-fantastical approach with real-world implications will best engage them as they slip into someone's shoes.  Whether real or fiction, learning how to deliberate, debate and compromise is a skill to resolve issues and work together towards real solutions.

More information will be provided in late Spring about the Model UN committee topic for this Summer. This is a full day camp only.

For campers 5 - 12 at Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore

A camper original production! This week includes both an opportunity to perform in an ensemble play as well as design and create the sets, costumes and props. We welcome those actors who prefer to concentrate on their stage performance as well as those who are artsy and crafty who love to sew, paint and create.

All the world’s a stage! Using stories as inspiration, students will draw parallels and comparisons in their own life to create, write, and perform an original theatre piece. Through theatre and improv games, students will learn the basic techniques of acting and build trust as a group to present a performance at the end of the session.

Generally, the morning session is spent creating, crafting and rehearing the original play and the afternoon is production shop central. One main production element will be crafted in the morning for those half-day campers. 

Performance will take place on Friday at noon. 

For campers 11 - 15 at Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore. Half Day 9-12pm

Collaborate to create their own short film using LEGO bricks and the Stop Motion Studio app! Through hands-on activities, they’ll quickly learn the fundamentals of animation and discover tricks used by professional studios.

Brainstorm & storyboard an original short story using provided LEGO characters; Design and build creative sets for their scenes; Animate frame-by-frame, bringing their story to life with smooth motion techniques; Add sound effects and dialogue for a final cinematic touch. By the end of the workshop, teams will have a fully produced LEGO stop-motion film to showcase their creativity and storytelling skills!

For campers 5 - 12 at Congregation Beth Israel of Media.

Call me BOND... 007 had to start somewhere. From Harriett the Spy and Spy Kids, to Spies in Disguise, Code Breakers and Mysterious Benedict's Society, the air of intrigue is often too hard to ignore!

Our S.P.Y. Academy will put trainees through tests of mental skill (ie Escape Room and Code-breaking), physical stamina (ie Obstacle course, Scavenger hunts and nature trail orienteering) and technological prowess in our make-shift Inventions Lab (ie Gadget-making). Whether you are a suave spy like Bond, diplomatic like M, a resourceful like Moneypenny or clever like Q, there is a place for you in our mission.... if you choose to accept it! This message may self-destruct in 3, 2, 1....

Campers will be split into groups by age (~5-8 and 9-12) and activities and projects will be age-appropriate. Other projects may include: Invisible Ink Maps and "Radio-active" Slime. Week's end may have the groups working together to thwart an International disaster and solve a monumental mystery! 

For campers 5 - 12. Congregation Beth Israel of Media

OUR MOST POPULAR CAMP! This summer we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to TCLR's school of magic and wizardry! Campers will experience the wonder this best-selling series in a whole new way. The books will come alive as we are sorted into houses, take flying lessons, go to classes such as Herbology, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Divination. The wand chooses the Wizard and you will need a good wand to DUEL. Who will compete in the Tri-Wizards Tournament? Which house will win the House Cup? And don't forget real-live Quidditch.

The older you are the farther you have made it through school. You'll need your marauder's map to play our Escape game. At the end of the week, get ready to take your O.W.L.'s or N.E.W.T.'s. Will you pass? If your child has ever wanted to visit Hogwarts, now's their chance! Keep an eye out for visiting professors, Owl Mail and the dreaded Howler!

We will make the most of the outdoor space in our Media location and the walking trails into the "Forbidden Forest". 

Halls of Hogwarts I & II follow similar plan, but not exactly the same. We have multiple weeks because of the theme's popularity. With different teaching artists, special guests and of course camper roster makes each week a bit unique!