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OUR FIVE SENSES : SUMMER 2014

In 2014, campers focused their learning on our five senses. Sensory explorations take place on a daily basis and are carefully thought out to coincide with art and music sessions, to complement park excursions, and to enhance gardening and library experiences. For example, to explore the sense of vision, campers will create 3D representations of our community in microcosm and build a miniature version of Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Library time will include books about architecture. During park time, campers will draw the row of buildings on the Washington Park side of Fort Greene Park. Campers will then walk to the top of the steps by the monument to draw the Manhattan skyline. Counselors will encourage discussion of the similarities and differences in these cityscapes. Music time will encourage campers to recreate the rhythms of the soundscape in our community.

To provide another example, as part of the taste exploration, campers will explore nutrition and the food groups. Campers will write one food group category on a slip of paper. Slips will be tossed in a bowl, and each camper will pull one slip. Campers will be asked to donate one non-perishable / canned food item that provides food from that food group (like canned beans for protein, a box of pasta noodles for grains, canned fruit or vegetables, or canned milk). When all the food items are brought to camp, campers will organize the donated food items according to food group. Artful bags decorated by the campers will be packed. Campers will be instructed to include each food group in the bags they pack. Campers will deliver these healthy food bags to the Lafayette Avenue Church Food Pantry as a service learning project. 

Art Intensives:

Additional staff members include artists with extensive experience working with young people. These artists will lead special two-week long intensives in music and visual art. Each day for two weeks, an artist will lead a 45 minute special afternoon session in her/his area of expertise. Children will experience instrumentation, clay-making, print-making, and architecture.

Musical Theatre:

Along with these Art Intensives, Camp Fort Greene will provide regular weekly musical theatre sessions. These sessions will culminate in an end-of-camp production that campers will perform for parents and care-givers.

Library:

Tracey Mantrone of the Clinton Hill Library will provide a weekly 30 minute special story-time session with campers throughout the summer.

Community:

The Brooklyn neighborhood of Fort Greene is our campground. Campers will periodically meet local community members and learn about what they contribute to our neighborhood. They may go to a restaurant to make pasta, to the grocery store to discuss how produce gets from a farm all the way to Brooklyn, or to a local artist's studio to see how creatives hone their craft.

Gardening:

Campers will visit the Carlton Avenue Bears Garden each week to plant, weed, water, and grow plants all summer long.

Fort Greene Park:

Campers will visit Fort Greene Park each day to run, play, and learn more about the natural world in our urban community. Campers will also attend the Music in Grove summer children’s concert series each Wednesday morning throughout the summer.