All camps at this grade level are held at an Oak Park D97 elementary school (to be announced soon!) and priced at $180 for a half-day, five-day session and $145 for half-day, four-day session (Week 3). Read more about our amazing BASE Camp teachers. Please register for your child’s grade level as of Fall 2022.
AM Camps
Chibi Creations (1st-2nd) NEW CAMP!
| Week 4 | July 11 to July 15 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 5 | July 18 to July 22 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Who can resist these adorable characters with their big eyes, big heads and big feelings? Learn the basics on how to create cute chibis with drawing and storyboarding, then turn your chibi loose in a 3-D world designed out of recycled materials. Work in teams with other creators to bring your characters to life in a ‘zine or video. Content will be the same each session.
Experimentation Station (1st-2nd)
| Week 1 | June 20 to June 24 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 2 | June 27 to July 1 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 3 | July 5 to July 8 (4-day week) | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Conduct hands-on experiments with things gooey, strange, stinky, colorful, eruptive, surprising and always fun! Hypothesize about the science behind the reactions you see. You’ll finish camp with a lab book of experiments you can do again at home. Content will be the same each session. Please note that some experiments will involve small servings of candy (nut free), and we will make ice cream (with a non-dairy option). Ingredients can be provided upon request.
LEGO Architects (1st-2nd)
| Week 1 | June 20 to June 24 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 2 | June 27 to July 1 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Use your creativity and problem-solving skills to construct celebrated natural and human-made wonders using LEGOs! Projects will build on ideas from famous Chicago-area architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Jeanne Gang, and contemporary architect Frank Gehry. Kids will work both individually and in small groups. We’ll document our projects and share them with friends and family at the end of camp. Instructor: Ryan Winchell. Content will be the same each session.
LEGO Stop Motion (1st-2nd)
| Week 1 | June 20 to June 24 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 2 | June 27 to July 1 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 3 | July 5 to July 8 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM (4-day week) | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Make an animated movie using LEGOs! Create your storyboard, build your LEGO scenery and characters, and capture each step of the action with the camera. Then put on your producer hat and bring it all together using iMotion software. Your final product will be your very own animated stop-motion video. Bring simple, recycled materials to create your movie set (more information given during the first day of camp). You may register for multiple sessions; campers can animate different stories each session.
Rainforest Yoga (1st-2nd)
| Week 4 | July 11 to July 15 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 5 | July 18 to July 22 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Stretch your mind and body as you explore the rainforest with stories, music, art, jungle movement, and meditation. Build and decorate a giant rain stick to transport yourself into the wild. Learn to use your breath to both calm and energize your body, and build coordination, balance and strength. Instructor: Kim Vulinovic. Content will be the same each session. To participate fully in the class, children should wear comfortable clothes (e.g., leggings/sweats, not dresses, tights or jeans). In partnership with YogaKids of Oak Park.
Speedometry (1st-2nd)
| Week 4 | July 11 to July 15 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 5 | July 18 to July 22 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Set your brain racing while using Hot Wheels cars and ramps to engage in science concepts such as energy, force, and motion. Develop creative problem-solving skills and learn scientific and engineering practices such as analyzing and interpreting data through hands-on learning. Instructor: Adam Bautista. Content will be the same for each session.
Storybook Engineering (1st-2nd)
| Week 1 | June 20 to June 24 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 2 | June 27 to July 1 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Want to design modern endings to classic fairy tales? Get creative and engineer solutions such as a better way for Rapunzel to escape her tower, a parachute for Jack and the Beanstalk, or a re-design of baby bear’s bed for Goldilocks. Experiment and work together to imagine solutions that don’t require a prince or a Fairy Godmother! Just like a real engineer, put your math skills to use as you figure out a workable budget and purchase building supplies with limited funds. If at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again! Instructor: Keisha Helm. Content will be the same each session.
Toy Inventors (1st-2nd)
| Week 3 | July 5 to July 8 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM (4-day week) | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 4 | July 11 to July 15 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 5 | July 18 to July 22 | 9:00 – 11:30 AM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Be your own toymaker! Examine your favorite toys to understand what makes a toy great. Then you will create one-of-a-kind contraptions and toys from recycled materials such as wheels, pipes, and other reusable odds and ends. Using hand cranks and gears, learn how you can make your toys move. Collaborate on ways to improve your designs for maximum fun. Show off your cool creations to friends and family. You’re welcome to bring in your own recycled materials to add to ours. Content will be the same each session.
PM Camps
Coding with Ozobots (1st-2nd) NEW FOR THIS GRADE!
| Week 4 | July 11 to July 15 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 5 | July 18 to July 22 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Get a taste of coding basics through visual games and hands-on activities. Move from a simple understanding of sequencing to basic programming on the computer. We will create an original animation using the Scratch Jr. program as well as bring coding logic to life by programming an Ozobot robot to follow basic movement commands. Have a blast while you use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to build a foundation for coding literacy. Instructor: Paula Spring. Content will be the same each session.
JumpstART (1st-2nd)
| Week 4 | July 11 to July 15 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 5 | July 18 to July 22 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Want to make art that is bold, colorful, and seems to jump off the page? Be inspired by a variety of artists and art movements including the playful and distinctive Pop Art and Optical Art movements, as you experiment with color, texture, and contrast. Think like an artist and give new meaning to everyday items and images from popular culture. You’ll create paintings, collages and more that are full of color and energy. Instructor: Jocelyne Adkins. Content will be the same each session. Please dress for mess!
Junior Detectives (1st-2nd) BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!
| Week 3 | July 5 to July 8 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM (4-day week) | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Solve the mystery of the stolen art with science! Become a crime scene investigator and get eyewitness accounts, match ink samples through chromatography, and analyze fingerprints and DNA (are these hair fibers from our thieves or leftover cat hair?) Each day, you’ll uncover new evidence until you find the culprit. Share your analysis with a real-life crime fighter to earn your junior detective badge. Instructor: Adam Bautista. Content will be the same each session.
LEGO Architects (1st-2nd)
| Week 1 | June 20 to June 24 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 2 | June 27 to July 1 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Use your creativity and problem-solving skills to construct celebrated natural and human-made wonders using LEGOs! Projects will build on ideas from famous Chicago-area architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Jeanne Gang, and contemporary architect Frank Gehry. Kids will work both individually and in small groups. We’ll document our projects and share them with friends and family at the end of camp. Instructor: Ryan Winchell. Content will be the same each session.
LEGO Pre-Engineering (1st-2nd)
| Week 4 | July 11 to July 15 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 5 | July 18 to July 22 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Use LEGO mechanisms to take on exciting challenges – building machines that carry the most weight, or roll the farthest or the fastest! Working in groups or individually, you’ll build vehicles, mini-robots, catapults and contraptions of all sorts. Sketch, design and create small machines, figuring out along the way what works and what doesn’t. Some projects will incorporate instructions to follow while others will be free-form design, bringing out your inner inventor. Instructor: Scott Naber. Content will be the same each session.
Mini Music Makers (1st-2nd) NEW CAMP!
| Week 4 | July 11 to July 15 | 12:30 to 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 5 | July 18 to July 22 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Let your creativity soar in this camp where dramatic exploration and improvisation technique takes center stage. Learn the essentials of rhythm and pitch using percussive instruments and online programs, and paint a visual picture with the notes you play. Record your own song and wow your friends and family. Content will be the same each session.
Sensory Science (1st-2nd)
| Week 3 | July 5 to July 8 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM (4-day week) | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 4 | July 11 to July 15 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 5 | July 18 to July 22 | 12:30 to 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Experience chemistry and physics in action as you play and explore… with your senses. Mix, create, and play with rubbery goop, rice and ice, colorful spaghetti, homemade kinetic sand, and fluffy cloud dough. You’ll also make take-home sensory bottles and bins to enjoy at home. Delight in all the fun, benefits, and hands-on gooeyness of sensory and tactile play — it’s okay to get messy in Sensory Science! Instructor: Tyler Banks This is a great avenue for helping to meet your child’s sensory needs, while also boosting self-regulation. Please dress for a mess. Content will be the same each session.
Space Rangers (1st-2nd)
| Week 1 | June 20 to June 24 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 2 | June 27 to July 1 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Blast off on an intergalactic adventure! Get up close with outer space as you create constellations, moon craters, and balloon rockets. Step into the shoes of an astronaut and simulate walking, writing and working in a spacesuit, and Skype with a NASA astronaut doctor to learn more about space careers. You’ll even sample astronaut food! Instructor: Keisha Helm.Content will be the same each session. Please note this camp will include a selection of freeze-dried foods, with allergy-friendly options. Ingredients provided upon request.
Speedometry (1st-2nd)
| Week 2 | June 27 to July 1 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week sessionSet your brain racing while using Hot Wheels cars and ramps to engage in science concepts such as energy, force, and motion. Develop creative problem solving skills and learn scientific and engineering practices such as analyzing and interpreting data through hands-on learning. Instructor: Adam Bautista. Content will be the same each session.
Textile Magic (1st-2nd) UPDATED CAMP!
| Week 1 | June 20 to June 24 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week sessionBring together art, science, and a little bit of magic! Stir up a dye brew with chemical precision to create colorful cotton and wonderful wools. Then transform your hand-dyed fabrics and fibers through the textile arts of weaving, stitching and felting. Use both hocus-pocus and focus to concoct a one-of-a-kind piece of art that embodies your own personal magic. Instructor: Pamela Penney. Please dress for mess.
Theater of the Wild (1st-2nd)
| Week 1 | June 20 to June 24 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 2 | June 27 to July 1 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Unleash your inner Wild Thing! Explore our local wilderness through a field trip, build camp spirit with theater games, and get inspired by nature. Then through improvisation and collaborative writing, create an original performance with costumes and scenery of your own design. Gain stage skills and confidence while becoming the next generation of caretakers for the earth. Instructor: Rhona Taylor. You may register for multiple sessions; campers will write different plays each session.
Tinker Time (1st-2nd)
| Week 1 | June 20 to June 24 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
| Week 2 | June 27 to July 1 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Become an innovator the old-fashioned way – by tinkering. Learn how things work with cool materials, real tools, and time to explore in a fun, safe space. You can build a marble run, construct ramps, plan a maze, or come up with your own original creation from scratch. Work in a team or by yourself, learn problem-solving skills, and follow your own interests. Content will be the same each session.
Who’s Outside (1st-2nd)
| Week 3 | July 5 to July 8 | 12:30 – 3:00 PM (4-day week) | at D97 school TBD |
1-week session Use 3-dimensional art techniques to sculpt the creatures we find in our gardens, parks, forests, and backyards. Explore a variety of materials as we build likenesses of the creatures we encounter in our outdoor environments. We’ll use paper-mâché, wire, fiber, clay and reclaimed or found materials to build insects, birds, snakes and small mammals. We’ll experiment with a variety of finishing techniques, such as painting, texture application, and material embellishment. Instructor: Gina Lee Robbins. Please dress for a mess.