The Foothills Area Family YMCA in partnership with the Clemson University English Department will present a summer camp program called Camp Read-a-Rama in Clemson, SC. Five week-long camp programs will be offered for children ages 4 – 12 that will focus on encouraging literacy and a life-long love of reading. SC Humanities supported this program through a Mini Grant in May 2010.
Camp Read-a-Rama uses books and literacy activities as a springboard for all of the other hands-on and outdoor activities that camp offers, including crafts, games, swiming, and fieldtrips. There are five themed camps that cater to different age groups of children:
June 28 – July 02
Camp Read-a-Rama: Into the Wild
"Into the Wild" – Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Campers will learn about these animals and more through books like Graeme Base's The Water Hole, as they make animals out of food, find critter evidence in the woods, create animal tracks, and visit some of their favorite animals at the Greenville Zoo.
July 05 – July 09
Camp Read-a-Rama: Let's Have a Ball
"Let's Have a Ball" – It's time to think round! This week, campers will read Joseph Bruchac's Muskogee Native American story The Great Ball Game and learn juggling, play kickball, make popcorn balls, use exercise balls, have a water balloon fight, and make our own costumes and masks for a masquerade ball. On this week's field trip, have a ball at Monkey Joe's Indoor Play Place!
July 12 – July 16
Camp Read-a-Rama: Splish Splash
"Splish Splash" – Get Ready for some splish-splahsy fun as we read Elise Broach's Wet Dog and enjoy swimming, pontoon boating, canoeing, splatter painting, sprinkler fun, fishing, Japanese fish printing and more. Campers will take a field trip to Discovery Island Water Park for a day of slip-sliding fun.
July 19 – July 23
Camp Read-a-Rama: Buggin Out
"Buggin' Out!" – Have you heard a Madagascar Hissing Roach hiss? Experience this and many other wonders of arthropods as campers venture out on an insect scavenger hunt, make paper mache bugs, learn about bug habitats, and read Carol Sonenklar's Bug Boy. At Roper Mountain Science Center, campers will find out what their bugs are up to.
July 26 – July 30
Camp Read-a-Rama: Campout!
"Campout!" – Can you pitch a tent? Build a fire? Cook a meal outdoors? Gain these skills and more as campers read Jean Craighead George's My Side of the Mountain together. After the mid-week field trip to the Youth Learning Institute, campers will enjoy a Thursday night campout, complete with s'mores, songs, stories, and snoozing in a sleeping bag. **Camp ends at 9am on Friday, July 30.
Camp fees and registration are $165/week + a one-time $20 registration fee. Scholarships are available. More information about Camp Read-a-Rama can be found on the website: Info: http://people.clemson.edu/~mmichel/read-a-rama/Site/Welcome.html
or by contacting Dr. Michelle H. Martin at 864-656-3229.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. SC Humanities programs and initiatives are balanced, reflecting sensitivity to the diversity of ideas, encourage open dialogue, demonstrate integrity, and are ethical in operations.
