In this class students will go on lakeshore plant excursions, practice painting and drawing with fresh plants and learn to create simple botanical inks, experiment with printmaking using plants and the sun, dye wool yarn with vats of brewed botanical colors, and practice three and five strand braiding techniques to create bracelets and a small length of colorful cord. Students will be guided in the harvest and preparation of homegrown and wild harvested plant materials to infuse simple culinary bases like water, butter, and honey. Participants will leave with stimulated minds and taste buds, along with herbal recipes to recreate and samples to share at home! Students who are interested in this course should have the ability to understand and follow safety directives related to group hiking outdoors, plant harvest protocols, and hot dye pots.

This camp is open to youth ages 5-6.

Partial and full scholarships are available to Cook County residents, call to register.

Camp Schedule: Half day camps are held from 9am-noon or 1pm-4pm. Full day camps are held from 9am-4pm each day with an hour break from noon-1 for lunch and down time. You can drop your child off at their camp location up to 30 minutes before the start of camp each day. Campers need to be picked up by 12:15 or 4:15. If they are staying for an additional half day session, supervision is provided during lunch. All half day campers must bring a snack.

Attendance: Because projects worked on at camp build from day to day and learning extends throughout the week please only sign your child up for camp if they will be able to attend all five days of the camp week.

Pick up and Drop Off: You can drop your child off at their camp location up to 30 minutes before the start of camp each day. All parents/guardians must drop off their children in person each day of camp. At the time of registration, parents/guardians may authorize their child to walk or bike home from camp alone. All kids not walking/biking must be picked up by an authorized parent/guardian within 10 minutes of the end of the camp day.

Scholarships: We want Kids’ Camp to be accessible to families in Cook County regardless of financial status. There are half cost and full cost scholarships available for youth residents of Cook County. Scholarships can be requested at the time of registration via the phone: 218-387-8762. Scholarships are limited to one per child per summer.

Required Tools

• Snack
• Water Bottle