Screen-Free Summer Art Camp for Kids in Cary | Summer Art Camp

Technology is great, a wonderful tool.  Smartphones, tablets, and computers are all an integral part of our lives, work, and school.   It’s easy to be drawn into video games, apps, and entertainment.  And it can become too much of a good thing.  As parents, we know all too well it can consume time and become overwhelming for our kids.  They can also discourage physical activity and socialization. Balance is important, but it is hard to find ways to lure our kids away from screens.

Summer art camp at Cheers and Paint may be an answer.  The goal of our summer art camp is to encourage imagination, creativity, and fun.  Each week at summer camp follows a theme that allows kids to enjoy creating.  Sure, we teach painting.  We are an art camp, after all.  But we go well beyond acrylic paints and teaching painting techniques.  Arts and crafts are also part of a typical camp day.  We use lots of different materials and create all kinds of art, including acrylic flow art, weaving, peg art, tie-dye, and many others.

There are even “lessons” kids learn along the way, like the importance of recycling at our Color Me Green camp or facts about animals in Animal Kingdom or U.S. states in Let’s Take a Road Trip.  We just completed Time Travelers Week.  Campers “traveled” to a different time period each day, learning about that era and creating unique art projects.  On Monday, it was the dinosaur age, and kids gathered sticks, leaves, and other natural materials to create wall art.  A mosaic tile craft with painted lima beans highlighted Ancient Egypt, and campers learned to write their names in hieroglyphics on Tuesday.  The Medieval time’s craft included a “stained glass” window crafted from plastic.  Thursday was a visit to the ice age, and a painting using puff paints was created.  The wild west on Friday included a string art project.  And all summer camp weeks end with a favorite, tie dying!  We’ve even transformed Bingo into a themed art project!

Summer camp is a screen-free zone for campers.  We don’t want campers to fall into the trap of texting or playing online games.   But we do use our studio TV during the day.  Campers love to play brain teasers or other online group games.  We will show pictures or other videos about the theme of the week or show examples of the art campers will be creating.  Our campers enjoy some downtime at lunch with a movie often tied to the camp’s theme that week.

Summer camp is a time for fun too.  Campers come with friends and neighbors and make new ones.  We often see the same campers year after year who are excited to see their camper friends from other years.  (Our counselor staff is excited to see their camper friends too!)  We often see kids visiting families from other states who come to art camps.  This year we’ve even had a few foreign exchange students at summer art camp.  Art transcends all languages! Free time for campers is a time to socialize, play imagination games or use our blocks, puzzles, and card games. Our play space up front is littered with block towers, villages, and puzzles in progress. Our sidewalk is often covered with chalk art or “playground” games. Campers ages 6 and up all play together using their imaginations and just having fun! Check out our Facebook page to see pictures of our campers from summer art camp and see the wide range of activities and beautiful art our campers create.