This past week I had the absolutely wonderful experience of volunteering at Camp Create in Dalton, PA. It is a camp for kids with special needs, ages 6-12, or of equivalent abilities. Marywood’s very own art instructor, Stephen Colley, is one of the individuals that runs this one of a kind visual and theatre arts day camp. It is specifically designed and planned for children who have special needs, including physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral challenges. The camp offers a unique blend of art and theatre instruction and games that are based around each week’s exciting theme!
The camp is a truly wonderful and fun time for all involved! Each intern/volunteer is assigned one or more child they are to work with and help. There is a clear schedule for each day so the kids know what is going on and can easily transition from one activity to the next. The camp goes from 10am to 2pm with an hour break for lunch.
Throughout the week the interns/volunteers help the kids come up with characters they want to be and make different things for their characters. We help them make costumes, sock puppets, props, sets, and anything else they want/need for the characters. Then one of the others that run the camp, Michaela Moore, helps write/create the story of the play all the kids characters will be in. Then on Friday the kids put on their show for their families that come to watch.
The theme we had for this week was Fantasy, Fairytales, and Beasts. The kids came up with all kinds of characters like a superhero, a mermaid dancer princess, a prom queen, a story teller, some dragons, and many more. They all really enjoyed the process of making everything and had a great time putting on the show. All of their families seemed to love it as well.
I can easily say this was such a great time and would gladly be back to volunteer again. If anyone would like to know more about the camp, you can find them on Facebook and Instagram!