Summer Camps 2021 — Zia Family Focus Center

In Summer 2021 we hosted …

CAMPS for EXPLORING!

Outdoor Explorers: Open. Space. Explore. Dig. Plant. Nurture.
Nature Discovery: Gardening. Nature. Observation. Listen. See. Find.
A Bug's Eye View: Habitats. Masks. Webs. Books. Nature. Inspired. Bug. Out!
Dirty Hands Green Space: Touch. Smell. See. Hear. Seeds. Plants. Grow.

Nature Discovery

We studied the plant life cycle, we cultivated a natural habitat and micro climate, and made a channel out of mud and cans to divert water flow. (How do plants communicate with each other? What are pollinators?)

Outdoor Explorers

What happened in our garden when it rained? What is sprouting? We broadcast seed and took apart seed balls so we could plant native grass. We added to and enriched our native plant and animal habitat.

Dirty Hands Green Space

We discussed the importance of smart water usage. We spread wood chips for mulch to help retain soil moisture and weed prevention.

We learned what are considered "good" weeds and which plants to allow to volunteer in our garden. We also planted wildflower seed balls that will continue to self seed more areas of the garden in the fall.

A Bug's Eye View

We learned about the 6 parts of an insect and viewed them under microscopes. We created bug journals to record our individual observations. We made our own bug houses so we could observe them closely. We documented our critters features, habitat, physical characteristics, life cycle, diet, and movements. Comparing insects was fun too! How are they alike, how different?

We created masks of our favorite bugs, making sure to include all appendages.

We created bug journals to document the characteristics of the insects we observed during the course of the week.

We created ant habitats in jars to observe how they build their homes and interact and work together.

CAMPS for CREATING!

Puppet Making and Play: Sew. Design. Theatre. Games. Characters. Playshop.
Fiber Art Fun and Fantasy: Weave. Crochet. Sew. Embellish. Knit. Paint. Fabric.
Tinkerer Academy and Recycled Art: Make It. Break It. Take it Apart. Put It Together.

Puppet Making and Play

We learned about the history of puppet making and puppetry from different cultures. We created bag puppets, finger puppets, shadow puppets and paper mache puppet heads with hand sewn, costumed bodies.

Fiber Art Fantasy and Fun

We worked on handheld looms, and learned the difference between types of fibers. We designed our very own stuffed, favorite creature and a bag for it to live in. We learned to create a pattern, to transfer it to fabric, worked the sewing machine and hand stitched our finished one-of-a-kind-treasure.

Tinkerer Academy and Recycled Art

We created underwater ocean scenes out of recycled materials, made jellyfish out of plastic containers and bags, fish from used plastic lids, ocean murals incorporating plastic straws and other discarded materials, and shadow puppets with recycled paper and wood.

CAMPS for MOVING!

Zia Fitness Slam Sports FUNdamentals. Throw It. Kick It. Dodge It. Duck It.
Summer Soccer Drills. Technique. Games. Play. Teamwork. Footwork. Defense.
Kids Obstacle Challenge Mind. Body. Focus. Strength. Balance.
Rad Rackets/Fancy Footwork Badminton. Tennis. Wall Ball. Catching. Throwing. Serving. Fun with balls of all kinds... and birdies! Build stamina, agility, coordination.

Zia Fitness Slam

Partner workouts, movement tasks with balls progressing to dodgeball, basketball, wall ball, beach ball, volleyball and team building balloon games.

Kids Obstacle Course

Rad Rackets

We learned vocabulary terms for badminton and tennis, different grips, serving techniques, basic skills such as volleying and developed our hand eye coordination.

CAMPS for DISCOVERING!

Let's Build: Engineering. Architecture. Imagination. Focus. Design. Tunnels. Bridges.
Brain Busters: Team. Discover. Play. Hands On. Learn.
Imagination Station: Create. World Build. Design. Learn. Construct.

Let's Build

We learned about architecture and engineering by designing and building our own sand tunnels, bridges, and LEGO creations.

Brain Busters

Word games, geography games, history games and Jeopardy with an ocean theme: fish facts, geography, by the seashore, vocabulary.

Imagination Station

We learned about character and storytelling and invented and illustrated our own superheroes.

We created a superhero dossier, with an origin story, allies, and villains.

Many thanks to:

Many thanks to Yvette Kaufman-Bell, Albuquerque Public Schools Out of School Time Coordinator, for all her help and support.

We are grateful to Albuquerque Public Schools teacher and Learning Support Facilitator Holly Tyler for the incredible tools, resources and materials she provided for us which greatly enriched our campers educational experience.

Holly provided instructional support for our summer programs through the Community Run Summer Enrichment Programs Project, a partnership with Out of School Time providers and Albuquerque Public Schools.