Tag Archives: crafts

Our “Frozen-Inspired” Dance Camp: Crafts

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frozencamp craft

“Do You Wanna Dye a T-Shirt?” (sung in the melody of “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman”)

This is part of our “Frozen” (inspired) Dance Camp Series.

We spend about 30-40 minutes on crafts, but always have a back-up plan for those who lose interest fast (some of the 4 year olds are more interested in the process, than the final product) or who are very detailed (need to place every piece of grass just so).

Good ideas of back-up plans are coloring pages (link to free printable Frozen coloring pages) / activity sheets or clips from the movie, if you have a TV or screen.  I actually made a YouTube playlist of Frozen clips on our computer just in case, but we never had to use it.

Now… onto the crafts!

My Camp Director and I pulled a lot of the craft and activity ideas off of Pinterest, so I will try to credit our original inspiration when possible.

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Western Week Day #5: Our Show!

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Today’s the day – it’s show time down at the corral!

It’s Day #5 at Western Week Dance Camp and all the parents and friends are invited to our show.

Day #5 Agenda

8:50-9:00am – Parent Drop-off / Student Sign-in

9:00-9:20am – Warm-up

9:20-10:15am – Show Practice

10:15-10:30am – Craft: Show Programs / Picture Frames & Yarn Dolls

10:30-10:45am – Snack Time

10:45-11:00am – Practicing one last time!

11:15-11:30am – Getting into costume

11:45-12:00pm – Games / Cool-down – Relay Race!

Day #5 Crafts: Yarn Dolls & Programs / Picture Frames

For the Yarn Dolls, you will need:

– Lots and lots of yarn
– Scissors
– Something to wrap the yarn around – we used CD cases, but stiff cardboard would work just as well

Here is a great post with many pictures that explains how to make a yarn girl or boy.  The only difference we had was that we used contrasting yarn for all of the tying off.

That’s a lot of yarn!

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Western Week Day #3: Into the Sunset

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For Day #3 of our Western Week Dance Camp we are learning more new dance steps and finishing up our sunsets!

Day #3 Agenda

8:50-9:00am – Parent Drop-off / Student Sign-in
9:00-9:30am – Warm-up – we made Negative Space Statues
9:30-10:00am – Jazz Dance class – adding on to our dances
10:00-10:45am – Craft –
10:45-11:00am – Snack Time
11:00-11:45am – Tap Class – reviewing yesterday’s dance
11:45-12:00pm – Games / Cool-down – we made an obstacle course

Day #3 Crafts: Cowboy Sunsets (Part 2) & Bead Pins

Part Two of Cowboy Sunsets:

Yesterday we made the “sunset” portion of the craft and had to let the coffee filters dry overnight.

Adding dye to the coffee filters

Prep Work for today’s craft: Cutting out the rims of paper plates

Today we will make and decorate the frames.  Here is our set-up for today’s portion of the craft:

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Western Week Day #2: Cowgirls!

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For Day #2 of our Western Week Dance Camp we are learning more new dance steps and making cowgirl neckerchiefs!

Day #2 Agenda

8:50-9:00am – Parent Drop-off / Student Sign-in
9:00-9:30am – Warm-up – we went on a “Bear Hunt”
9:30-10:00am – Jazz Dance class – adding on to our dance
10:00-10:45am – Craft – Neckerchiefs and Cowboy Sunsets
10:45-11:00am – Snack Time
11:00-11:45am – Tap Class – reviewing yesterday’s dance
11:45-12:00pm – Games / Cool-down – we made an obstacle course

Day #2 Crafts: Cowgirl Neckerchiefs & Cowboy Sunsets

For the Neckerchiefs, You Will Need:

– Fabric cut into large squares (big enough to fold in half)
– Fabric Paint
– Paintbrushes
– Optional: rubber fabric stamps
Prep work:  My Camp Director cut out the fabric squares ahead of time and we made a painter’s palette for each group of two.  

We have a collection of rubber stamps that grows each year–most popular are the letter stamps and flowers. Some of the campers preferred to stamp and other drew designs and scenes.

Whichever they chose, they all turned out beautiful and the kids were excited to wear them for the show!

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Western Week Day #1: Tie-Dye

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Our studio offers two types of camp: 5-day “Dance Camp” for ages 6-10 and 4-day “Princess Camp” for ages 4-6.

For both camps, the students come each day for three hours from 9am – noon and we dance and do arts and crafts.

Each year we do a different theme and base the week’s lessons around that theme. We hold an impromptu little “show” on the last day of camp for family and friends.

This year, the older kids’ camp theme was “Western / Cowgirls / Hoe Down”, which my camp director had a blast planning and I enjoyed doing!  I wanted to share our week with you and hopefully it will give you some ideas for your camp or even just some fun crafts to do at home this summer!  Psst – if you’re looking for another camp idea – check out last year’s “Rock Star” Camp.

Day #1 Agenda

8:50-9:00am – Parent Drop-off & Student Sign-in
9:00-9:30am – Warm-up & “Get to know you” activities – I like doing the Name Game as an icebreaker
9:30-10:00am – Jazz Dance class – we learn our first group dance
10:00-10:45am – Craft – Tie-dye
10:45-11:00am – Snack Time
11:00-11:45am – Tap Class – we learn our first tap dance
11:45-12:00pm – Games / Cool-down

Day #1 Craft: Tie-Dye

You Will Need:
– T-Shirts
– Fabric Dye 
– Buckets
– Rubberbands

The first day of all of our camps we traditionally do tie-dye, as the shirts take some time to dry and we sometimes use the tie-dyed shirts in later projects.  This year was no different and we took to the sidewalk outside our school to tie-dye.

Before heading outside, we wrapped our shirts with rubber bands.  Depending on the age of your kids, you can get pretty creative.  Our campers favored the Spiral, Stripes and Dots techniques.

We are fortunate to have a spigot in the front of our building, so we use that to fill up a bunch of tubs mixed with tie-dye and place them on the sidewalk and let the kids have at it.  We had a small group this time, so we let them all go at once, but if you have a larger group, you might have to break it up.

Wearing our T-shirts for the show!

Tip:  The younger children always want to dip their shirts in Every Single Bucket because… well, its just fun to dip in the buckets!  If you use dark colors, their shirts will end up a not-so-pretty brown color.  We try to get colors that are light and will mix well if layered (yellow, pink, purple, orange).  

More tips from last year.

After they have dyed to their heart’s content, one of the teachers washes the T-shirt under the cold water  until no more dye runs out and then the kids hang them up to dry (we use a portable ballet barre on the sidewalk).

Day #1 Playlist

Rock Star Camp Day 3: Glitter, Glitter, Everywhere

Posted in Studio Life, Teachers by

Read more about our camp here!

Day #3 Set List

  • Warm-Up:  Jazz warm-up and across the floor progressions
  • Class Time:  Jazz class – learn dance #3
  • Craft Time:  Microphones, Picture Frames, Stars
  • Snack
  • Class Time:  Tap class – learn dance #3
  • Fun Time:  Alphadance
Playlist
For Day 3, we lip-synced with our microphones to “Rock Around The Clock” Rock Around the Clock - Rock Around the Clock  and did a fun jazz dance to Little Richard’s rockin’ version of “Itsy Bitsy Spider”Itsy Bitsy Spider - Every Child Deserves a Lifetime

Main Craft: Glittered Microphone Heads
Supplies Needed:  Styrofoam balls, glue, paintbrushes, glitter, hot glue, painted tube from Day 2

1)  Apply glue to styrofoam balls with paintbrushes (we put the balls on a fork to make “glitterizing” easier).

2) Dip in glitter and repeat until covered. Set aside to dry.

3) *Teacher Step* Hot glue glittered styrofoam to painted tube (from yesterday’s step).


Microphones and guitar necks drying.

Our forks wouldn’t fit in the small tubes so we let them

dry in the guitar necks.


Craft #2: Picture Frames
Supplies:  foam sheets, foam stickers, hot glue, photos

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Rock Star Camp Day 2: Rockin’ Guitars & Hats

Posted in Studio Life, Teachers by
See more about our camps here – Rock Star Theme Camp.  

Day #2 Set List

  • Warm-Up:  Jazz warm-up and across the floor progressions
  • Class Time:  Jazz class – learn dance #2
  • Craft Time:  Guitars, Hats, Microphones
  • Snack
  • Class Time:  Tap class – learn dance #2
  • Fun Time:  Limbo & Beanbag pass
Microphone bases (left) and guitar necks (right)

Main Craft: Guitars

You Will Need:
– Various cardboard boxes (tissue boxes, shoe boxes, pasta boxes, etc) – 1 per guitar
– 1-foot piece of cardboard tube (wrapping paper or paper towel tube) – 1 per guitar
– Construction or contact paper to cover box
– Rubber bands (6 per guitar)
– Crayons (2 per guitar)
– Paint & paint brushes
– Hot glue gun
– Glue sticks for glue gun

1.  Paint cardboard tube.  Set aside to dry.

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Dance Camp: Rock Star Theme

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What a great week of camp at the studio!

Our studio offers two types of camp: 5-day “Dance Camp” for ages 6-10 and 4-day “Princess Camp” for ages 4-6.  For both camps, the students come each day for three hours from 9am – noon and we dance and do arts and crafts.  It’s a lot of fun and we’ve run both programs successfully for a few years (we’ve been doing Dance Camp for more than 10 years… Princess Camp we just started last year). 

Each year we do a different theme and base the week’s lessons around that theme.  We hold an impromptu little “show” on the last day of camp for family and friends.

This year, the older kids’ camp theme was “Rock Stars”, which was a blast to plan and to do. I wanted to share our week with you and hopefully it will give you some ideas for your camp or even just some fun crafts to do at home this summer!

Our Rock Star Camp Schedule
Day 1:  Totally Tie-Dye
Day 2:  Rockin’ Guitars
Day 3:  Glitter, Glitter, Everywhere!
Day 4:  Stars, Frames & Bling
Day 5:  Performance Day

This coming week, look for a new post every day with a breakdown of what we did, craft ideas and song suggestions for a rockin’ week of camp!

Do you have camp at your studio?  What’s the format?  Is it successful?  Comment below!