The Crafts Program at Wawenock is lots of fun! Some of the fun stems from the fact that the crafts program was founded upon several basic principles: encourage creativity in thought and practice; develop life skills and interests that will serve campers well into the future, and let campers work with many different types of materials. These principles allow for a broad range of crafts projects to be offered by the staff and created by the girls. Campers may design their own projects or take inspiration from the many demo projects on display that have been tried in previous years or introduced by successive year’s staff members to keep things fresh!
Whatever the individual or group projects they pursue, campers will be encouraged to utilize certain tools, techniques and processes – each of which will help to develop specific crafts-related abilities. Important intellectual skills like conceptualizing, thinking creatively, following a series of instructions in logical order or planning and detailing an accurate list of steps to take in executing your own project, and learning to lay out your pattern or project in such a way that you are as efficient as possible in the use of valuable materials, are all built in to the crafts classes and program. In addition, more traditionally recognized crafts skills like: measuring, tracing, cutting, sewing, stringing, painting, gluing, finishing, etc. are incorporated into the many projects that campers create and tackle. These two sets of skills, when intentionally developed, provide a tremendous foundation for a lifetime of enjoyment of creative crafting and also can be usefully employed in many non-crafts related activities!
Whether stitching by hand or using one of the sewing machines, campers love to work with colorful materials – creating Camp logo backpacks, scrubs, PJ’s, etc. Beading, puppetry, collages, mobiles, braiding, jewelry making, friendship bracelets and many other fun camp crafts activities offer a multitude of different ways girls can incorporate a variety of items into their projects and express their creativity.
In addition to the specialized crafts courses offered, all campers make friendship gifts for other members of the camp family. When working on these, and at other times, campers can often access Camp’s supply closets to engage in less structured activities on an ad-hoc basis – making crafts an integral part of every girl’s summer experience!