BECCA MARTIN-BROWN
bmartin@nwaonline.com
“Honestly, this program works for anyone from 2 to 102!”
Serena Barnett, director of the Rogers Historical Museum, is talking about Kids Craft Corner, a summer program that “offers hands-on fun while learning about different historic creative arts from our Ozarks past.”
“This summer’s topics include textile weaving, stained glass sun catchers, soap carving, and architecture,” Barnett says, with programs scheduled for two Tuesdays in June and two in July.
Kids say “they love being able to take something home that they created,” Barnett says. “We love that the thing that they take home will be a reminder about the history that they learned.”
But that’s only part of the plan for the summer at the museum. Also scheduled is Rogers Explorers, a summer program that allows kids to explore their community by visiting four different locations which offer hands-on learning, adventure, and activities. This year kids will be visiting four area museums — Rogers Historical Museum, Museum of Native American History, Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, and Arkansas & Missouri Railroad Museum.
“This summer program allows kids the opportunity to visit places in our community that they might have not have visited before,” Barnett says. And the kids enjoy the behind-the-scenes experiences.
Kids Craft Corner
June 11 — Stained Glass Sun Catchers, 9 a.m.-noon.
June 25 — Textile Weaving with special guest Eddon Boyd, 9 a.m.-noon.
July 16 — Soap Carving with the Woodcarvers Club of Northwest Arkansas, 9 a.m.-noon.
July 30 — Architecture with a focus on architect A.O. Clarke, 9 a.m.-noon.
Kids Craft Corner is a free event, but online registration is required for each child for each session. Parents/guardians are asked to stay. Each 45-minute session will be held in the Key Wing Education Center at the Rogers Historical Museum. Registration is open now at rogershistoricalmuseum.org/kids-craft-corner.
Rogers Explorers
June 7 — Museum of Native American History, 10 a.m.-noon in Bentonville.
June 21 — Arkansas & Missouri Railroad Museum, 10 a.m.-noon. in Springdale
July 12 — Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, 10 a.m.-noon in Springdale.
July 26 — Rogers Historical Museum, 10 a.m.-noon.
Online registration and a $10 fee are required per child for each session. Parents/guardians are asked to stay. Each session will begin at the session’s location. Registration is now open at rogershistoricalmuseum.org/rogers-explorers.
Other summer camps and classes are offered by arts organizations throughout Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley.
FAYETTEVILLE
Arts Live Theatre
818 N. Sang Ave.
Arts Live Theatre will offer a wide variety of camp themes for ages 4-18. Topics include Hogwarts Spells and Potions, Minions on a Mission, Monster Hotel, Trolls on Patrol and more. You can also sign up to be in a play with shows like “Sword in the Stone,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Aliens vs. Cheerleaders” and “Finding Nemo Jr.”
Camps run June 3-Aug. 16 at Arts Live Theatre and Arkansas Arts Academy, 506 W. Poplar St. in Rogers. Fees range from $155 -$355.
INFO —info@artslivetheatre.com or 521-4932
__
TheatreSquared
477 W. Spring St.
Starting June 3, T2 offers Acting Camp, Musical Theatre Camp and Junior Shakespeare Camp (“Macbeth”), all for grades 6-8; plus Acting Intensive, Musical Theatre Intensive and Shakespeare Academy for grades 9-12.
Starting July 8, offerings include Musical Theatre Camp, Dungeons & Dragons Camp and Comedy Improv Camp for grades 6-12.
Cost is $250. Scholarships are available.
INFO — 777-7477; theatre2.org
__
Botanical Garden of the Ozarks
4703 N. Crossover Road
BGO offers Nature & Creativity Camp for ages 7-10; Garden Magic Camp for ages 5-8; and Butterfly Camp for ages 8-11. Fees range from $180-$255.
INFO — 750-2620; bgozarks.org/camps
__
Community Creative Center
505 W. Spring St.
Starting June 3 and continuing through July 19, summer camps include Animals In Art, The Natural World, Ancient Inspirations, Art for Art’s Sake, Heroes and Monsters and wheel throwing. Most fees are $250 except wheel throwing, which is $125.
INFO — communitycreativecenter.org; 571-2706
__
BENTONVILLE
Crystal Bridges Museum
600 Museum Way
Summer camps include Art In Motion; Art & Nature; Garden Club; Architecture; Photography; Digital Art and more. Most fees are $190.
INFO — crystalbridges.org
__
Trike Theatre
902 S.W. Second St.
Summer camps include Showstoppers, Bluey, “The Somewhat True Tale of Robinhood,” Fairy Tales, “Winnie the Pooh” and more. Fees range from $165 up.
INFO — 464-5084; triketheatre.org
__
Scott Family Amazeum
1009 Museum Way
Camps include Zing Into Kindergarten, Bugbotics, Medieval Madness, Gizmos and Gadgets and more. Most fees are $340.
INFO — 696-9280; amazeum.org
__
Peel Compton Foundation
312 N. Main St.
Summer programming features mountain biking, archery and more. Fees range from free on up.
INFO — 254-3870; peelcompton.org
__
ROGERS
Hobbs State Park
20201 E. Arkansas 12
Summer day camps include hiking, games, crafts and more. The July 12-14 day camp for ages 9-12 still has openings. Fee is $50.
INFO — 789-5000; ArkansasStateParks.com
__
SPRINGDALE
Shiloh Museum of Ozark History
118 W. Johnson Ave.
The Shiloh Museum’s 2024 Shiloh Summer Series, titled “Winding Through the Ozarks,” features a string of family-friendly activities tied to themes of the museum’s latest exhibits, “Tracing the Threads: Weaving in the Arkansas Ozarks” and “Ozark Tree Army: The CCC at Devil’s Den State Park.”
Activities include a Lake Leatherwood hike July 11 and a weaving workshop at Ozark Folkways July 27.
INFO — 750-8165; shilohmuseum.org
__
The Jones Center
922 W. Emma Ave.
The Jones Center is hosting more than 20 unique summer camps for kids with nine weeks of full-day, weeklong camps to fit working parents’ schedules, along with partial-day and specialty-camp options, too.
Camps, geared toward grades 1-12, start June 3 and continue through Aug. 9.
INFO — thejonescenter.net/camps.
__
RIVER VALLEY
Arts On Main
415 Main St., Van Buren
Arts on Main offers free summer art camps for ages 6-14; a Triple Theatre Boot Camp for grades 1-8 ($150); culinary camps for ages 7-12 and teens ($199); clay camps; a Let’s Make a Movie Film Camp; and more.
INFO — 474-7767; artsonmainvb.com
__
Fort Smith Museum of History
320 Rogers Ave., Fort Smith
Summer programming looks at “Helpers, Heroes and History” and includes story times, activities and ice cream Thursdays at 10 a.m. beginning June 6.
Regular admission is $8 adults, $4 children ages 6-15.
INFO — 783-7841; fortsmithmuseum.org
__
Fort Smith Regional Art Museum
1601 Rogers Ave., Fort Smith
FSRAM offers a choice of three summer art camps in July — Animal Adventure for ages 5-7; Puppet Party for ages 8-11; and Diorama Art for ages 12 and older. Each camp is $25.
INFO — 784-2787; fsram.org/summer-art-camps-2024
Send additional summer camp information to bmartin@nwaonline.com.
