This Land is Your Land Summer Day Camp for children ages 5 – 15 blends the exciting science and nature studies developed by Sarah Shaffer, with art, music, hiking, swimming, and outdoor games. Our goal is for every child to have a summer filled with outrageous fun in a beautiful, natural setting. We say, “No child left indoors!” 

Early positive experiences in nature help develop a lifelong love and caring for the natural world.  The weird and wonderful world of nature provides a great way to “hook” kids on science.  Hands-on science projects and art activities connect children to the natural world, increasing environmental awareness and instilling a deep caring attitude about our world.

Weekly Themes and Program Highlights

JUNE 16 – 20
Loco-Motion!

• Construct a fantastic mini-freight train
• Build a crazy camshaft horse
• Amaze your friends with your own tumbling troll

JUNE 23 – 27
The Science of Snooping

• Make a periscope to spy on your friends
• Build an electric intruder alarm
• Sneak a peek behind you with spy glasses

JUNE 30 – JULY 3 (No Camp on July 4)
Terrific Transformers

• Create a bug habitat to watch your own caterpillar transform into a butterfly
• Build a transforming vehicle that travels on land and sea
• Construct a glow-in-the-dark solar transformer

JULY 7 – 11
Batty about Bats

• Build a wood bat house
• Meet the Bat Lady and her live bats
• Create a bat with flapping wings

JULY 14 – 18
Catapults and Castles — Medieval Science

• Create a medieval castle and bombard the walls with a catapult
• Construct a crossbow ball launcher
• Join the knights of the picnic table for a Renaissance Faire on Friday

JULY 21 – 25
Super Sonic Science

• Build a Super Sonic Racer
• Make your own thunder with a Sonic Boomer
• Scare your friends with a loud-mouth screamer
• Construct a voice-powered vibration machine

JULY 28 – AUGUST 1
Crazy Color Contraptions

• Make a motorized spin-art turntable
• Fabricate a fiber-optic color wand
• Create a color-changing kaleidoscope

AUGUST 4 – 8
Super Hero Science

• Race your own superhero speedster
• Scale a building with a magnetic wall crawler
• Fly your way through a buzzing obstacle course
• Design and model your own super hero costume

AUGUST 11 – 15
Nuts about Nature

• Assemble a CD case germination station
• Dissect owl pellets to discover the tiny skeletons within
• Create your own native nature discovery cards

AUGUST 18 – 22
Build It!

• Build a bow-string generator
• Get a slam dunk with a mini-basketball catapult
• Build a battery cell lightning bug

AUGUST 25 – 29
Sarah’s Favorite Projects

• Use a launcher to shoot a rocket sky high
• Get a strike with a mini-bowling alley
• Score big points with an electric pinball game

Counselor in Training (CIT) Program
For Campers Ages 11–15
Our CIT Program is for older campers who are interested in taking on more responsibility and in developing leadership skills. CITs are teamed up with an experienced counselor to assist a group of younger campers; they also participate in the usual camp projects and activities. First Aid Certification and additional leadership training is provided. The CIT Program is available for single or multiple weeks and has the same fees and discounts as the regular camp program.

Advanced Projects
For Campers Ages 9–12
For our 9–12 year olds we offer one or more challenging projects to work on throughout the week. Call (510) 581-3739 for more details.

Locations
Roberts Regional Park, Oakland
Our Oakland site is in beautiful Roberts Regional Park off Skyline Boulevard in the Oakland Hills. This site is known for its lush second-growth redwood forest. It also has a pool, grassy playing fields, and play structures. There is ample free parking for drop-off and pick-up.

Tilden Park, Berkeley
Our Berkeley site is located in Tilden Park at the Buckeye and Orchard Picnic Areas, lovely wooded sites below the Carousel. We are surrounded by great paths and streams, and we hike to Lake Anza to swim once a week. Free parking is available for drop-off and pick-up.

Camp Dates
Weekly sessions from June 16 – August 29, 2008. Signing up for a minimum of two weeks is preferable but not required.

Hours
9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Extended care available 8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Camp Directors
Sarah Shaffer, “Best Science Teacher for Kids” (East Bay Express, 2006), founded This Land is Your Land Summer Day Camp 12 years ago. She continues to develop and shape the summer camp programs and directs the Oakland site.

Saul Zippin has directed the Berkeley site for the past six years. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and has an Emergency Medical Technician Certificate. During the school year, Saul teaches at Archway School.

Camp Cost
$285/week if registration postmarked by 4/1/08.
$295/week if registration postmarked after 4/1/08.
$315/week “walk-in” registration (if space available.) No discounts apply.

Multiple week discount:Sign up for four or more weeks and deduct $15 for each week.

Sibling discount:$15 less per week for second child if attending the same week as sibling (cannot be used with multiple week discount).

Space is limited, register early!

Extended Care
8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m. an additional $20/week
3:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m. an additional $60/week

Payment Policy
$100 deposit per week per child to reserve space is NON-REFUNDABLE.
Full payment is due on or before 6/1/08. There is a $10 surcharge for payments received after 6/1/08. NO REFUNDS after 6/1/08.

Sarah’s Science is an affiliate of the East Bay Regional Park District’s Day Camp Collaborative Program.