Plymouth Winter Break Camp Gives Kids Time to Work and Play
Although many children are away from the classroom on winter break, that doesn’t mean learning has to stop.
Urban Air in Plymouth has opened its doors for play and learning while schools are closed.
Snapology, a STEAM-focused classroom for kids ages 6 to 14, is holding a daily winter camp at its location inside of Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park.
“The parents can drop their kids off for the day,” said Tanja Kaiser, Urban Air’s regional operations manager. “The parents can run errands, they can go to the office and come grab their kids afterwards. So it’s essentially child care.”
There’s nothing like the sound of creativity at play. In the Snapology classroom, that sound is alive and well. Jordan, who’s instructing the class, walks from station to station as kids work to build with Legos.
“We’re building the Polar Express,” Korbin, one of today’s campers, explained.
The winter break camp is teaching kids how to make Christmas-themed robots.
“This is what we have so far,” said Jeremiah, another camper. He held up his robot, which at that moment was a combination of LEGOs and cords. “We are on step 14, but it doesn’t look much like a train.”
“I haven’t done coding with LEGOs,” added camper Kaley, who was working with Jeremiah on their robot.
Kaley and Jeremiah work together to code a Polar Express LEGO robot at camp.
Eventually, the kids will use iPads to code the robot to light up and move. Jeremiah and Kaley got to test out a finished robot and watch it drive across the table.
“It feels complicated, but also fun,” said Shay, another camper. “When you’re done with it, you feel very impressed about yourself.”
Kaiser said the camps are all STEAM-oriented, incorporating science, technology, engineering, arts and math to keep kids engaged.
“Not only do they get to experience something cool: coding, robotics that are going to help them out later in life,” Kaiser said. “They also get a brain beak in there, which is cool because we are inside of Urban Air.”
In between building and coding sessions, kids get to run around Urban Air and join in on the activities in the park.
The camp begins at 9 a.m. and runs throughout the day. Classes are available during the weeks of Dec. 26-29 and Jan. 1-5.
During the courses, kids are create different robots each day, including a reindeer and chimney for Santa. More spots are available. Scheduling details are available online.
Snapology also holds camps in the evening when school is in session, as well as camps throughout the summer. More information about camps and activities are available on the website.
