Living in the PNW lends itself to an amazing array of beauty. How can we pass up an opportunity to be in nature? Let's explore the art that is around us! We will explore different artistic ways to express our ideas and perspectives. We will tap into the work of Andy Goldsworthy, taking natural elements to create beauty. We will hike to beautiful locations to find inspiration. Come prepared to tap into your artistic side and explore where you can go with your creativity!  

During 5 Days of Art Camp we will dive into different mediums and techniques used for drawing, painting, and sculpture. Each day will have a different theme that will allow for guided and open-ended exploration of the day’s material, culminating in a day to experiment with all the materials we used throughout the week.  We will be using materials such as: Graphite, Charcoal, Pastel, Ink, Watercolor, Acrylic, Clay, Paper Mache and more! We will be creating art that explores both realistic themes, along with more creative and abstract imagery, with lots of room for students to explore the mediums in a way that feels authentic to them. The daily themes will provide guidance and direction, as well as leaving space for students to explore their own personal style, making this class appropriate for students of all skill levels. 

This is the perfect camp for anyone who loves to bake or is new to baking and interested in learning how to bake cookies. We will bake different cookies every day. 

Robots have become an increasingly common presence in our lives, but what are they really? Are they androids? Are they thermostats? Can they be both? In this camp, students will learn what a robot consists of, and how a robot interacts with its environment. We will be using the Lego EV3 platform and block-based programming to build robots up from scratch and program them to solve increasingly challenging tasks. No hardware or software experience necessary! 

Welcome to Storytelling and Art Camp where creativity blooms amidst the tranquil woods and expansive grasslands of our campus. Here, surrounded by the natural beauty of our surroundings, campers embark on a captivating journey of storytelling and artistic exploration. Inspired by the whispering trees and the vast open spaces, campers delve into the enchanting world of narrative and creation, using simple crafts like balloons to bring their imaginations to life. From crafting whimsical characters to constructing imaginative scenes, every moment is infused with the joy of artistic expression. With the rustle of leaves as their backdrop and the sun-dappled forest as their playground, campers learn to unleash their creativity in ways that are as boundless as the sky above. Join us at Overlake School for a summer filled with storytelling, art, and the magic of simple crafts amidst the beauty of nature. 

Do you LOVE LEGOs! Join us for a week of fun and engineering as we use LEGOs to build and create structures of all capacities. You will receive challenges throughout the week such as designing a building or bridge that can withstand a load, or a structure that can move or be adjusted. Options are unlimited with where we can take our creativity. Join us with an open mind and a desire to build with all sorts of bricks!  

Summer program’s greatest hits takes a little something from some of the great camps we have at Overlake to create one exciting week! From building fires, collaborating on a design challenge, to playing group games and eating smores this week is filled with a variety of activities meant for kids to try something new and have fun. 

For the young athlete, students will play a variety of sports, with a focus on important athletic skills that cross all of them. There will be a focus on how to be a good teammate and how to apply skills and concepts to different settings. Students will be encouraged to pursue sports they already enjoy and try new ones too. 

Do you love reading and writing? Are you ready to ignite your imagination while sharpening your writing skills? Whether you're already an incredible wordsmith or looking for inspiration, join us for a fantastic week of all-things creative writing. Together we'll consider what we love so much about our favorite stories, play word games, examine family photos as we write about special memories, go on a scavenger hunt to collect rich details from all our senses, and much, much more--all while crafting the next literary masterpieces! At the end of the week, campers will celebrate all the writing they’ve done by compiling their pieces into a hand-sewn book to take home. 

This active bonanza is a fun and challenging way to stay active during the summertime. Campers may be walking along a balance beam and leaping onto the bouldering wall or using quick feet to pass under a low space. The week will be filled with a variety of activities meant to challenge everyone at their own pace and comfort level. Campers will conquer obstacle courses and participate in group games that are active, cooperative, and FUN! By the end of the week, everyone will be creating and designing obstacle courses to challenge one another. 

"Clay Creators: Sculpt Your Stories" invites 3rd and 4th graders to a world where your hands are the tools of creation, and clay is your canvas. This class is all about fun, imagination, and the magic of bringing your ideas to life. Feel the joy of squishing, shaping, and sculpting as you create characters and worlds born from your wildest dreams. With each pinch and pat, your claymation adventure unfolds, transforming lumps of clay into animated tales of wonder. No previous experience? Perfect! Our playful journey is filled with learning, laughter, and lots of clay, making every moment an opportunity to explore and create. Join "Clay Creators" and embark on a sculpting spree where your stories leap from your imagination and into the world of clay animation. It's time to mold, animate, and celebrate the stories that only you can tell! 

In the spirit of Pete the badger, in Emily Gravatt’s book TIDY, our young nature writers will roam the 80 acres of the Overlake campus (equipped with high tech conservationist goggles) with the ultimate purpose of capturing it’s natural beauty on paper.  If scrambling words in artistic ways is your idea of fun then you are perfect for this class.  If you have the ability to make trees sing, believe squirrels plays chess, know that Hogwart’s owls flock here for their summer vacations, or how nature’s first green really is gold, you’re in the right place!  If your pencil is both a paint brush and a wand with the simple flick of the wrist, welcome! 

Anyone knead some bread?! In this camp, we will be making a different kind of bread every day! 

Guinness book of world records is a fun, exciting, and challenging opportunity for campers to try new and unique activities. Campers will learn what the process of setting a world record is and how records are measured and recorded. The people who have set world records and the records themselves are unique and interesting. We will learn about the people who broke world records and the history of the records. Throughout the week, campers will attempt as many world records as they can. They will also have the opportunity to attempt a world record that they create. Our culminating project will be to attempt several records, competing with fellow campers, for the Overlake Summer Program Records Champion. 

Explore your own creative writing and art in a five-day camp full of themes, art supplies and writing. Together we will jump into a creative way to express our thoughts and ideas. Be sure to come with an open mind and excitement to share ideas, push beyond your comfort zone, and let your stories run wild. You will end the week with a collection of your own writing and art to illustrate your thoughts. You will not want to miss this fun! 

Students will learn about Rube Goldberg, an engineer artist tinkerer who always was trying to invent a better "mouse trap." The idea behind this project is for students to use their vivid imaginations and come up with a way to move one object to another or to cause an object to do something by a series of events. Throughout the week, we’ll brainstorm ideas, tackle different challenges, and see what kinds of tasks we can accomplish at Overlake!