African Safari Camp

Since the kids were both going to be home all summer, I decided to sign Caleb up for some 1/2 day camps.  The first one was held at Trike Theatre and it was called African Safari.  Caleb LOVES all things related to animals, so I knew he would be all about that part, but I wasn’t so sure about the performance stuff.  (Anyone remember Jitterbugs?)  Caleb’s just not a stage performing kind of guy.  One of my friends from work was teaching the art part of the camp and she assured me that he would be okay, so I signed him up.  The first day, he was a little disappointed to find out that going to camp did not mean the same thing as going to deer camp or camping in the backyard.  Once we got past that initial disappointment, though, he ended up really liking it.  He was excited to go every day, but couldn’t ever really tell me what they did when I asked him.  He did talk about snakes and frogs (big shocker) and that he had made some stuff. 
Friday was showcase day.  After frantically running around the house to pack for vacation, Rudy, Nola and I got there just as it was beginning.  I loved watching Caleb be part of the group as they went through the exercises of “unpacking the actor’s suitcase” and warming up their bodies.

 

They did a safari train exercise

 

and then struck a variety of poses at the teacher’s direction.  When they were told to hold a pose like their favorite safari animal, Caleb first chose a frog, then his next one was a gorilla, complete with beating on his chest. 
The final pose was to pretend they were on a safari: .  After the drama part, they did their dance performances.  The first group was slow music and the danced with scarves.  Caleb was in the fast group and got to dance with maracas:
When it was all over, the kids got a safari hat to take home.  They also got to take home their journals and their art work.  Caleb made a curled-up snake and a decorated pillow case.  Here’s our happy camper showing off his hat and artwork: