The Studios
6 camps within the camp
Nestled inconspicuously within Steve & Kate’s are six creative hives where campers lose themselves in uninhibited exploration. Inevitably, campers venture into one or more of them. Inside, they find copious supplies and professional equipment. Each studio is available every day at every location.
Music Studio
The Doors aren’t made of mahogany and The Stones aren’t just rolling; they’re bands that could have gotten a start in a music studio like ours. In studio quality sound booths, campers record original vocal tracks and jam on keyboards, guitars, ukuleles, and electronic drum kits. Others belt out chart toppers at our karaoke singing stations decked out with iPads and vocal shields.
Style Studio
All styles are encouraged at Steve & Kate’s. Even wearing fanny packs with wind pants. Campers dig through hundreds of yards of fabric and buckets full of accessories like ribbons, sequins, beads and more; then use sewing machines (or not) to create signature pieces. They can make quilts, bike accessories and even real deal clothes using zippers, snaps and buttons. Of course, knitting needles are in the mix too for those who prefer wool or just really like to prepare for wild winters–that’s a nod to you, Chicago.
Build Studio
Campers prototype inventions, build structures and create sculptures using lightweight materials like cardboard and plastic pipes. They use pulleys to add things like drawbridges to their castles. Hand tools, fasteners and other adult stuff give kids reasons to wear tool belts. Certainly more reasons than the guy from the Village People ever had. Since we don’t tell campers what they have to make, we see some serious creativity at work. Unicorn stables? Yeah, we’re in.
Culinary Studio
Do 68 cloves of garlic taste good in a pasta sauce? Maybe. Campers learn to cook with intuition and creativity by experimenting with whatever they think might taste good. We show them pictures of possible dishes based on a daily set of seasonal ingredients and they reverse engineer the dish. Through the process they learn to decipher spices, develop knife skills (safely!) and learn techniques from sautéing to stir-frying. Knowing what to do with seemingly random ingredients will make our campers very popular with their eventual college roommates.
Animation Studio
Children are naturally gifted storytellers. Animation allows kids to translate their wildest visions onto the big screen, whether it’s an adventure with invisible flying shoes or a film noir about an elephant femme fatale. Campers fill our custom-built animation stages with their own sets, props and characters to direct stop-motion films. They embellish their HD shorts with soundtracks, voiceovers and other post-production elements on brand new iPads.
Dance Studio
Gangnam Style meets Swan Lake. The essence of street dancing is a fusion of styles and influences. Campers step into a range of dance genres from hip-hop to swing or one of their own creation: the two-step-tango-pop-and-lock, anyone? In collaboration with other passionate dancers, campers choreograph and perform routines in front of a packed house at Camper Showcase.
