The theme for the Jackson Walnut Park February school vacation week camp was “Winter Wonderland” and each of the four days was packed with exciting activities for the attendees. More than 30 Jackson School and Walnut Park Montessori children and siblings attended the camp that ran from 8:00–4:00 daily.

Activities included art projects, physics experiments, cooking, and construction projects. The winter theme played out in many creative ways. Children made winter collages, snow globes, popsicle stick snowmen, and Rice Krispy treat snowmen. They wrapped friends like mummies using rolls of tissue then personalized their snowmen and snowladies with cut-out construction paper noses, mouths, branch-like arms, and topping it off with a hat. One warm day they moved outside to the yard to build a big snowman.

The Student Center hummed with activities. The kitchen was busy with little fingers making pizzas, sugar cookies that they piped frosting onto, and birthday celebrations with ice cream sundaes. The expansive gym hosted obstacle courses, group games and races, a scavenger hunt, and team building activities.

A section of a spacious room in Walnut Park Montessori was titled “MakerSpace.” It lent itself to budding artists and construction workers as children built structures out of large cardboard pieces and various pieces of wood then painted their creations. They cozied up with toy animals in tents they crafted, made caterpillars out of egg cartons and pipe cleaner, strung bead necklaces, created intricate designs with Spirograph, and build cities using Legos and large blocks.

Another corner of the room held a library and featured story time for toddlers. Older children turned to the area designated a “Physics Lab.” The hands-on lab featured a magnetic wall, a wooden obstacle course track to race small balls, and everyone’s favorite – a wind tunnel.