Skunks, spiders, and snakes – oh my! Let’s explore what makes misunderstood animals so important in their ecosystems. Separate fact from fiction and learn about the survival skills of amazing creatures of all sizes. Get an up-close look as you dissect a real squid using age-appropriate tools and techniques. Encounter animal ambassadors that call the museum home and taste a snack that they may enjoy. Work with your fellow campers to create an awareness campaign for your favorite misunderstood animal.
The last day to register for this camp is July 24, 2024.
Learn more about The Good, the Bad, the Misunderstood.
Stretch those art muscles with games and challenges worthy of the Olympics. Challenge yourself with timed drawings and work in teams to design and execute artwork with your peers. We will create sports-themed artwork, move our bodies with gestures inspired by gymnastics and soccer, and transport ourselves to Paris, the location of the 2024 Summer Games.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Art Olympics.
Push, pull, squish, and play with clay into anything you can imagine—from a bowl you can use to sculpted figures of your pet or an imaginative creature of your own design. Become inspired by the organic forms of ceramic artist Beate Kuhn, mix mediums like found objects and plaster with multiple forms of clay, and construct figurative sculptures that stand, sit or dance suspended in motion. Kiln-fired projects will be fired and available for pick-up at the museum 3 to 4 weeks after camp.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Ceramics.
Through exciting experiments, explore how regional environments inform the way we live. Learn about local resources involved in Indigenous Cultural traditions. Grind corn and use your cornmeal to make snacks. Compare insulation and water resistance in building materials and clothing. Discover the history of the earliest human habitation in North America on an extended day trip to Meadowcroft Rockshelter.
$50 activity fee.
Day trip day to Meadowcroft Rockshelter: museum pick-up at 5 p.m.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about North American Explorer.
Develop your own modular worlds inspired by popular toys and games like Legos and Minecraft. Bring digital creations to life by constructing pixelated structures in three dimensions. Explore plastics as a material in construction and sculpture in the exhibition Everlasting Plastics and learn to build by stacking diverse materials like artist Marie Watt. Use Lego figures to explore stop-motion animation and pull distinctive prints from the bubbled surface of each brick. Explore spaces around Oakland and work with your team to recreate their materials and silhouettes in Minecraft.
The last day to register for this camp is August 7, 2024.
Installation view of Joel Shapiro, Untitled, 1985–1986, Carnegie Museum of Art, Gift of Milton and Sheila Fine, © Joel Shapiro / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Learn more about Building with Blocks.
Do you have an eye for detail? Do you like to puzzle through patterns? Join this micro-adventure to unearth some of the smallest specimens on display in the museum. Analyze patterns and make connections between cultural artifacts and the natural world. Learn how your brain decodes fine detail by experimenting with light and color. Dissect a real cow eyeball using age-appropriate tools and techniques.
The last day to register for this camp is August 7, 2024.
Learn more about Camouflage Chaos.
Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and more—they’ve all changed life on our planet over and over again. Discover how people and ecosystems have responded to extreme events throughout geologic time. Construct model lava flows, asteroid impacts, and volcanoes. Build a model city and put it to the test with a mega-quake-tsunami challenge.
The last day to register for this camp is August 14, 2024.
Learn more about Extreme Events.