2022 Winter-Spring Programs

Our in-person programs this winter will follow our well established Covid Careful Camp guidelines that we used successfully in the spring and summer.  Please read our COVID response page for all the details! HEADS UP:

 

• Enroll Early. Our COVID-careful camps are limited in size and many of our camps FILL early.

• Selected Campers. Although early registration is very likely to secure a spot in your camp of choice, we will not be running on a strictly “first come first serve” basis. This is to ensure we have a good spread of ages, plus racial and gender balance each week.

• If a camp is FULL it is still a good idea to register; this gets you on our mailing list for early registration in the future, and also on a waiting list for that camp.

• Standby status will be offered to the first few people on each waiting list; we will ask if you are free to come if a space is available, and if yes, we will collect camp forms from you and offer you a spot if one comes open. We have found that there are more last minute cancelations in the time of COVID than in the past.

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Hands-on Interactive Zoom Workshops!

The same hands-on participation and supportive community atmosphere we’ve always loved shine straight into our home every time we connect to Clapping Hands Farm via Zoom! — Elizabeth Bonitz

Clapping Hands Farm is pleased to offer an exciting array of connecting, engaging, interactive online workshops! Our goal in offering these workshops is NOT to keep people on screens! Quite the opposite! We aim to ignite new skills, friendships, and passions that will have you and your family diving deep into creating and making. We want that “I can’t stop Felting!” feeling, that quilting-before-breakfast feeling!  Our goal is for the OFF SCREEN creating time that these workshops inspire to outweigh the Zoom time by a good measure.

We bring our fun, respectful, welcoming camp culture with us on Zoom. Each workshop includes a check-in, where campers and staff share how they are feeling and what their week has been like, and appreciations for anyone or anything that’s happened recently.

Scholarships

Clapping Hands Farm has a “no one turned away” scholarship policy. If you want to request a scholarship or if you would like to donate to our scholarship program, you will find a place to do both on our registration form, and more information about both on the SCHOLARSHIP page of our website. 

Zoom: Drawing Strong: Courage Through Creativity. Ages 12-Adult.

Dates: January 10-February 28, 2022 (8 weeks)
Meeting Time: Mondays, 4:00-6:00 pm
Camp Fee: $160. Supplies Fee: $16.50

This workshop with Emma Skurnick is a drawing class with a twist. We will be focusing on the tools that make artists better – but they might not be the skills you’ve learned in other drawing classes. Yes – we will practice line, shading, and perspective. But artists need other tools, too: confidence, resilience, and a fair amount of rebellion. We will practice listening to the stories that we tell as we draw – both “This is awesome!” and “I’m not good enough!” and we will learn how to respond to both. Prepare to make lots and lots of drawings, some of which you’ll love, some of which you’ll hate, all of which you’ll learn from.

Emma is both an amazing artist and a wonderfully positive,  gentle, insightful master teacher.

Zoom: Yes-ing Bowl. Ages 18+.

Dates: January 16-April 24, 2022 (14 weeks) No class April 17 (Easter)
Meeting Time: Sundays, 7:00-9:00 pm
Camp Fee: $250

Sarah Perry and Aya Shabu are thrilled to continue this online workshop for adults who want to say YES to their own creativity and to making a creative community. This is a studio time to work on any art form you are drawn to. We are excited to expand the definition of art together and to wholeheartedly welcome your genuine self. No project is too small, too ambitious, or too unusual. Dance, move, knit, write, interact, build a computer, make music, draw, doodle, sculpt, carve, paint, tend your garden! The options are endless! Together, we are prioritizing the intentional time, playfulness, and focus that our art forms deserve.

Thanks to our expert Zoom tech assistant, Mari Kearns, we will have the flexibility to tune into the needs of the group and make breakout rooms so you’ll have atmospheres and focus groups to choose from. Rooms can be made for an interest or topic and also to create separate spaces for folks who want to be more conversational and interactive and those who want comfortable quiet or music in the background. We care about your process and what supports it. Each week, every person will have the opportunity to talk about their creative life and listen during check in. We value having space for each voice to be heard. There will also be a time devoted to sharing little inspirations. This encourages us to look for and stay open to stories, quotes, artwork, and experiences both beautiful and challenging that nourish our own creativity and might be just what someone else is meant to hear or see. At the end of the evening, we’ll have a time to appreciate anything or anyone in the group if you’re drawn to!

Sarah and Aya will bring their art, awareness, flow, honesty, caring and support, and deep capacity for honoring each person while making community. Together we will build an open-minded group where each of us can feel safe to dive deep into our creative space to listen, share, make, make mistakes, inspire, and be inspired through our connection.

Zoom: Felting Workshops for Beginning and Experienced Felters. Ages 10-Adult.

Dates: January 11-March 1, 2022 (8 weeks).
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 1:00 pm- 3:00 pm
Camp Fee: $160 Supply Fee Introduction to Felting: $40 Supply Fee Felt Studio for Experienced Felters: varies

Our two Felting Workshops will take place in the same  Zoom Space and at the same time, but will have TWO strands—- a solid Introduction to Felting led by Louise Omoto Kessel for complete beginners or anyone who likes more structure in their learning and a Felt Studio Workshop for Experienced Felters guided by Casey Hayes for people with the skills and readiness to work on independent projects. The two strands will meet in different Zoom breakout rooms for their studio time, but will gather together for sharing at the end of each session. Descriptions below!

INTRODUCTION TO FELTING: Ever put a wool sweater in the washing machine on hot by accident? And it shrank and got really thick and tough? That is felting! Except we will do it on purpose using colorful wool to make wonderful things. Felting is the art of harnessing those same scientific principles that made your sweater shrink (with a little more technique and artistic control) for making whimsical or functional objects from wool or vegan fibers. Each week Louise will demonstrate a specific technique or project. Campers will develop skills in both needle felting and wet felting. A little bit of felting experience opens the door to a huge variety of projects. . . . fun felted animals, beads, jewelry, backpack charms, patches, decorations on clothing, wall hangings, pillows, pouches and bags, felted soap — and for more advanced felters, hats, mittens and slippers. This 8-week-long course will give a structured tour of what’s possible, and campers will have a lot of room to follow their muse when choosing and designing projects. Felt is the first cloth that people made; it is an ancient art form. Louise will share stories and images of felting traditions from all over the world, introduce the fiber plants and animals that provide our materials, and explain the science behind why it works! This workshop is appropriate for people who are brand new to felting. This workshop is also recommended for experienced felters who are younger than 12, people who want a structured workshop that will expand their skills, and people who want to learn more about the history and traditions of felting around the world.

FELT STUDIO FOR EXPERIENCED FELTERS: Campers can purchase wool as needed when they register, or order their own materials from supplier links that we will provide. If you have felted before, feel you have mastered the basics, and are eager for more — this is the workshop for you! In this space we will work on our own projects and get inspiration from our fellow campers. In addition, studio guide Casey Hayes will demonstrate skills as needed or requested as campers work on their own projects.

In Person at the Bynum General Store: Creative Writing (Scriptwriting Focus!) & Reading Circle. Ages 12-18.

Dates: January 13-February 24, 2022 (7 weeks)
Meeting Time: Thursdays, 12:30-4:00 pm |
Camp Fee: $140 (Creative Writing). $70 (Reading Circle). $200 (Both). Rent Fee: $20 *we are paying to use the Bynum Store

Lead by Khallori Cosmey, a student of screenwriting, and Joelle Brummitt-Yale, a creative teacher and homeschool parent. Khallori and Joelle look forward to sharing their passion about stories, written and read, with both new and returning campers! In the Creative Writing Workshop, we’ll explore the world of scriptwriting, from brainstorming ideas and developing characters to producing a polished piece ready to be performed. Campers will have a chance to write, revise, and even perform (if they choose) their work in a supportive, collaborative environment.

Our Reading Circle group will build a community of support for reading and/or listening and then explore all the thoughts, questions and ideas that books can present and inspire. In this session, we’ll be complimenting our scriptwriting with script reading.  We’ll explore a series of great dramatic and comedic plays through reading and viewing.

You can sign up for Creative Writing or Reading Circle BUT we would love it if people signed up for BOTH —  as there is plenty of interplay between writing and reading great writing! The inaugural session of this workshop in Fall 2021 brought together a group of homeschoolers with a wide range of ages and abilities and succeeded in making a safe inspiring environment for every single participant.

“My son’s favorite day of the week is Thursday because of writing class.”

Zoom: Quilting. Ages 12-Adult (younger campers accepted on a case-by-case basis or with adult support).

Dates: March 4-May 6, 2022 (10 weeks)
Meeting Time: Fridays, 10:00-12:00 pm
Camp Fee: $200

Quilting with Kate Hibbard is back! This spring, we’ll work with a super-versatile shape: the Half Square Triangle (HST). From this shape, you can create dozens and dozens of different block designs. You can use pre-cut charm packs (5” squares) or layer cakes (10” squares) to create the half square triangles, or you can cut fabric into squares to make the HSTs. We’ll gather via Zoom each week to work together, design and create a pillow, a wall hanging, a lap quilt…you decide! Quilting campers can hand sew or use a machine. You supply your own fabric and sewing supplies/machine.

Into the Wild: Nature-Based Creative Writing & Reading Circle. Ages 13-18 (younger campers accepted on a case-by-case basis).

Dates: March 3-May 5, 2022 (weather day May 12). Will NOT meet on March 24 or April 21 (8 weeks)
Meeting Time: Thursdays, 12:30-4:00 pm
Camp Fee: $160 (Creative Writing). $80 (Reading Circle). $225 (Both).

Leaders Joelle Brummit-Yale and Khallori Cosmey look forward to a third session of our Creative Writing & Reading Circle program. Spring is the perfect time to explore the beautiful outdoors. And what better way to do so than through writing and reading!  In the Creative Writing portion of this class, we’ll use the rich outdoor space at Clapping Hands as a springboard for our writing.  We’ll go on hikes and sit in the woods or by the pond observing the natural world.  These experiences will be the source material for our creative writing. Campers will be encouraged to use a variety of different forms of writing to share their experiences. Opportunities for collaboration and sharing work will be available. Our Reading Circle group will read professional works–short stories, poems, and novels–that focus on nature.  All books will be available as print, e-books and audiobooks, and each will offer a unique perspective on the natural world and our relationship with the environment.

You can sign up for Creative Writing or Reading Circle BUT we would love it if people signed up for BOTH–as there is plenty of interplay between writing and reading great writing!

Spring Break Camps 2022

Ages 7-12 (13 yr olds accepted on a case-by-case basis).
Meeting Time: 9 am-5 pm
Camp Fee: $300

DATES:

Spring Break Camp, March 21-25 (The Hawbridge School, Willow Oak Charter School and Central Park School)

Spring Break Camp, March 28- April 1 (Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools, Woods Charter, Empowered Minds Academy)

Spring Break Camp, April 18-22 (Chatham County Schools)

Spring Break at Clapping Hands Farm is a glorious sampler of lots of our favorite activities!

• Outdoor Skills and Adventures: fire-making, hiking, canoeing, exploring, fort-building, nature journaling, letter-boxing, map and compass work…
• Building, Engineering, and Toymaking: carpentry, engineering challenges, take-apart-and-fix-it workshops, hydraulic robots, air-powered rockets…
• Art Projects of So Many Kinds: painting, drawing, collage, printmaking, felting, fiber arts, glue gun fun…
• Games: big all-camp running games, capture the flag, rainbow tag, six feathers, sock wars…
• Music: ukulele classes, singing, songwriting, drumming…
• Literary Arts: Creative writing, theater games, storytelling…
• Random Crazy Wonderful Fun: shaving cream experiences, cloud-watching, tree-climbing …

Spring Break Camps are open for registration and you can find up to date descriptions and registration on our Spring and Summer Camps page! 

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