Creative Camps are specialty summer camps about art, design, music, dance + more at Friends Academy in Dartmouth, MA!
2026 Season: June 22 to August 14 (8 weeks)
All specialty camps are organized by week, and then by incoming grade (in parentheses) from youngest to oldest. Choose camps marked for the grade your child will enter in Fall 2026.
2026 Creative Camps by Week
Click on a camp name to read the description and details:
| Camp Week/Dates | Creative Camps |
| Week 1: June 22-26 | Collaborative Art (2-8) |
| Week 2: June 29-July 2* *no camp Friday, July 3 | LEGO® Extraordinaire (1-2) Creating with Recycled Materials (2-6) Crochet Creations (5-8) |
| Week 3: July 6-10 | Animal Puppets (K-2) Intro to Dance (1-3) All Games! (5-8) |
| Week 4: July 13-17 | Design with Found Materials (3-6) Join Percy at Camp Half-Blood (4-8) |
| Week 5: July 20-24 | Messy Makers (3-5) Digital Music Production (4-8) Sewing Camp (6-8) |
| Week 6: July 27-31 | Paper & Printmaking: Art in Nature (3-6) |
| Week 7: August 3-7 | Experimenting with Paint (1-2) |
| Week 8: August 10-17 | Historical Doll Camp (2-4) |
☀️ Extend any half day specialty camp into a FULL DAY of camp! ☀️
Week 1: June 22-26
Full Day (9am-3pm)
Instructor: Hanna August
Create a work of art for the Lloyd Center for the Environment at Collaborative Art camp! Campers will explore the Lloyd Center in South Dartmouth, taking the time to research, brainstorm, and share ideas. Then together, they will create a large-scale piece of art that highlights the center’s values and mission.
Week 2: June 29-July 2*
*no camp July 3 (Independence Day observed)
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Hayleigh Chenard
Our newest hands-on Creative Camp is a *must* for young LEGO® lovers who enjoy building and imagining! Campers will play games and problem-solve while completing fun building challenges as a team. Along the way, they’ll have opportunities to showcase their individual ideas and unique creations. This camp encourages creativity, teamwork, and confidence through play and purposeful building.
Full Day (9am-3pm)
Instructor: Hanna August
Turn trash into something beautiful and help the planet! Campers will work together to gather materials from the beach and repurpose them into a collaborative sculpture. Along the way, they’ll learn about the impact of trash and recycling in different parts of the world.
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Mirna Decker ’21
Discover crochet: a relaxing, screen-free activity that’s perfect for beginners. Campers will learn key crochet stitches and use patterns to create adorable stuffed toys and popular accessories. In just a week, your Middle School-aged camper will gain a new, lifelong creative hobby! (All crochet supplies provided.)
Week 3: July 6-10
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Hayleigh Chenard
Young campers will explore a variety of styles of animal puppets, including hand and shadow puppets. Through hands-on creativity and storytelling, kids will design and bring their animal characters to life. The camp will culminate in a special puppet show, when campers will put on a fun performance!
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Abi DeRego ’14
Calling all young campers interested in learning how to dance — come try your feet at Intro to Dance camp! Learn the basics of movement, rhythm, and style with FA teacher/alum and longtime dancer Ms. DeRego.
Full Day (9am-3pm)
Instructor: Mark Young
Have a blast discovering and participating in the wide world of games at All Games! Whether your middle schooler likes indoor games or outdoor games, group games or solo games, old-fashioned games or brand-new games, they’ll get to try it all during this wildly entertaining week of camp.
Week 4: July 13-17
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructors: Jorie Daniel & Mirna Decker ’21
Turn trash into something beautiful and help the planet! Campers will explore Friends Academy’s 65-acre campus to collect discarded/underused items and repurpose these “found materials” into works of art. Along the way, they’ll also learn about artists who use alternative materials in their work.
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructors: Abi DeRego ’14 & Hannah Furtado
Calling all demigods! Spend a week at Friends Academy’s Camp Half-Blood, based on the best-selling Percy Jackson fantasy novel series by Rick Riordan. Campers will explore mythology lessons, storytelling, campfire activities, capture the flag, and many more crafts and competitions. (You’ll have more fun if you’ve read the books, but it’s not required.)
Week 5: July 20-24
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructors: Hayleigh Chenard & Jorie Daniel
Explore the messy side of science! Campers will use household ingredients to create slime, oobleck, puffy paint, cloud dough, moon sand, erupting volcanoes, and more. They’ll also practice scientific principles including experimentation, making predictions, and working together. Be prepared to get slimy, sticky, and wet!
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructors: Matthew Patrei
Discover the skills required to be a modern music producer! Working with Ableton Live, campers will learn about recording, mixing, and editing music, using basic music theory to develop and organize their ideas. They’ll also find out how to share finished music online for streaming/downloading. (Campers may use a Friends Academy laptop if they don’t have their own.)
Full Day (9am-3pm)
Instructors: Mark Bernardo & Trish Ladino
Does your middle schooler want to learn how to sew? In Sewing Camp, campers will dive into the construction of clothing and accessories using both machines and hand-sewing techniques. Come build a useful skill, make new friends, and express your creativity at this hands-on, screen-free summer experience! (All materials provided.)
Week 6: July 27-31
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Hanna August
In this unique creative camp, we’ll journey into nature to gather inspiration and materials to turn into art! Exploring Friends Academy’s 65-acre campus, campers will discover how natural and everyday items can be turned into paper, and try their hands at paper making, printmaking, sculpture, and drawing to create original art.
Week 7: August 3-7
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Hanna August
Younger campers will discover the wonders of colors and textures in Experimenting with Paint camp! Watch paint spread and grow across various materials, and try out different techniques using all types of paint. Get ready for a vibrant explosion of colors in this unique creative camp!
Week 8: August 10-14
Full Day (9am-3pm)
Instructor: Abi DeRego ’14
Experience what life was like in the past at Historical Doll Camp! Each day, campers will explore a different doll’s history through cooking, crafting, and music from her time period. Come be yourself, make friends with others who love dolls, and discover what it was like to be a child many years ago. All dolls are welcome!
Explore more Friends Academy Summer Camps
Friends Academy offers several different summer day camps on our North Dartmouth, MA campus for kids from preschool to high school. Choose one — or any combination of these!
Questions? Contact us at summerfriends@friendsacademy1810.org.
Summer Friends
Our original and longest-running summer camps! A mix of traditional day camp activities like crafts, sports, music, water play, science experiments, and nature exploration — plus fun weekly themes, field trips, and special guest presentations.
Enrichment Camps
Enrich your child’s mind this summer at our skills-driven specialty camps focused on topics such as science, reading and writing, outdoor skills, and back-to-school prep. Taught by Friends Academy’s experienced educators!
Sports Camps
Get up and moving in our athletics-based specialty camps for kids who want to try out sports like soccer, basketball, running — or maybe a little bit of everything! All levels welcome.
Sally Borden Program (SBP) Camps
Six-week Orton-Gillingham and writing/math maintenance courses for students with language-based learning differences (dyslexia, dysgraphia, and/or dyscalculia) and identified vulnerabilities in written expression.