ANTIGONISH, N.S. — ANTIGONISH, N.S. - It’s the age old question for parents every March; what is something constructive and fun which can occupy my children’s time during March Break?
The answer; March Break Camps at The Arts House in Antigonish, with Heather and Danny Polson.
The March 18 to 22 full-day camps (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) are for children ages eight and up, and are priced per-day so parents have the choice of going for one day, all five, or something in between.
The run-down of activities starts with Monday’s Truffula Tress.
“Create these whimsical trees from Dr. Suess’ The Lorax and take one home with you,” the poster promoting the camp reads.
Tuesday it’s up-cycling.
“Old clothing and fabric transform into new fashions in this full-day camp.”
Mixed media is on the agenda for Wednesday.
“Use a variety of materials such as pencils, paints and magazine cut-outs to create one-of-a-kind masterpieces.”
Danny takes the lead for sticker-making on Thursday.
“Design and make your very own sticker.”
The camp finishes up with Friday’s sock monsters.
“Monkeys and monsters made out of socks. Create your very own sock character learning lots of skills and having fun along the way.”
“Five days of absolute fun,” Heather said of the camp she and her husband Danny put together after being approached by The Arts House team.
"I describe myself as Mrs. Dressup,” she continued. “People, locally, know me from the [Antigonish] Farmers’ Market, through Hand Crafted by Heather, and then, over the past six years, with my girlfriend Carin Goldsberry we did the H &C Tickle Trunk Emporium. We designed clothing and such, from up-cycling and repurposing,” she added, a skill which will be front and centre during Wednesday’s activity at the camp.
Heather said she is “super grateful” to The Arts House for providing this opportunity, and all of what it provides local artists as far as a place to learn, teach, create, and have fun.
“I’m stoked for the art camps for kids, and also looking forward to, maybe, doing some adult camps,” she said. “So stay tuned for that kind of stuff as well.”
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She noted the camp will be another opportunity to introduce folks to The Arts House which is already “blossoming” based on word-of-mouth.
“One person has a great experience there and tells their friends,” she said. “But this is another great way to get kids out and people into The Arts House, seeing what is there.
“That’s how it’s starting to blossom right now … we [all those involved with the facility] are pretty excited about the possibilities.”
Heather said the timing was right for her as far as putting on the camp.
“We jump on this because art is life and life is art; and being injured [a knee injury suffered last fall], I really need to have art in my life right now,” she said.
“For me, I’ve always been an artist. I didn’t go to school to train for this, I trained for dancing and such, but I’ve always been an artist on the side and it comes through.
“This is just the right time to be able to offer these great opportunities to kids. Have them try different things; I think that [variety] is very important for learning for everyone … and art is important.”
To register, as well as learn more about The Arts House and what it offers, log on to antigonishartfair.ca/theartshouse.
