Summer 2025: Arts | Creativity ( Grades 6 - 12)

Arts and Creativity classes are designed to foster creativity and imagination! Classes are taught by artists and instructors who have the passion and commitment to promote all forms of creative expression.

Acrylic Painting Studio [entering 6-9] Learn, practice, and experiment in the fine arts in this studio class. Explore “the Masters,” create still-life and line drawings and then move on to painting with acrylics. Learn more about color theory, color mixing, and painting techniques from observation.

Ceramics Studio [entering 6-12] Join us in the professionally equipped Staples studio where beginner and experienced students alike can explore techniques with clay through handbuilding, sculpture, and wheel thrown pieces. Experiment with texture and manipulating forms, as well as glazing and decorating techniques. Learn to create surface patterns, make simple molds, carve, and glaze clay. 

Happy Hands Pottery [entering 4-8] Join Happy Hands Art & Pottery for kids grades 4-8! Our young artists will expand their imaginations and explore the exciting world of clay hand-building and pottery painting in a supportive environment, with plenty of individual instructions and inspiration from our instructors. They'll do a combination of clay hand-building, pottery painting, and craft projects. All of our supplies, pottery, and clay are non-toxic, lead-free, and food-safe. All creations from the week will be ready within 2 weeks of that week's camp completion and parents will be notified accordingly.

Create-a-Comic [grades 6-9] Let your imagination guide the way to turning your ideas into amazing comic creations. Students are instructed through a step-by-step process which includes  character design, storyboarding, frame design, script writing, traditional pen and ink techniques, as well as editing, and publishing which leads each student through the creation and completion of their own personalized and printed sequential pictorial story or comic book. 

Printmaking [grades 6-12] Create and print your own custom T-shirts and work on paper in this exciting summer workshop! Students will explore a range of hands-on printmaking techniques, including screen printing, LEGO printmaking, linocuts, cyanotypes, stencils, and more. Experiment with color, texture, and pattern to design one-of-a-kind wearable and paper-based art. Get creative, have fun, and bring your ideas to life!

Sew with a Pro [grades 7-12] Local Fashion Designer Jennifer Butler will be leaving her studio and showroom in Greenfield Hill, Fairfield for a week of teaching at Staples High School! Learn to make what YOU want-using provided fabrics or bring your own materials to make your design dreams a reality.

Tees and Totes [grades 6-12] Ever had a cool idea for a T shirt design? Now's your chance to bring it to life! In this course, you will trace your design onto a stencil that you will cut-out and attach to a screen, and then print onto your T-shirt, tote bag, or other smooth fabric item (with no pockets or heavily textured fabric). Note: Xacto knives are used to make the stencils, requiring good fine motor skills. We will have a handful of T shirt sizes on hand, and you are encouraged to bring your own shirt, tote bag, etc., if you prefer to print on a particular color/style/unusual item.

The Codelab: Think, Build, Code! [grades 6-9] Get ready for an exciting adventure in robotics and coding! In this hands-on program, students will team up to build and program their own robots using the Hummingbird platform and tablets. With every class, they'll bring their creations to life through block coding—unlocking creativity, problem-solving skills, and tons of fun along the way. Whether they’re making robots light up, move, or respond to commands, each day is a new robot and a new challenge filled with innovation and teamwork!