Curious Jane Maker Camps

MINIATURE WORLD

Design in miniature! Create your own composition, people, furniture and accessories.

For our CJ girls who loved DIY Dollhouse, Miniature World is a chance to make more! We’ve added a few extra projects like twig teepees and mini tins to keep things fresh. And this group puts a finer finish on the elements DIY Dollhouse. Girls start with pre-fabricated wooden boxes and assemble their own structure. (A trapeze school, toy museum, or ultra-modern home? They’ve made it!) With their architect’s hat on, they think about setting, scale, and who they are designing it for. They plan out the surface finishings and add extended spaces; they design the furniture and accessories; and they incorporate all sorts of clever engineering – like a pulley-system elevator or cantilevered swimming pool for tree frogs (yes, we’ve seen this!) Girls are doing so much learning while they are making, and they constantly amaze us with their creativity. The classroom becomes their studio and miniature world. Got designer’s block? Just visit the swap shop or inspiration station. This is a super popular class, so sign up early! And for girls who’ve taken it before, we’ve added new twists and projects to keep it fresh.

SET THE STAGE
Bring stories to 3-D life in stage-set dioramas and miniature characters!

Girls will take their ideas off the flat page and into the realm of 3-D project-making and creative invention. Girls’ minds are bursting with stories, and this class gives them a chance to visualize them in all different ways. While they develop the “who, where, what and how” of their story, they design their characters, settings and scenarios. Projects include Pandora's box of ideas, 3-D character trees, finger puppets with their own theater and props, timeline garlands, imaginative and large-scale setting maps, and their own story portfolio to take home at the end of the week.

STOP MOTION ANIMATION
Stop. Seriously. Okay now go. And stop. Animation at CJ. Make your own film!

Make a stop-motion animation film from start to finish. Each girl creates her own character, setting and scene as part of a class collaboration. At the end of the session, the scenes are shot and edited together to create a fantastic, camper-created film, complete with a pop-corn fueled screening. Girls learn visual sequencing and storyboarding; they build their own clay characters, and they design their own setting and props for the story. Creative, visual storytelling taken to a new level!

WIRED 101
Wire your own projects that move, wiggle and light up!

In Wired 101, girls learn to construct circuits and incorporate them into fun and inventive projects. Girls use accessible yet remarkable materials (like copper tape and electrically conductive paint) to engineer their creations. Projects include light-up quiz boards, marker draw-bots, LED circuit cards, bristle-bots, constellation star maps, and mini-pets – engineered with a switch and motor to let them wiggle and bounce.

BUILD THE CITY
For creative builders who like to combine the practical with flourish and whimsy!

In this class, we dip into design and architecture through creative structures, model-making, and city scapes. Girls learn about proportion and scale, engineering techniques, how architects and planners work… and of course they do a lot of making and building. Each girl designs her own structures and collaborates with the class to create miniature city blocks. Using simple techniques and materials, girls devise an imaginative three-dimensional world and learn some key concepts in construction and community planning.

GAME TIME
Invent with your hands, flex your brains, and create your own collection of games!

Game design is an incredible learning tool, and it’s also super fun! Girls create their own set of games – making a different type of game each day. In all their making and crafting, they learn concepts like linear and non-linear game play, the mechanics of simple motions, the role of the randomizer (it’s what makes your next turn suspenseful and exciting!) and how to design a how-to! Projects include marble runs, roll-a-creature, popsicle stick match game, go-fishing… and more! We offer simple structures with each game and focus on letting the girls bring their own ideas to life.