During
July of 2013, Philosophy for Children Alberta offered its fifth incarnation of its summer camp, Eurekamp: Adventures in Ideas for Curious Children, welcoming more than 250 youth.
Our campers, ages 5-14, joined us for 4 weeks of exciting camps on topics ranging from food, art, strategy and games, scientific exploration, society, biomedical ethics, trash and garbage, and corporate espionage. Have you ever made your own Solar Oven, Bat box, or City? Have you visited the ICU, putting in IVs and ultra-sounds, followed by a trip to the animal testing lab? Have you tackled a new 'mensa board game' every day of the week while working to solve the Rubik's cube? Our campers have.
Our team of 16 counsellors came from right here in our own city, Montreal, Vancouver, the United States and Australia. All of them gave so much time and attention to create a vibrant and fun experience for our each camper. We collaborated with exciting community members who came into our camps to give their time and creative energy to take Eurekamp to the next level of engagement. These guests included a Go master, four professional cooks/ chefs from within and around Edmonton, a pediatrician, and a researcher in pediatrics. There were also many local artists who came to share their talents, including an illustrator, writer, musician, improve actress, a dancer and a clown!
Not only did we have wonderful guests come to our camp, but we were also invited to visit some exciting places. Our campers got to participate in tours like University Farms, Timm's Centre for the Arts Theatre tour, the University Observatory, a rafting trip down the North Saskatchewan River with RiverWatch, CJSR Campus Radio tour, a dumpster diving expedition, a tour of the Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital, Gastroenterology and Hepatology Lab tour, Biology Lab tour, and others.
All of these occurred in the context of underlying methodology of Philosophy for Children Alberta, which is to create creative, critical communities of inquiry that foster respect for persons and a concern for interesting ideas. A select few of the questions that our campers explored include: Is nature fair? Should war continue? Is how we treat animals like racism? Does stealing make you a bad person? How much control should parents have over their kids? Why do people bully? Is a tipi a building? Can buildings be art?
You can see all the great photos on Facebook, the Eurekamp Website, or visit the general Philosophy for Children Page to see what we're up to next!
