Camp LOLA teaches kids critical thinking, sciences, and art
In 2022, students at Camp LOLA completed an activity centered around learning potential versus kinetic energy using chains made out of rubber bands. Courtesy photo
Registration is open for Camp LOLA, an educational summer program for children ages 3 through the fifth grade. It is hosted by Live Oak Leadership Academy.
The camp offers four educational sessions that promote critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. Sessions are $100 each. Camp LOLA T-shirts are $10.
“We focus on 21st century skill and leadership development,” said Amy Jacobs, LOLA executive director and founder. “Camp LOLA provides an opportunity to serve a lot more students in the surrounding communities.”
Jacobs said interested parents should register soon to avoid being put on a waiting list.
“Parents are allowed to register a week before each (session), but our camps normally fill up pretty fast,” she said.
Courses will be spread across three campuses:
- 704 U.S. 281 in Marble Falls
- Hill Country Fellowship Campus, 200 Houston Clinton Drive in Burnet
- 27008 RR 12 in Dripping Springs
The camp starts June 5 in Marble Falls and ends Aug. 3 in Burnet.
“Instead of sitting around, maybe watching TV or not doing anything, the camp keeps (kids) really active,” Jacobs said. “It’s a fun camp because their minds are working all the time. It’s not a sit-and-get camp.”
STEM sessions will test campers’ mettle in robotics, science experiments, engineering activities, and construction. Outdoor education also will be a key part of those lessons. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math.
“We’ve done quite a few things with outdoor (education) in the past,” Jacobs said. “They’ve done stuff with solar power, kinetic energy, and other energies. They’ve even created a solar oven where they got to cook something with it.”
Arts is another focus of the camp. Kids will learn to unlock their creativity through painting, drawing, and photography. At the end of each week, campers will display their artwork and hold an art show.
“They learn about art history and famous artists, and they base their work off of it,” Jacobs said. “At the end of the week, we have an artist showcase. It has all the students’ work and everything they’ve done with art. It’s like a true gallery.”
New to this year’s camp is a course on problem solving. “Solve It!” campers will complete puzzles, build their own escape rooms, and engage in other activities that teach techniques for finding solutions to complex problems.
Another class, Discovery Camp, is only open to ages 3-5. Exclusive to the Marble Falls campus, the course is an introduction to STEM, the arts, and outdoor education.
“They actually get to sample all of it,” Jacobs said. “It’s really to expose them to all these areas of learning.”
The number of time slots and sessions help ensure a low student-to-teacher ratio.
“We never go over a 20-to-1 ratio in our camp groups,” Jacobs said. “Some of our camps are as low as a 12-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio.”
View the camp’s entire schedule on the Camp LOLA webpage.