Mary Tutwiler

Beaucoup summer activity for kids

by Mary Tutwiler

It’s time to sign up for summer camp, and there are lots of options for combining learning and play this year. The Acadiana Arts Council and the Lafayette Natural History Museum & Planetarium have teamed up to offer CitySmarts Art & Science Camp . Twenty campers will explore the natural world through investigation, observation and problem-solving. The hands-on activities are designed to stimulate creative thinking, a tool of scientists as they try to imagine new ways of understanding the natural process, as well as artists, who open their minds to seeing things from a unique perspective.

CitySmarts Art & Science Camp is for children between the ages of 6 and 12. The first session is June 2 – 6, second session is June 9 – 13, and third session is July 7 – 11. Each session will have different activities, so you can sign up for one of each! Each session is $160 per child ($140 for members of either organization), and includes all supplies, snacks and a t-shirt. For more information or to register, call 233-7060 or email [email protected]. To download a brochure or application, visit AcadianaArtsCouncil.org/citysmarts.

If language and culture is your focus this summer, the Alliance Française de Lafayette and the Children Museum of Acadiana are holding French summer camps. For two hours daily for a week, language comes to life while playing in the grocery store, ambulance, at the bank, in the bubble lab, playing dress-up and just plain old having fun at the Children’s Museum, all in French. Kids will learn basic phrases that have practical application here in Acadiana like how to shop for groceries, then they can go to a real-life grocery store like Breaux’s Mart, where French is spoken and put their new language skills to work.
 
French camp is for children 6 to 10 years old, and will be held June 9th to June 13th and July  7th to July 11th from 9 to 11 am every morning. Fees are $95.00 for members of one of the organizations, $105.00 for non-members. Complimentary stay at the CMA after camp hour for French campers. Registration and Information with Alliance Française de Lafayette by phone: 261-1002 or by email: [email protected].

Louisiana Folk Roots , the organization behind the Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week, is reaching out to the next generation of musicians and ambassadors of local culture. A June day camp for kids ages 6-12 offers summer fun combined with intensive learning. The two independent one-week sessions, June 16-20 and June 23-27, will present some of Acadiana’s young-adult musicians to serve as instructors and role models. Feufollet fiddler Chris Segura, who started playing professionally at age 11; Courtney Granger, grand-nephew of Dewey Balfa and member of Balfa Tourjours , who released his first album at 16; and accordion player Kristi Guillory of Bonsoir, Catin, who formed her first band at 12 comprise the stellar team of music teachers. Campers will bring their own instruments, and study intensively with the instructors, as well as playing in a camp band. Other activities include French singing and dance classes, cooking, Louisiana cultural history, and a field trip.

The camp will be held at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, in downtown Lafayette. Tuition for each one week session is $175. To sign up, call Folk Roots at 234-8360.