Explore Our Upcoming Camps and Curriculum
Unleash your imagination at Otis College Summer Youth Camps. We offer a variety of specialized courses designed to inspire creativity. Kids will love creating one-of-a-kind masterpieces, exploring our studios, and so much more—all taught and led by our experienced instructors.
Course Descriptions
Week 1
Acrylic and Tempera Painting: Ages 5-8 (Morning)
Explore your creative potential using acrylic and tempera paint! Campers develop their imaginations and observational skills while learning basic concepts such as composition and color. From thick globs to thin washes of color, campers are exposed to the magic of paint as they create original works of art.
Future Toy Designer: Heroes and Villians: Ages 5-8 (Afternoon)
Imagine if you could design your favorite toy exactly the way you always wanted! In this camp, students discover what makes toys fun and exciting with an expert toy designer, then have the chance to design their very own toy version of their favorite hero or villain! They explore how to create an exciting story with characters, learn to draw and illustrate characters, and sculpt their favorites. This camp is perfect for young artists and designers who wish to learn how to create their own toy ideas and discover how to make their dreams of being a toy designer a reality!
Ages 5-8 Week 1: Acrylic and Tempera Painting + Future Toy Designer: Heroes and Villians (Full Day)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Acrylic and Tempera Painting (Morning) and Future Toy Designer: Heroes and Villians (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Week 2
Character Design for Games and Stories: Ages 5-8 (Morning)
Draw your favorite super heroes, heroines, fantasy figures and characters. Taking inspiration from famous characters in movies, cartoons, games, and television, campers invent their own characters while expanding their artistic vocabulary. In this camp, students will develop their skills in drawing, narrative, visual storytelling, and the secret of bringing their characters to life.
Plush and Clay: Ages 5-8 (Afternoon)
Design your own plush and clay character based on your imagination or inspiration from a favorite animation, book, or toy. In this camp, students explore model-making materials using armature, polymer clay, and plush; and how to use sewing, modeling, and wire techniques to create 3D artworks. Emphasis is placed on building unique 3D objects using creative thinking, character design, and sculptural tools.
Ages 5-8 Week 2: Character Design for Games and Stories + Plush and Clay (Full Day)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Character Design for Games and Stories (Morning) and Plush and Clay (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Week 3
Art Adventures: Drawing and Illustration: Ages 5-8 (Morning)
Learn the possibilities of drawing as a tool to document what you see, experience, and imagine. Campers learn drawing techniques using a variety of media (such as pencils, ink, pastels, and paint) while developing art and design fundamental skills. Using personal experience and ideas to inspire them, campers will create images of people, characters, creatures, and environments. With an emphasis on creativity, self-expression, and storytelling, they transform their ideas into finished drawings.
Creating Art from Nature: 3D: Ages 5-8 (Afternoon)
Find art and design inspiration in all kinds of nature including plants, rocks, flowers, trees, landscapes, and more. In this mixed media class, campers use observation, experimentation, and artistic skills to describe the natural world. With an emphasis on three dimensions, they draw, paint, design, and sculpt while taking inspiration from a wide range of artists and designers. This camp will pique the curiosity of young artists through discovering unexpected designs in nature.
Ages 5-8 Week 3: Art Adventures: Drawing and Illustration + Creating Art from Nature: 3D (Full Day)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Art Adventures: Drawing and Illustration (Morning) and Creating Art from Nature: 3D (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Week 4
Art Adventures: Sculpture and 3D: Ages 5-8 (Morning + Afternoon)
Explore the possibilities of artistic expression in three-dimensional art making. Campers design and construct with a wide range of materials such as found objects, textiles, fabric, papier mâché, wire, and clay. They learn basic elements of 3D design including shape, form, texture, and movement. Campers are encouraged to express ideas, embrace a sense of curiosity, think critically, and create artworks that are uniquely their own.
Myths and Legends Around the World: Ages 5-8 (Morning + Afternoon)
Take a trip around the world to learn about the stories and lore that shape art and history. In this camp, students learn about myths, legends, and the storytelling that brings them to life. Students explore character archetypes, themes in storytelling, and historical art while working with 2D and 3D mixed media. Drawing inspiration from cultures around the world and their imagination, students create their own fully developed visual myth or legend to share with friends and family.
Ages 5-8 Week 4: Art Adventures: Sculpture and 3D + Myths and Legends Around the World (Two Full Day Sessions Available)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Art Adventures: Sculpture and 3D (Morning) and Myths and Legends Around the World (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Week 5
Animating Worlds in 4D: Ages 5-8 (Morning)
Create your own imaginary world and characters and bring them to life! In this camp, students learn the process of creating a stop motion film. They will develop a story idea; tell that story through painting backdrops for imaginary worlds; and sculpt characters with clay for their stop motion. At the end of the week, each student will be exposed to the stop motion process with the opportunity to create their own animated short film.
Creating New and Unusual Creatures and Animals: Ages 5-8 (Afternoon)
Explore what would happen if the creatures and animals in your imagination came to life! What can they do? What do they look like? Using 2D and 3D tools, students will craft new species and life forms that have never been seen before. Storybuilding and the anatomy of real-life animals will serve as a foundation for creativity and exploration. At the end of the week, students will have a host of new creatures and characters to use in their next artistic adventure.
Ages 5-8 Week 5: Animating Worlds in 4D + Creating New and Unusual Creatures and Animals (Full Day)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Animating Worlds in 4D: Ages 5-8 (Morning) and Creating New and Unusual Creatures and Animals (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Week 6
Mixed Media and Clay: Ages 5-8 (Morning)
Design, build and sculpt 3-dimensional creations using your imagination and observation skills. Students explore various materials including clay, plaster, wire, wood, cardboard and found objects while taking inspiration from modern and contemporary international artists. They develop their artistic skills as they build an awareness of 3-D space. Through experimentation, collaboration, and invention, campers will experience learning through play in this 1-week camp.
Inventive Environments: Ages 5-8 (Afternoon)
Draw new and inventive environments using your imagination, and create unique worlds while exploring physical setting and mood. Students learn to use line, form, and perspective as they craft one-of-a-kind environments. Emphasis is placed on use of materials as well as designing all environmental elements from characters, objects, vehicles, and landscapes to architecture.
Ages 5-8 Week 6: Mixed Media and Clay + Inventive Environments (Full Day)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Mixed Media and Clay (Morning) and Creating New and Inventive Environments (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Week 7
Art Adventures: Science and Technology: Ages 5-8 (Morning)
Experience how art, science and technology intersect across many fields including design, architecture, environments, and digital media. This camp is all about tinkering with materials, on and off the computer, and pushing the boundaries of making cool and interesting 2D and 3D art. Campers work individually and in teams to invent, create, and problem-solve.
Creating Art from Nature: Homes and Habitats: Ages 5-8 (Afternoon)
Find art and design inspiration in all kinds of nature including the homes of insects, animals, amphibians, reptiles, and more. This mixed media class is all about looking at the natural world and artists who are inspired by nature. Campers learn a variety of 2D and 3D artistic processes including drawing, painting, printing and designing in three dimensions. They will look at a wide range of artists to draw inspiration from as they experiment with materials and design unique homes and habitats at the intersection between art and sciences.
Ages 5-8 Week 7 Section 1: Art Adventures: Science and Technology + Creating Art from Nature: Homes and Habitats (Full Day)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Art Adventures: Science and Technology (Morning) and Creating Art from Nature: Homes and Habitats (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Animating Worlds in 4D: Ages 5-8 (Morning)
See Week 5
Art Adventures: Sculpture and 3D: Ages 5-8 (Afternoon)
See Week 4
Ages 5-8 Week 7 Section 2: Animating Worlds in 4D + Art Adventures: Sculpture and 3D (Full Day)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Animating Worlds in 4D (Morning) and Art Adventures: Sculpture and 3D (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Week 8
Painting from the Imagination: Ages 5-8 (Morning)
Explore the possibilities of self-expression with paint while developing skills in making two-dimensional artworks. Campers develop ideas from their imagination through sketching, drawing, and brushwork. They build these onto paper and canvas as they learn about basic elements of color, line, shape, and space in a painting. Students are encouraged to use their imagination, curiosity, and sense of wonder as they discover their own unique artistic voice.
Cartooning for Kids: Ages 5-8 (Afternoon)
Everyone has a story to tell. When we combine character drawings, environments, and dialogue (and sometimes jokes), these stories become cartoons! This course gets everyone drawing their own cartoon characters on the first day, and then dives into storytelling. Students learn approaches to drawing just about anything along with ways to come up with plots and stories for their cartoons. Students will leave this camp as budding cartoonists!
Ages 5-8 Week 8 Section 1: Painting from the Imagination + Cartooning for Kids (Full Day)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Painting from the Imagination (Morning) and Cartooning for Kids (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Plush and Clay: Ages 5-8 (Morning)
See Week 2
Character Design for Games and Stories: Ages 5-8 (Afternoon)
See Week 2
Ages 5-8 Week 8 Section 2: Plush and Clay + Character Design for Games and Stories (Full Day)
Campers who wish to experience a full-day of camp can attend both Plush and Clay (Morning) and Character Design for Games and Stories (Afternoon). Full day camps include lunch supervision and outside activities between 12:15 - 1pm daily.
Week 1
Fashion Design Studio: Ages 9-12
Discover the secrets behind what makes a successful fashion design! From sketching and illustration to concept development and construction, campers learn about the design process behind what leads to finished garments and collections in today’s fashion industry. They create their own designs and learn drawing and painting techniques to develop illustrations of costumed models. With exposure to existing brands and designers, they take inspiration towards developing their own ideas. By the end of the camp, they will create their own hand-drawn and illustrated concepts as well as a completed garment.
Week 2
Cartooning for Kids: Ages 9-12
Everyone has a story to tell. When we combine character drawings, environments, and dialogue (and sometimes jokes), these stories become cartoons! This course gets everyone drawing their own cartoon characters on the first day, and then dives into techniques for visual storytelling. Students learn approaches to drawing just about anything along with ways to come up with plots and stories for their cartoons. By the conclusion of this camp, each student will have a finished comic strip ready to submit to their school newspaper or website in the fall.
Urban Sketching and Painting: Ages 9-12
Learn the possibilities of drawing and painting as tools to describe what you see, experience, and imagine. In this camp, students will learn sketching techniques and develop their visual ideas into paintings using a variety of media including pencil, ink, watercolor, and gouache. They will build an understanding of composition as they practice documenting the world around them with lessons in perspective and color theory.
Week 3
Graphic Design: Ages 9-12
Design is everywhere: on your shoes, on street signs, on the internet. When we learn the techniques and principles of graphic design, we see how design is interwoven with every aspect of our lives. We also gain an understanding about how to apply that knowledge to create our own creative projects! From designing a logo for a favorite sports team, skateboard crew, club, music group, or event to creating posters and more, this hands-on, project-based camp will help young designers on their way to making great designs. Through a combination of real-world design challenges and building a foundation of basic techniques, students learn what graphic design is, what it does, why it's so important, and how to make their own graphic design solutions.
Week 4
Create Your Own Graphic Novel: Ages 9-12
If you like drawing cartoons and writing stories or are curious about how to begin, this fun and fast-paced course is for you. From basic to more advanced projects, campers dive into the principles of storytelling and illustrating graphic novels, and use this knowledge to create and illustrate stories of their own. Recommended for young creatives who wish to develop their skills in drawing, narrative, visual storytelling into artistic and imaginative graphic novels.
Animating Worlds in 4D: Ages 9-12
Create your own imaginary world and characters and bring them to life! In this camp, students learn the process of creating a stop motion film. They will develop a story idea; tell that story through painting backdrops for imaginary worlds; and sculpt characters with clay for their stop motion. At the end of the week, each student will be exposed to the stop motion process with the opportunity to create their own animated short film.
Week 5
2D Animation: Ages 9-12
Are you fascinated by animation that you see on tv, in commercials, and online? Have you ever wondered how those characters are brought to life? In this hands-on camp designed for aspiring animators, students learn the basics of 2D animation. They examine the principles of animation as established by leading animation studios, and apply these principles to short animated pieces of their own. Beginning with blinking characters and progressing quickly to walking, running, and flying, this camp teaches the craft of animation and the art of entertaining an audience with moving pictures.
Mixed Media and Clay: Ages 9-12
Design, build and sculpt 3-dimensional creations using your imagination and observation skills. Students explore various materials including clay, plaster, wire, wood, cardboard and found objects while taking inspiration from modern and contemporary artists. They develop their artistic skills as they build an awareness of 3-D space. Through experimentation, collaboration, and invention, campers will learn to express themselves in exciting new ways.
Week 6
Character Design for Games and Stories: Ages 9-12
Draw your favorite super heroes, heroines, fantasy figures and characters. Taking inspiration from famous characters in movies, cartoons, games, and television, campers invent their own characters while expanding their artistic vocabulary. In this camp, students will develop their skills in drawing, narrative, visual storytelling, and the secret of bringing their characters to life.
Myths and Legends Around the World: Ages 9-12
Take a trip around the world to learn about the stories and lore that shape art and history. In this camp, students learn about myths, legends, and the storytelling that brings them to life. Students explore character archetypes, themes in storytelling, and historical art while working with 2D and 3D mixed media. Drawing inspiration from cultures around the world and their imagination, students create their own fully developed visual myth or legend to share with friends and family.
Week 7
Future Toy Designer: Ages 9-12
Imagine if you could design your favorite toy exactly the way you always wanted! In this camp, students discover what makes toys fun and exciting with an expert toy designer, then have the chance to design their very own toy. They explore how to create an exciting story with characters, learn to draw and illustrate characters, and sculpt their favorites. This camp is perfect for young artists and designers who wish to learn how to create their own toy ideas and discover how to make their dreams of being a toy designer a reality!
Week 8
Digital Design Studio: Ages 9-12
Whether your interest is in producing eye-catching motion graphics or creative digital images and illustrations, you need to start with the basics and become familiar with the digital tools of the trade. This hands-on camp introduces students to static and motion graphics digital applications that are the industry standard for design in the areas of graphic design, motion graphics, digital illustration, and media design. You will also learn basic elements and principles of art, such as contrast, color, negative space, 2D design, color, composition, and time-based design to create professional-looking digital art.
Week 1
Digital Design Studio: Ages 13-14
Whether your interest is in producing eye-catching motion graphics or creative digital images and illustrations, you need to start with the basics and become familiar with the digital tools of the trade. This hands-on camp introduces students to static and motion graphics digital applications that are the industry standard for design in the areas of graphic design, motion graphics, digital illustration, and media design. You will also learn basic elements and principles of art, such as contrast, color, negative space, 2D design, color, composition, and time-based design to create professional-looking digital art.
Week 2
Fashion Design Studio: Ages 13-14
Discover the secrets behind what makes a successful fashion design! From sketching and illustration to concept development and construction, campers learn about the design process behind what leads to finished garments and collections in today’s fashion industry. They create their own designs and learn drawing and painting techniques to develop illustrations of costumed models. With exposure to existing brands and designers, they take inspiration towards developing their own ideas. By the end of the camp, they will create their own hand-drawn and illustrated concepts as well as a completed garment.
Week 3
The Art of Cartooning: Ages 13-14
Everyone has a story to tell. When we combine character drawings, environments, and dialogue (and sometimes jokes), these stories become cartoons. This camp gets everyone drawing their own cartoon characters on the first day, then dives into techniques for visual storytelling. Students learn approaches to drawing just about anything and strategies for coming up with plots and stories for their cartoons. By the conclusion of this camp, each student will have a finished comic strip ready to submit to their school newspaper or website in the fall.
Week 4
3D Design with Mixed Media and Clay: Ages 13-14
The mixing of media with paints, photography, sculpture, and found objects has been a phenomenon that influences artists everywhere. Beginning with exploring the process of developing ideas and the possibilities of different materials, students are encouraged to play and experiment with various techniques to create three-dimensional artworks. With inspiration from historical and contemporary artists, they develop foundational knowledge of 3D design including shape, form, value, space, texture, and movement. By the end of the camp, students will create unique artworks drawing from their design skills, imagination, and 3D observation.
Week 5
Character Design for Games and Stories: Ages 13-14
Draw your favorite super heroes, heroines, fantasy figures and characters. Taking inspiration from famous characters in movies, cartoons, games, and television, campers invent their own characters while expanding their artistic vocabulary. In this camp, students will develop their skills in drawing, narrative, visual storytelling, and the secret of bringing their characters to life.
Week 6
Animating Worlds in 4D: Ages 13-14
Create your own imaginary world and characters and bring them to life! In this camp, students learn the process of creating a stop motion film, from concept development to building an animation. First they develop a short story with mood, narrative, and feeling. Next, they learn how to tell that story through the language of color and shape. They craft and paint backdrops for imaginary worlds and sculpt characters with clay for their stop motion. At the end of camp, each student will have their own animated short film.
Week 7
No camp
Week 8
No camp