Strands & Exploratories
Strands (our term for classes- we don’t want this to feel too much like school!) are the core of the TDI Summer Camp. We strive to provide a wonderful variety of strand offerings each summer at TDI. We try to have something for everybody among kids with a variety of passions, learning styles, and skill levels. We work hard to create opportunities for campers to explore both old and new interests. TDI includes offerings to appeal to all genders and for fourth-graders up through ninth-graders. Some classes are narrowed down to a certain grade-range (as indicated in the brochure), while others are open to the full range of ages.
In addition to their daily strands, which are the same each day of the week, campers will participate in hour-long Exploratories with a wide variety of different topics and activities. These are different each day, and kids will sign up for one each morning. Exploratory content includes outdoor activities like Ultimate Frisbee and Capture the Flag, new learning topics like Elvish Language and Cryptography, puzzles and games like How to Solve a Rubik’s Cube and Parlor Games, as well as regular opportunities to use the campus’ computer labs and indoor pool. Exploratories give campers a chance to dip their feet into potential new passions, enjoy some outdoor physical activity with friends, or relax with low-stress activities like yoga and origami after a busy day of learning and fun.
Schedules can be found in the brochure for the coming year. Brochures typically come on-line in mid-February. Keep an eye open! Strands fill up on a first-come, first-serve basis, with some adjustments being made as is logistically necessary. On this page, you can see examples of all the different types of learning opportunities we offer. But bear in mind- many of our strands stretch across more than just one category! Note that not all strands here will be offered in a given year; we rotate them based on interest levels and staff availability.
“I learned a ton of things I would not learn otherwise, and met people a lot like me.”
Technology
Each summer there are at least four options for technology strands. We have access to a Mac Lab, a PC lab, and a MIDI lab at NVU Johnson. Our technology classes are often our most popular classes and always fill quickly. Many are open to beginners, but please read the class descriptions carefully in the brochure, as some computer classes have pre-requisites.
Digital Music Making
Lego Mindstorms
Digital Literacy
Girls Decoding Tech
Glitch Art
3-D Computer Modeling
Web Design for Business and Fun
Computer Programming
Web Programming
Computer Game Design
Graphic Design
Digital Photography
Technology classes provide hands-on learning about everything from programming to Photoshop
Campers will find a judgement-free and welcoming environment to share their work, if they so desire
Writing & Language
We have a strong contingent of writers among our TDI population. These strands are low-stress, with sharing of our writing encouraged but not mandatory. We also offer foreign language strands
Write Your Own Choose Your Own Adventure
Campfire Stories
Moth Storytelling
Spanish Language and Culture
Stranger Than Fiction
Tabletop Collaborative Storytelling
Hispanic Heroes and Short Stories
Writing and Laughing Together
Writers’ Block Party
Create Your Own Dr. Seuss Book
TDI Times
Japanese Language and Culture
Science
In any given year, there are a variety of science options. Hands-on activities are a big part of these, and they offer chances for those who prefer learning by doing to explore exciting and engaging fields of science.
TDI Med School
You and the Universe
Recipe for Life
Culinary Chemistry
Environmental Activists
Primordial: Mutate and Survive!
On to Mars
Think Like a Scientist
Come to Your Senses
Pond and River Life
Brain Science
Lights, Camera, Photons
Science classes provide a myriad of opportunities and activities to learn and explore a range of different scientific fields
Artistic strands range from the conventional (Watercolors, Photography) to the extraordinary (Glitch Art, Hidden Worlds)
Visual Arts
We offer strands that explore a wide variety of artistic concepts and media, in both 2D and 3D space. Some strands are more traditional, but some are a little different- “glitching” digital photos by injecting random numbers and letters into the file, for example. But all types are
Escher Art
Storybook Maker
Art History Now
Glitch Art
Young daVincis
Hidden Worlds
Watercolor 1, 2, 3
Paper Lab!
You, Yourself, and Art
Anti-Art
Mask-Making
Digital Photography
Engineering
Our makers and builders will find many opportunities to learn and create in tandem. These strands provide hands-on learning on a wide range of topics in a collaborative environment. They will work together to solve engineering challenges, build wacky machines, give life to tricycle robots, and much more!
Ghost Trike
The Challenge of Space
Not So Plain Planes
Tinkering
Do it Yourself!
Rube Goldberg Machines
Rocketry
Investigating Structures
Crush It!
Minecraft Circuitry
Campers will work together and explore how math, physics, and engineering come together to solve real-world problems
Sharing talents with others is a key part of the TDI experience
Music, Theater, and Performance Art
We offer a wide variety of wacky performance art strands, such as Improv (our longest-running strand!), creating radio broadcasts, choreographing dances, making music with computers, and much more. Young actors, comedians, musicians, dancers, directors, stage designers, and more will find opportunities to explore their passions and expand their skills.
Getting Animated
Shadow Theater
TDI Vaudeville Presents
Bands, Beats, Ballads
Creative Dance
TDI on Broadway
Music-Making
Lights, Sound, Action!
Embodiments
Improv
Let’s Dance!
WTDI Radio
Puzzles & Games
Campers with a passion for logic, strategy, and creative thinking will find many opportunities to play (and create!) games, solve complex puzzles, and solve unconventional problems with peers. They will collaborate with as well as compete with (in a friendly way, of course!) other like-minded individuals and have a lot of fun along the way.
Dungeons and Discourse
The Game of Civilization
Spies and Ciphers
Escape the Room!
Dodging the Apocalypse
Star Wars AttackTix: Grand Strategy
Puzzlements
Magic: the Gathering Masterclass
Ready, Set, Strategize
Cribbage
Chess
Board Game Design
From Chess to Escape Rooms and everything in between, campers can expand their creative and strategic prowess among friends
Who needs a real magic snitch? We can just chase Grady around!
Outdoor Activities
Johnson State College has a beautiful campus, and it is fun to get out and enjoy it. A ton of different spaces, like the pond, the sports fields, and the ropes course provide us with all sorts of opportunities to learn about everything from survival skills to pond ecosystems to Quidditch.
Be Bear Grylls
Level Up! Nerd Fitness
Environmental Activists
Pond Life
Explore the Environment
The Art of Games
Quidditch
Outdoor Adventure
History & Social Sciences
Learners interested in social and historical fields will find plenty of options to explore all sorts of different fields, from archaeology to law to meme history, and everything in between. Form the United Nations in a fantasy world, explore how the justice system works, trace the history of the world during the Paleolithic Era, and much more!
The Anthropology of Memes
Intro to Psychology
Museum of TDI
Start a Bracelet-Making Business
Just One More Minute
Model Roman Senate
Pleistocene Plight
Fantasy World Model UN
Let's Be Lawyers
The Room Where It Happens
History Comes Alive!
Gender Studies
Kids can join in engaging discussions and activities around all sorts of topics, from paleontology to gender studies and beyond
A variety of odd activities (like making parchment paper for fantasy maps) make for a truly unique and engaging experience
…and much, much more!
Some strands don’t easily fit into one of the above categories. Some past classes have had a sociological slant, some a sleuthing slant, some just cross over through so many of the other categories that they need their own category!
Minecraft Murder Mystery
Yoga
Dragonology
Rule Your World
D.I.Y. Spa Day
Muggle Studies
Inner Sparks/It’s Alive
Fantastical Lands
Who Bumped Off Bentley?
Bubbles Galore