Welcome to Creative Root Summer Camps!

Creative Root Camps for Kids

Your mind is a magical place! If you’re looking for the perfect summer theatre camp for your children that’s filled with magic, wonder, and a whole lot of characters—you’ve come to the right place! We offer in-person summer camp experiences at DePaul's Lincoln Park Campus.

kids eating popsicles at creative root summer camp

During our summer theatre camp, your children will create brand new epic adventures all while learning about the fundamentals of theater. Over the course of two or three weeks, Creative Root teaching artists will guide campers as they create an original script inspired by the worlds and characters of popular literature for young people that will culminate in performance for family and friends!

kids eating popsicles at creative root summer camp

COVID-19 Protocols
and Covid Refund Policy

Overall, we ask that you monitor the health of your camper throughout the duration of camp. Should symptoms arise, please stay home and test immediately. While not required, we encourage frequent testing throughout the camp session. If possible, we would appreciate it if you could please rapid test your camper before the first day of camp on Sunday or Monday morning before arriving, as well as prior to the start of the second week. This will help us monitor the health of our campers.

If you have siblings enrolled and one tests positive or develops symptoms, we ask that you keep both campers at home until they are both cleared. If any camper develops cold or flu-like symptoms during the day, we will provide a rapid COVID test and reach out to you with the results. Regardless of the test result, if a camper is symptomatic, we may ask you to pick them up early based on the severity of symptoms.

For more information on what to do if a camper tests positive for COVID-19, please see this document.

For DePaul's COVID guidelines, please follow this link.

Session 1: Greeking Out!

Zeus the Mighty

Ages: 6-9
Mondays - Fridays, 9-3pm
June 26, 2023  -  July 14, 2023
(No camp on July 3th & 4th)
Program Fee: $900, Early Bird $825
Early Bird $75 Discount Automatically Applied if you register by April 14, 2023

Based on the National Geographic series by Crispin Boyer

Greek Mythology takes over the Mount Olympus Pet Center in Athens, Georgia and hilarity ensues as Zeus the Mighty, an over-confident hamster, and his God Squad—Athena the cat, Demeter the cricket, Ares the dog, and Poseidon the puffer fish—face Herculean challenges that take them from the dark underworld to voyages on the Oddest Sea!

Session 1: Greeking Out!

Percy Jackson

Ages: 10-14
Mondays - Fridays, 9-3pm
June 26, 2023  -  July 14, 2023
(No camp on July 3rd & 4th)
Program Fee: $900, Early Bird $825
Early Bird $75 Discount Automatically Applied if you register by April 14, 2023

Based on the series by Rick Riordan

Have you ever dreamed of battling a minotaur, facing Medusa or triumphing over one-eyed giants? What would you do if you came face-to-face with gods and goddesses or woke up one day learning you were a demi-God? Explore what it really means to be brave while devising your own ancient quest inspired by the many heroes and heroines of Camp Half Blood.

Session 2: Farmyard Classics!

Charlotte's Web

Ages: Ages: 6-7 (SOLD OUT) & 8-12 Group (SPACE STILL AVAILABLE)
Mondays - Fridays, 9-3pm
July 17, 2023  -  July 28, 2023
Program Fee: Program Fee: $700, Early Bird $625
Early Bird $75 Discount Automatically Applied if you register by April 14, 2023

Based on the book by E.B. White

What a Pig! The farm can be a very lonely place for a young pig named Wilbur who fears a frightening fate. That is until Wilbur meets the barn spider Charlotte who saves his life while showing him what it means to be a true and loyal friend!

Session 2: Farmyard Classics!

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Ages: 10-14
Mondays - Fridays, 9-3pm
July 17, 2023  -  July 28, 2023
Program Fee: Program Fee: $700, Early Bird $625
Early Bird $75 Discount Automatically Applied if you register by April 14, 2023

Based on the book by Roald Dahl

It’s a raid! From hen heckling to turkey-taking to cider sipping, Mr. Fox has done it again and now he’s on the run! Bogus, Bunce and Bean–the three meanest farmers around—are out to get him and everyone he loves! Is this the end, or will Mr. Fox come up with the most fantastic of all plans to save the day?

Session 3: Sprigs & Sprouts!

Explore-a-story-dom: The Gruffalo

Ages: 4-6
Mondays - Fridays, 9:30am - 12:30pm
July 31, 2023  -  August 4, 2023
Program Fee: One Week: $300, Early Bird $225
Early Bird $75 Discount Automatically Applied if you register by April 2, 2023

What’s a mouse to do when the three biggest bullies in the forest—fox, owl and snake—are out to get her? She invents the Gruffalo to protect her!! But what happens when she realizes her imaginary friend with terrible tusks, terrible claws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws is actually real?

Session 3: Sprigs & Sprouts!

Junior Acting Intensive: The Fundamentals

Ages: 11-16
Mondays - Friday, 9:30am - 12:30pm
July 31, 2023  -  August 4, 2023
Program Fee: One Week: $375, Early Bird $300
Early Bird $75 Discount Automatically Applied if you register by April 2, 2023

For aspiring young performers looking to explore and hone their craft. This intensive will offer a series of specialized classes that will focus on the fundamentals of audition technique (stage//on camera), scene study, and monologue coaching. Additional classes may be offered in other areas such as improv, musical theater and stage combat. (Class schedule TBD)

What to expect
at Creative Root Summer Theatre Camp

Creative Root centers joy and wellbeing in all of its work. Each day we’ll warm up our bodies and get grounded through gentle yoga-based stretching, mindfulness, and breathing exercises. While our camps end with a culminating performance (whether live or video), it’s all the small steps that we take along the way that matter the most! We'll learn about all things theater—from acting to scriptwriting. Campers will learn how to build a story and bring it to life, all while making new friends! We will grow and deepen our ensemble through collaboration—working with and learning from each other to share our own individual stories and talents. Our goal is to encourage and empower our campers every single day and celebrate what makes each one of them special in our final presentation.

Week One: The Fundamentals

During the first week of camp, we focus on building the ensemble, making new friends, theater games and exercises, an introduction to the actor’s tools, and the basics of acting. We’ll investigate the world of our story and its characters, explore scriptwriting with writing prompts as we develop an original script together.

Weeks Two & Three: Putting It All Together

The second half of camp, we’ll bring our story to life through rehearsals and design elements focusing on props, costumes, and shaping what our world looks like. The awesome part about summer camp is that each camp experience is unique to its ensemble and how they envision their story together!

How we Work

The foundation of all Creative Root programming is based on the principal of ensemble—our practice to be aware, respectful and kind to one another as we collaborate and create theatre together. On our very first day of class or camp, each ensemble will create their own agreement together so that everyone can offer and share what they need in order to be their best, most confident, creative self and collaborator.

Creative Root works towards always holding an inclusive space. Let us know how best to support your child in order to create an environment where they can be their most happy, silliest, imaginative and brilliant selves.

At Creative Root, we want to make sure that every student feels safe emotionally, physically, and creatively while working together. This includes being a respectful artistic collaborator and mindful of how we use our words and physical actions while working together. Creative Root celebrates leading with kindness by actively listening to all ideas, making space for others, taking turns during an exercise, using safety and awareness with our bodies, observing personal boundaries, being a positive, supportive ensemble member and offering feedback that is constructive. We all shine when we take care of each other!

We will learn and grow together! Our instructors and staff are equally excited about sharing their knowledge as they are about learning from each and every camper. It is a top priority to provide a fun, collaborative and safe environment for our campers to create in. We will do our best to transparent about what we are doing and why as well as sharing our daily schedule and goals. Remember that staff and instructors are also a part of the ensemble, so being a respectful artistic collaborator with them is just as important as it is with your peers. We also encourage campers—and parents—to ask questions and share how things are working (or not) for you.

We have a collective goal to explore theater through a variety of lenses (movement, writing, singing, designing) and let that inspire the art we make together—all guided by our experienced instructors. Theater is a team effort, and we invite and encourage everyone to fully participate in the creative process in order to develop a piece of theater that is entirely unique to that ensemble. And while casting and performing is one aspect of the process, at Creative Root, we don’t believe it’s the most important and we don’t want it to define our entire experience. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover something new you love that you never knew about before! We hope so!

How lucky we are to get to have classes and camp at the amazing Theatre School building and DePaul campus! We ask that campers always respect the physical spaces that we work —rehearsal rooms, the lobby, The Quad, bathrooms, and the playground. Also, for your students’s safety, we want to make sure we are always using the spaces for what they were designed for and that we leave no trace! (Except for all the positive, creative energy we put into the universe!) Staff and Instructors will always let campers know what are able to, or not able to do, in our work and play spaces. Or if you don’t know, just ask!

Have questions? Explore our FAQs or send us an email.

We will learn about all things theater—from acting to design to scriptwriting. You’ll learn how to build a story and bring it to life, all while making new friends! We will grow and deepen our ensemble through collaboration—working with and learning from each other to share our own individual stories and talents. We’ll always start each day by warming up our bodies and minds with gentle yoga-based stretching, breathing exercises, and mindfulness. We will warm up our actor’s tools (imaginations//bodies//voices) and build our ensemble through a variety of fun theater games and activities. In our first week, we will spend time together exploring our story, its characters and collectively creating a script. In our second week, we’ll bring our story to life through rehearsals and design elements focusing on props, costumes, and shaping what our world looks like. The awesome part about summer camp is that each camp experience is unique to its ensemble and how they envision their story together!

Each camp session is between two and three weeks long, running Monday through Friday (no weekends) from 9 am to 3 pm. Please note that Session 3 is half day, Monday through Friday, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm (we will not break for lunch, but ask that you pack a snack for your camper).

9:00-9:15 Drop-Off
9:00- 9:45 am – Check-in, ensemble warm-up, and goal setting for the day
9:45 – 10:30 am – Theater games to build the ensemble
10:30-10:45 am – Snack and bathroom break
10:45-12:00 pm – Creative storytelling and movement, writing, and rehearsal
12:00-1:00 pm – Lunch club and playground
1:00-2:50 pm – Mindful moment—re-centering for the afternoon, craft projects, and rehearsal
2:45-3:00 pm – Closing reflection & Pick Up

No, not really, but we do generally incorporate a lot of music, singing, and dancing. Each show is designed around its unique, creative ensemble, and what they would like to highlight and share while telling the story. If we have campers who really love to tell stories through music, song, and dance then we will lean into that for that particular production. Singing and dancing can be really scary for some young artists, so it’s always opt-in. For those that really LOVE musical theater, we do offer several Musical Theatre classes that dive into the contemporary and classic musical genre throughout the year.

EXPLORE ALL OF OUR OFFERINGS FOR KIDS

HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER INTENSIVE CLASSES CAMPS