Bunchland

If the kids can’t go to summer camp, camp can come to them!

Like the idea of your children spending a few weeks at the lake, laughing and canoeing and making lots of new friends? That’s camp. Maybe your kids are already there, maybe they’re not. Maybe they’re too young, it’s too expensive, you missed the sign-up deadline? Have no fear, Bunchland is here, and we’re ready to bring camp to your house. Staycations are trending among, well, everyone right now, so why not among the school-age set? Forget about the bus trip north – Camp@Home can be just as fun, with far fewer mosquitoes!

The Basics

From cheers and songs to logos and vocab, each camp has their own spin on things, so round up your campers and decide on the camp basics! Grab some plain T-shirts and stencils to design camp shirts, spend an afternoon working on your rhymes to come up with your Camp@Home’s official song, and whip up some signs that designate the “Mess Hall,” “Outhouse” and “Cabins.”  Read more...

We talked to 12-year-old Pranav, who’s been an AGO camper for the last three years

What’s great about summer camp at the Art Gallery of Ontario?

It’s a lot of fun. I really enjoy when they take us inside the gallery, show us the art and tell us stuff about it.

What’s your favourite thing you’ve done at the camp?

I went to the graffiti-themed camp and we got to use chalk to draw graffiti on the sidewalk. The rain washed it away the next day, but it was still really cool to do.

What other themes have you liked?

I liked the graffiti theme, the around the world theme was really good for little kids and I liked the surreal art and sculpture.

Do you want to be an artist?  Read more...

Win a week at an AGO summer camp!

Last month, we gave away an AGO birthday party and we’re pretty excited to see what great works of art Jonah and his pals create! Now we want to give your kids two week at the AGO’s Art and Design Camp!

The camps run from July 4 to September 2 and are good for kids between ages 6 and 13. Are you raising an aspiring architect? Send them to Design Matters. Your young Pollock more into the abstract? Send them to Express Yourself. The camps include time spent hanging out in the AGO galleries, working out of AGO and OCADU studio and running around outside.

Sound good? Enter to win!

Photos  by Craig Boyko and Leah Maghaney via the AGO

Dear Bunchlanders,

Let it be resolved that this summer will be the best summer of your life. An epic, legendary summer that your kids tell their own kids about. If this sounds like something you can get behind, all you have to do is commit to having the most fun every day this summer, from 5 pm on during the week and all day on the weekend. Sound good? Great! Your family is now officially enrolled in Camp Bunchland, our fictional camp that your family can visit every day this summer.

So what is Camp Bunchland all about, anyway? Camp Bunchland is the go-to imaginary camp for summer fun. Recipes for gourmet mess hall food, s’mores and frozen treats from celebrated chefs, activity and craft ideas from the coolest summer camps in the world, virtual trips to the best beachside towns with the best saltwater taffy, making s’mores in your backyard, having picnics on your deck, eating ice cream in the park, building sandcastles, iced tea, cabin pranks, campfire songs. This is all coming at you over the next two months.  Read more...