Studio Playground Camp at Lincoln Woods is a full day, two week, outdoor theater camp, designed to serve children ages 6-12. This program centers around our unique approach to theatre, based in Clown and play. At Studio Playground, we invite students to come as they are, play ferociously, and celebrate themselves and each other. The sprawling, beautiful grounds of Lincoln Woods State Park, offer the perfect setting for kids to explore their range of expression and to develop confidence and connection with each other through activities rooted in principles of physical acting.

At Studio Playground, we celebrate human diversity, and we aim to create a camp community that is representative of the broader northern Rhode Island population. We are particularly interested in having children from lower-income families and traditionally under-resourced groups, including people of color. Our camp is a welcoming space to children of all gender identities and gender expressions. Our camp directors also have experience working with neurodiverse children (including those on the autism spectrum and with ADHD) and emotionally-diverse children (including children with social anxiety, mood issues, and other mental health challenges). We also welcome children of varying physical abilities.

Currently 40% of our students are on financial scholarship. We have lots of kids who want to come to camp, however their families are struggling financially to enroll them in enriching activities, like camp, to help them cope and connect during these difficult times. We currently have a large waitlist of kids who need scholarships to attend our 2022 camp that begins in August. Please help sponsor their unforgettable summer.  We are excited to find sponsors to help our camp grow into a solid community institution for families in northern, Rhode Island, regardless of income. 

Your donation will support a child's experience of laughter and connection! 100% of your donation will go to the camp scholarship fund. It will allow us offer scholarships to more children and to allow more families to join us in this rich and transformative community experience. Also your donation is tax deductible! It is our mission to create access to arts education and reaching our goal will allow us to say YES to all of the families in need of financial support. 

Community and connection are central to our mission. We bring together children from diverse backgrounds to collaborate and create together. We honor and celebrate cultural differences, and through our storytelling activities and performances, the children get a platform to share their lives and enter into the lives of each other through acting. We have seen our students’ world views and sense of empathy grow through “playing” and creating together. Facilitating this kind of transformation through art is our passion.

We believe that our burgeoning camp is especially important to the local community at this time. Due to the restrictions and threats of living during a pandemic, children and their families have experienced increased stress, fear, isolation, and loss. Kids have not been able to connect with their peers with the ease and frequency that was once considered normal. We know that our camp will bring children (and their families) together through laughter, play, and creativity. We know that we can play an important part in mending the threads of connection that have been torn during the Covid crisis.

Every camp morning, we gather under the pavilion for our community circle and announcements. We do a whole-group acting warm-up and then break into smaller, age-based groups, for games, collaborative projects and improvisational performances. The whole group reconvenes under the pavilion for lunch. Afternoons include one group activity and rehearsal for our end-of-the-week performance. Each camp day includes special Studio Playground twists on time-honored camp activities, like sports, arts and crafts, and nature walks. The whole group comes together at the end of the day for our closing circle, which includes sharing performances, songs, and laughter.

After seeing the enthusiasm of parents last summer, we decided to find a way to share a piece of the camp experience with campers’ family members and friends. This summer we will close each week of camp with a Friday Showcase Celebration, in which campers’ family members and friends will be invited to join us at Lincoln Woods. We will begin by leading the whole community in a fun group activity, which will allow everyone to experience the spirit of Studio Playground. Then, campers will share the performances they have been creating all week. Afterwards, families can stay for socializing, recreation, and getting to know each other. We’ll invite food trucks to add delicious local food to the experience. We highly value that our camp attracts children from different backgrounds. And we envision the Fridays Afternoon Showcase Celebrations as offering even more opportunity for families to share cultures, as they spend time together.

How kind of you to ask! Please share the link to our crowdfunding campaign with family, friends, and on your social media. You can tag us on IG and Facebook: @studioplaygroundtheatre