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Pat Catan’s camp takes crafty kids to the Wild West
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .The boys and girls of Pat Catan's Wild West Craft Camp gathered with craft coordinator Chris Galloway (far right) to celebrate a week's worth of creativity. The campers were, from left, Eli Lewis (bottom), Cory Wert, Casey Wert, Chloe Housteau (top), Kalysta Zembower, and Alexa Schaefer.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .The toughest craft of the camp, a covered wagon with working wheels, was saved for the last day of camp, July 1. Eli Lewis (left) worked hard on his covered wagon as a friend observed his progress.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Camper Chloe Housteau showed her creativity with Native American crafts, displaying impressive beadwork on her Native American headdress and decoration on her teepee.
By SARAH FOOR
On July 1, a group of Poland and Boardman kids ended their week exploring the Wild West.
Beginning June 27, the kids of the Boardman Pat Catan’s Craft Camp spent each afternoon testing their own creativity and exploring the American West through crafts.
Craft coordinator Chris Galloway welcomed a close group of 10 each day and entertained with simple tools like safety scissors, sparkles, beads and glue.
“It’s really fascinating to see what comes out of a young mind. Together, we complete two to three crafts every day. I love that I can give each camper the same materials and each ends up with a craft that is completely unique,” Galloway shared.
The camp is sponsored by Pat Catan’s corporate headquarters and each crafty student offers only $4 a day to cover material costs, which are provided in-house. The camp aims to teach kids about the power of creativity and exploring imagination.
A provided camp booklet showed the campers how to make a Wild West picture frame, a tom-tom, Native American headdress, and covered wagon. Using her own creativity, Galloway added paper horses, a Native American teepee, cowboy hats, and tote bags to the craft roll call by the end of the week.
The campers, who hailed from Boardman and a lone ranger from Poland, said the covered wagons and Native American headdresses were their favorite crafts of the week.
“It was awesome,” camper Chloe Housteau shared of her camp experience. “We were allowed to explore all the crafting supplies and do whatever we wanted with our ideas.”