DAYTIME PROGRAM

AFTERSCHOOL

SCHOOL BREAK CAMPS

SUMMER

PUPPET TALK SHOW

Mondays, 3:30pm - 6:00pm | January 27 - May 18 | Ages 8 - 14
A weekly talk show and news broadcast featuring human and puppet guests. With Pamela Badila and Sharece Johnson.
In this class we’ll discuss current events happening around the world and in our lives by creating our own talk show. We’ll build a studio of characters – sock puppets, rod puppets, found object puppets, and paper mache marionettes – to act as newscasters, experts, and special guests. We’ll use our DIY puppets to host our own weekly Talk Show, featuring both human and puppet guests, and covering news stories we see happening on TV, in our social media feeds, and in our everyday lives. What’s happening? Whose voices should we hear? Tune in to find out! Together we’ll use the worlds of make-believe and imagination to engage in meaningful conversations about the real world.

MUSIC IMAGE STUDIO

Tuesdays, 3:30pm - 6:00pm | January 28 - May 26 | Ages 8 - 14
A hands-on music production & video workshop for music lovers, songwriters, and performers. With Ngonda Badila and Chelsea Arend.
Do you ever catch yourself making up songs? Do you have a favorite music video? In this class we’ll dive into the art of music and music videos: exploring our favorite songs, the stories inside them, and the visuals that go with them. We’ll look at the history and evolution of music videos, discovering early illustrated songs, musical shorts, and soundies. We’ll research classic and iconic music videos that transformed the art form. We’ll discover new musical artists together, breaking down what makes us love our favorite songs. Inspired by what we hear, we’ll compose and record our own songs, individually and in groups. Then we’ll make short movies, working with multimedia animation to create visual styles, moods, and stories to accompany our songs. This is a class for music lovers, songwriters, performers, and artists of all kinds.

ARCHITECT STUDIO

Wednesdays, 3:30pm - 6:00pm | January 29 - March 18 | Ages 8 - 14
Sketching ideas, drawing plans, and building models for the future. With Zebi Williams and Roberto Rossi.
How can young people be a part of designing our city? This creative afterschool architecture studio will invite youth to begin developing dreams and designs for Hudson’s future, with the future location of Kite’s Nest as our main site and inspiration. We’ll work with guest architects to engage in a series of mini-projects and challenges, as we develop the basics of design-thinking skills. We’ll go on architecture scavenger hunts, learning to notice aspects of our built and natural environments and looking for inspiration. We’ll spend time at the Kite’s Nest property to understand the site’s possibility and its limits. We’ll practice brainstorming ideas and sketching out our visions, from the pragmatic to the fantastical. We might design outdoor playscapes, treehouses, or our dream classrooms. We’ll learn to turn our ideas into architectural site plans, taking measurements and working with scale, and then we’ll transform our drawings into 3D models. We’ll learn how to work with key engineering principles at a scale we can experiment with. At the end of the semester, we’ll share our ideas, drawings, and models with the community for feedback and input! This afterschool space will be an introduction to the fundamentals of architecture and design, and a real opportunity for young people to shape the future of the Kite’s Nest property and beyond. Themes might include: animal architecture, sustainable design, architecture for play…

OBSTACLE COURSE ADVENTURES

Wednesdays, 3:30pm - 6:00pm | March 25 - May 27 | Ages 8 - 14
Tricky obstacles, team-building games, and mind-bending challenges. With Zebi Williams and Heylan Tsumagari.
Join us, if you dare! Each week we’ll encounter surprise challenges, designed to stretch our minds and bodies. Maybe we’ll face a blindfold maze, a DIY escape room, a scavenger hunt, an endurance race, capture the flag, or a super soaker water challenge. We’ll hone our skills by playing team-building games, developing our abilities to communicate, listen, and to work collaboratively as a team. Rather than focus on winning, our goal will be to build friendships, and to go home proud of our accomplishments, exhausted, and happy at the end of each day!

SPA SCIENCE

Thursdays, 3:30pm - 6:00pm | January 30 - March 19 | Ages 8 - 14
The magic and chemistry of making potions, lotions, medicines, and more. With Heylan Tsumagari and Nellie Ostow.
Lemon balm, lavender, and honey: in this class we will transform our classroom into our own weekly spa and apothecary, learning to take care of ourselves and each other by creating our own lotions, sprays, face masks, soaps, and more. We’ll learn to identify plants and their healing properties, transforming plants into powerful and delicious medicines. We’ll go on foraging walks and field trips, meeting and learning from local herbalists and medicine-makers. Each week we’ll mix and make concoctions as we learn to take care of our own bodies and emotions, our friends and families, and each other.

Class fee: $250. Class fee includes materials and a daily healthy snack. Sliding-scale and full scholarships are available for qualifying families. Payment plans are available to all. Please request a tuition assistance application to determine your tuition amount or payment plan. Email hello@kitesnest.org to request a tuition assistance application or for any questions regarding Kite's Nest Classes.

WILDERNESS SKILLS

Thursdays, 3:30pm - 6:00pm | March 26 - May 28 | Ages 8 - 14
Setting up camp, making medicines, using a compass, and building forts. With Nellie Ostow and Victoria Cox.
How do we respond in emergency situations? What do we do when we get hurt? This class is a fun and hands-on introduction to wilderness first aid, medicine, and exploration. We’ll play games to learn how to respond to cuts, burns, stings, broken bones, allergies and accidents. We’ll role-play situations to learn crisis and rescue skills. We’ll build our own first aid kits, create our own comic how-tos, and make our own herbal medicines. We’ll go on outdoor adventures, learning tips for not getting lost, how to signal for help, and how to stay warm. And we’ll practice building igloos, forts, and other improvised shelters.

ROOTS & REBELS GARDEN CLUB

Fridays, 3:30pm - 6:00pm | May 1 - May 29 | Ages 5-18
Get your hands dirty at the River City Garden! With Kristen Jones.
Join us every Friday afternoon to grow our own plants, make our own soil, tend to our own garden, and eat our own food! Together we’ll plant herbs and uproot weeds, examining the insects and microbes in our healthy soil. We’ll cut flowers, draw and observe what’s happening in our garden, and make outdoor art projects. Of course, we’ll take plenty of breaks to play games and eat snacks. All ages are invited to join!
Suggested donation: $175

SPACE 2.0

Fridays, 4:00pm - 7:00pm | January 31 - May 29 | Ages 13+
A weekly space by and for teens. With Sharece Johnson and Heylan Tsumagari.
Space 2.0 is a space for teenagers in Hudson to have as their own. We decide on our own activities and calendar. We go on regular field trips to see movies, hear speakers, and help out at community events. We cook and share meals, have cupcake challenges and cook-offs; we listen to and make music, produce our own Buzzfeed videos and GIFs, and throw dance parties. Space is a place for us to have honest and open conversations about what’s going on in the world and in our lives -- to get real about issues, and to gain the skills to be leaders in our lives and communities. And it’s a space for us to just be teens. This program is free. If you’re interested in signing up, contact Sharece at sharece@kitesnest.org