Camp Des Moines Parent

Sharing is caring!

What is Camp Des Moines Parent?

Join Des Moines Parent for fun home adventures for kids! With all the changes around our world, we are excited to provide a new, fun camp experience for families this summer. Escape and get a taste of many subjects all in one week with some of Des Moines favorite businesses. Camp Des Moines Parent will provide fun lessons from local instructors and businesses, a private community, fun goodies, and more. This virtual camp is open to families all over!

How does Camp Des Moines Parent work?

  1. Select a camp you would like to attend below. Camps are aimed for children 5 to 11 years. Please note that some activities may require a parent’s assistance.
  2. Fill out the form + register!
  3. One week prior to your camp start date you will receive a fun packet filled with items you may need for your week of camp, bios of your instructors for the week, and other fun goodies. Most daily lessons will include things you will have at home.
  4. We understand the chaotic lives of families, so setting a strict date and time for camp is not ideal. You will be delivered your video each day during the camp week, which will be good for TWO weeks. This means you have two weeks to carve out time, have fun, and experience the lesson.
  5. Interaction and fun are important during camp! You will be included in a Private Facebook Group that is ONLY for the specific week of registrants. All of you will be doing the same fun activities, will be able to share your experiences and make friends. We will also sprinkle in some other fun during the week.

What is included with your $50 payment?

  1. An intro packet filled with instructions, supplies list, instructor bios, and other fun goodies.
  2. (5) Daily videos delivered straight to your inbox with a TWO week access period. Videos are taught by local, Des Moines instructors, and/or business owners. Video lessons may differ but may include art, STEM lesson, themed yoga, nature lesson, and more.
  3. Membership into a Private Facebook Group so you can interact and connect with other families participating in the same week of camp as you!

Dates + Themes

June 22 – 26 | Nature

July 20 – 24 | Animals

August 3 – 7 | Space

$50 per week of camp. Register for all 3 weeks and receive $25 off.

Instructors

Camp Des Moines Parent not only provides fun for families, but one of our biggest passions is to support our amazing community. Our instructors are teachers and/or small business owners from the Des Moines community. When you register for camp you are also supporting their passions and dreams!

Elizabeth Lyons | Kids Create

Elizabeth Lyons owns Kids Create and teaches many of their exciting classes. She lives in Polk City with her husband Jeremy, her two children Lydia and Adam, and their cat, Steve.

She has a BA in Fine Arts from Iowa State University and an Art Education Endorsement from Concordia University. She is also a licensed K-12 art teacher in the state of Iowa. When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her family, exploring parks, baking, gardening, and any form of treasure hunting.

Kids Create Studio is located in Polk City, but they also offer classes throughout the Des Moines metro. Their mission is to instill a love of art and nature in their students while promoting a message of kindness.  They are passionate about animals and love to model that through a variety of classes that include animal guests. They are also proud to offer more traditional classes. They believe that children reap tremendous benefits from making art, and they are here to make that process meaningful, exciting, and fun.

Haley Hall | Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center, P.C.

Haley Hall has a degree in Elementary Education and has worked for Enrichment TLC since 2012 as a learning specialist. In 2015 they started their Language Enrichment Academic Program (LEAP), which is a small-group classroom program for students who benefit from a smaller class size with minimal distractions. She loves teaching LEAP and enjoys helping students feel successful! She lives in Grimes, IA with her husband and their 2-year-old daughter. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors, reading, and traveling.

Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center provides individual speech-language therapy, individual tutoring, and small-group academic programs. Their mission is to give hope to families by helping children of all ages achieve their God-given potential. They provide an individualized approach to improve each child’s ability to communicate, socialize, and achieve academic success. They are enriching lives today for a brighter tomorrow.

Janice Beard | TigerLily STEM

Janice Beard is the STEM Instructional Coach and the STEM Inspiration Teacher at TigerLily STEM. She is married to her husband, Damian. Together they have a three-year-old daughter named Ellie! She is an Educator and previously taught Preschool at the Science Center of Iowa. She loves going on walks, baking, teaching, and spending time with family and friends!

TigerLily STEM was started by owner, Meredith Smith, who is a Chemical Engineer herself!  At TigerLily STEM, they empower students through STEM tutoring, classes, mentoring, and leadership development. They have also partnered up with several communities to offer STEM classes and camps with their Community Education Departments.

Jenni Ward | The Gingered Whisk

Jenni is a Des Moines native mom to 3 girls, too many pets, and wife to a physician. Jenni’s education is in Biology and Chemistry. While working at a crime lab in Kansas City, Jenni starting blogging as a creative outlet and as a way to teach herself the technical arts of the kitchen. Hobby turned to passion, which turned into a career, and now Jenni spends her days developing recipes, photographing food, and helping families everywhere be excited about their dinner. When not cooking or eating, Jenni can be found hiking local parks, reading a good book, gardening, or at the barn.

The Gingered Whisk uses the power of food to explore and illuminate the wonders of the world for busy families. Each recipe is designed to help children become curious, interested food explorers, and is committed to helping families enjoy the same amazing meal together.

Josie McClure | Tinkergarten

Josie grew up going on adventures and exploring in the great outdoors around our western Iowa farm. Now, she enjoys her time outdoors with her husband and four young children camping and hiking and exploring around heir community. There is something about being in nature that brings magic to playtime. She has experienced it for years working at a summer camp and directing youth programs in our community. And now she gets to share the magic through Tinkergarten.

Tinkergarten is on a mission to elevate childhood. They bring families together in a natural place in their community for classes where kids learn through play. Each class becomes a tight-knit group of children and adults who learn together through well-designed, outdoor play-based activities. They help kids develop a host of important capabilities, including empathy, collaboration, creativity, persistence and problem-solving. Their expert-designed classes and activities help kids ages 6 months—8 years develop core life skills while enjoying healthy, fun, engaging experiences in the physical freedom of local green spaces.

Sara Weis | Go Go Yoga for Kids

Sara is an elementary teacher and just celebrated her 20th year of teaching for West Des Moines Schools! Her passions are kids, teaching, and yoga. She holds a master’s degree in education as well as certifications in teaching adult and kids yoga. She is the creator of Go Go Yoga for Kids which includes kids yoga books, lesson plans, resources, apps, and teacher training. She regularly teaches kids yoga classes for a nationally-known health and fitness club and enjoys visiting schools to help inspire children to be an author as well as the fun and benefits that yoga can bring!  She lives in Iowa with her husband, three kids, and Bichon Poodle Pup, Rocky.

Get kids fit, flexible, focused, and having fun with yoga! Go Go Yoga for Kids is the resource for all things related to how to easily and effectively teach yoga to children while having fun! All of our resources have been tested and kid-approved with our Go Go Yoga for Kids books, lesson plans, Kids Yoga Challenge Pose Cards, The Kids Yoga Challenge App, and our online Kids Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Training which has trained thousands from all over the world on how to teach yoga to children. In our easy-to-follow, step-by-step formats, Go Go Yoga for Kids provides complete resources that detail everything you will need to successfully teach yoga to kids of all ages and to inspire then in life-long healthy ways.