Welcome to Camp WasteShed !
Camp WasteShed is back and this year we’re hosting summer AND spring sessions for young artists who want to get their hands dirty and make some cool creative reuse art with upcycled materials. Our 2026 spring break and summer camps are geared toward young artists aged 10-13 and cover a kid-focused variety of arts and crafts skills across multiple day camp sessions. With a focus on skill building and exploring new techniques and materials, 2026 campers will learn from WS staff how to breathe new life into old trash using their own creativity.
This year, Camp WasteShed is offering sessions on paper mache, sewing, and printmaking.
Spring Break Day Camp Details:
Ages: 10-13
Paper Mache? Hooray!:
March 23- March 27; 8:30am–3:00pm from
Summer Day Camp Details:
Ages: 10-13
Session 1: Intro to Sewing
July 6th - July 10th; 8:30am - 3:00pm
Session 2: Story Makers
July 13th - July 17th; 8:30am - 3:00pm
Session 3: Intro to Sewing
July 20th - July 24th; 8:30am - 3:00pm
Session 4: Story Makers
July 27th - July 31st
**Each session will be slightly different each week, so campers who sign up for both sessions of the same theme will still have plenty to learn and do each week!**
Paper Mache? Hooray!
Learn the ins and outs of creating art with paper mache in all of its gloopy sticky glory. Campers will learn how to make and use paper clay as well as craft structures with traditional papier-mache strips. Projects include: balloon bowls, colorful paper masks, and a final sculpture to be featured in a mini Friday afternoon art show on the camp’s last day!
Intro To Sewing (for Tweens!)
Join us for a scrappy week of sewing at Camp WasteShed! We’ll learn the ins-and-outs (and inside outs) of basic sewing skills through a series of fun, low-sew creative projects. Campers will start the week making envelope pouches, learn all about upcycling with thrifted clothes, and finish the week by making a quilted wall art masterpiece using mystery scrap bundles. In addition to giving campers a chance to explore and learn about fun different ways to make and extend the life of their clothes, we’ll be using almost 100% post-consumer fabric and supplies provided by The WasteShed! No previous sewing (or any other kind) of experience necessary.
Great for kids who like: fashion, tinkering, building, arts and crafts, expressing themselves, sustainability, friendship bracelets, tie-dye, stickers, games, and having fun!
Story Makers: Write, Illustrate, and Bind your own Book
Learn the magical art of book making at Camp WasteShed! From dreaming up a story, creating cover art, illustrating scenes, and binding it together using kid-oriented book binding techniques, this week-long session is a really cool way for creative tweens to learn new paper craft skills through a unique, week-long project. Throughout the creation of their book, campers will learn different drawing and printmaking techniques such as: paste paper, cyanotypes, junk journaling, monoprinting, and more! All campers books will be made from recycled materials!
Great for kids who like: snail mail, TTRPGs, the library, making mix-tapes, playing telephone, similes and metaphors, blanket forts, cootie catchers, origami, confetti, zines, and having fun!
Educational Goals:
Camp WasteShed sessions are designed to foster creativity, confidence, and environmental awareness through the lens of creative reuse. Campers will explore unconventional and reclaimed materials, learning to prototype, build, and imagine new possibilities for everyday objects.
Through this process, the’ll develop (1) problem-solving skills, (2) materials literacy, and (3) an understanding of sustainability, all while having fun in a safe and supportive environment.
This is a limited pilot program and we are unfortunately unable to offer scholarships for this season, but contact us in the form below to be notified about next year’s scholarship opportunities!
WasteShed Camp Counselors
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Emily Prescott is the Program Director of The WasteShed Evanston in addition to being a long time arts educator with a love of community arts education. She brings several years of experience in non-formal arts education, having taught previously in a wide range of settings, including:
As a nature educator with the Park District of Oak Park
Designing and leading youth programs at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation where she served as a museum education fellow
Teaching arts camps and classes at FAME Center, a community arts nonprofit in Chicago
Working with elders as the program director of a local memory care and assisted living community
Emily holds an MA in Arts Education from SAIC. Her personal art practice centers on craft traditions and their connections to environment and community. She works in ceramics, sewing, quilting, fiber arts, printmaking, collage, and mixed media. Formerly, Emily was the founder and owner of a small quilted goods business based in NY.She’s excited to bring together her love of project-based learning and her belief in the power of imaginative pedagogy to help kids envision new futures and build them by hand.
In her free time, Emily enjoys nature walks, hiking and backpacking, gardening, writing (she’s currently working on a novel!), and spending time with her partner and their three badly behaved cats!