Museo Arqueológico Regional Altos de Chavón: Summer Camp

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Every year the Museo Arqueológico Regional Altos de Chavón offers a children’s summer camp to explore art, science, archaeology and Taino culture, however this year due to high demand from returning ‘campers’ the museum is offering 3 separate camps to cater for different age groups. The camps will be held in the museum itself, which has its own ‘discovery room,’ a purpose built room for children designed to represent Taino life and filled with a variety of learning tools. The camps are: Jugando con el pasado (playing with the past), for 2-4 year olds will run for 2 weeks from June the 28th to July 9th Una aventura en el tiempo (an adventure in time), for 5-10 year-olds will run for 2 weeks from July 12th to July 30th Taller de dibujo (drawing workshop), for for 13-16 year olds will run for 2 weeks from June the 28th to July 9th Camps run Monday through Friday, from 9.00am to 12 noon. To read more about each camp, click on the images below:

‘Campers’ will learn how the Taino hunted, fished, celebrated, played, how they decorated their bodies, how they built their homes, how they harvested food, what they believed in, and so much more, through a variety of interesting and exciting teaching methods. ‘Campers’ will be using their own artistic talents to paint, draw, and create/replicate Taino art and daily artifacts using clay and origami, as well as learning about environmental conservation techniques and archeology. To really understand and feel how the Taino’s lived ‘campers’ will be exploring every aspect of daily life through theatre and dance, allowing the children to learn through doing, in an enjoyable and stimulating way. This is no ordinary Summer Camp, the aim is not to merely keep the children occupied and hence out of our way, or to get them to exercise, by the end of the camp the ‘campers’ will have explored all aspects of Taino life, as well as developed their interest and passion in art, science and archealogy. This camp is to stimulate their creativity and imagination while they learn about the past and have fun with science and culture with hands-on learning activities.Participants learn through fun and games, as they understand how our island was populated, the development of our history, and become familiar with our indigenous heritage. A little bit about the actual Museum: The Altos de Chavón Regional Museum of Archaeology, opened in 1981, documents the important Indian legacy of the Dominican Republic and functions as a valuable source of information for students and visitors. The magnificent collection of indigenous works under the Museum’s custody was gathered over the course of 40 years by the collector Samuel Pión and consists of more than 6,000 pieces found in the region. These ritual and utilitarian objects demonstrate the evolution of the culture of indigenous societies from the pre-agricultural era until the time of the Taíno, the predominant culture on the island when the Spanish conquistadors arrived. The Museum is part of the Altos de Chavón Cultural Center Foundation, a not-for-profit cultural and educational institution that for more than two decades has contributed to the enrichment of the intellectual, artistic, and cultural panorama of the Dominican Republic. Interested in the museum? Read our latest article on the museum here. The Museum is in Altos de Chavon and is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 7pm.