About the camp

The Game Academy’s Adventure Gaming Summer Camps explore collaborative storytelling games in a mentorship model to foster empathy, communication, critical thinking, creativity, and cooperative problem-solving. 

Participants are supported in practicing a growth mindset as their characters are engaged with a compelling narrative that presents tactical challenges to be overcome, puzzles to be solved, as well as social role-play engagements that provide an opportunity for social and emotional development. Our games are designed to be both fun and engaging, while simultaneously presenting multiple avenues and content for personal engagement and growth.

Using storytelling games like Dungeons & Dragons, participants will experience playing a hero as part of an ensemble team, with each hero possessing essential skills and abilities that, in combination with the other heroes’ specialties, are necessary to succeed in their quest. Each story is unique, and participants often find unexpected ways to resolve their stories through their own creative input, learning transferable strategies to understand, engage, and transcend real-life issues through the safe and supportive context of the game with a group of peers.

In addition to the storytelling game, we engage participants with related crafts and outdoor activities that tie in to each weekly story. Whether painting their unique miniature for the character they’re playing, crafting dice trays or dice boxes, or making and using boffer weapons for outdoor games, these crafts and activities are designed to engage our participants’ minds and bodies while away from the gaming table, resulting in loads of fun, plus gaming artifacts that they may keep and use for future games!

We hope your child will join us for an unforgettable adventure this summer, supported by our amazing staff, that will inspire their creativity, foster their resilience and personal growth, and create fond memories they will cherish for years to come!

Snacks will be provided every day, but children are expected to come with their own lunches and beverage (or water bottle) each day.
Break times will happen outside. Please be sure your child comes prepared for outdoor activities with sun protection each day.

About the instructor

Bert Halcomb

Instructor / Founder & Executive Director of The Game Academy

Whether as a teacher in the classroom, an athletics coach, or as the lead Educator-Gamemaster for The Game Academy, for more than two decades Bert has harnessed his passion for education to guide students toward their best selves. With a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a Teaching Credential from Sonoma State University, Bert brings his knowledge of child development and education, as well as his deep understanding of storytelling to bear when working with the diverse population of students who attend The Game Academy’s programs. Additionally, Bert’s 30+ years of experience as a Gamemaster and player of RPGs help him excel in designing and implementing interactive storytelling games that educate, engage and inspire.

https://www.thegameacademy.org

Camp FAQ