This summer, children nationwide are invited back for a second season of Camp TV, an engaging, educational, and entertaining series that keeps young minds active during the summer break from school. Season 2 premieres July 5, and airs weekdays at 9 a.m. on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.
Broadway performer Zachary Noah Piser (Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked) returns as host and head counselor, guiding campers as they learn through play. Each episode kicks off with a welcome song and an announcement of the day’s theme, including Summer Celebration Day, Patterns Day, Inside Out Day, Independence Day, Celebrate Your Name Day, Sports Day, Travel Day, Favorite Animal Day, and more. Zach then guides campers through a variety of activities — exploring nature, math, science, the arts, movement, storytelling, and writing.
In Season 2, children will learn to garden, beatbox, investigate a “tornado in a jar,” celebrate a panda’s first birthday, perform a salad dance, create a pattern parfait, and make a “mini moody me” social-emotional craft.
In two locally-produced segments, children will meet newborn otter pups and golden lion tamarins at the Roger Williams Park Zoo, learning more about how the animals grow and interact within their family groups. A third segment with Save the Bay teaches children about the migratory seals of Narragansett, whose adaptations allow them to survive and thrive in a variety of coastal habitats. Each episode also includes a storytelling segment that features a different book of the day.
Developed in partnership with public television stations across the country, the series debuted last year as a means of bringing the summer camp experience to children at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the fun activities and learning adventures continue as a standalone program, with The New York Times “Kids” column praising Camp TV as a refreshing, much-needed “cultural fix” that “[helps] prepare campers ages 5-10 for school.”
Content for season 2 of Camp TV is provided by America’s Test Kitchen Kids, Carnegie Hall, Children’s Museum of Acadiana, Children’s Museum of South Dakota, Children’s Museum of the Arts, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Exploratorium, Green Bronx Machine, GrowingGreat, Guggenheim Museum, Impossible Science, Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, Koo Koo Kanga Roo, Liberty Science Center, Lincoln Center, Memphis Zoo, Museum of Modern Art, Monterey Bay Aquarium, National Dance Institute, New Victory Theater, New York Philharmonic, New York Public Library, OK Go, One Voice Children’s Choir, Playworks, San Diego Zoo, S’More Ideas, Story Pirates, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Additional content is provided by PBS’s Nature series.
WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air in high definition on digital 36.1; Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD in MA; DirecTV 36, Dish Network 36. Live stream the full broadcast schedule at watch.ripbs.org/livestream.
Week #1, July 5-9
Monday, July 5: Summer Celebration Day
Celebrate summer with penguins and pandas, get loud with a homemade noisemaker, and do a salad dance with head counselor Zach.
Tuesday, July 6: Snow Day
Make fake snow and hot chocolate snowmen. Meet polar bears, visit glaciers and icebergs, play a ping-pong ball game, doodle, learn about similes, and read Ten Ways to Hear Snow.
Wednesday, July 7: Pattern Day
Dance a pattern, make a pattern parfait, and play rhythmic patterns on a homemade drum.
Thursday, July 8: Inside Out Day
Make an inside out sandwich and a “mini moody me” cup that shows how you’re feeling. Learn magic tricks, meet a porcupine and koalas, strike a warrior pose, craft a harp, and make a NY egg cream.
Friday, July 9: Tie Day
Make a necktie pouch, tie-dye cookies, and read Mr. Tanen's Tie Trouble. Make slime and a banjo, meet orangutans and Australian animals, write hero stories, and learn the science behind magic.
Week #2, July 12-16
Monday, July 12: Independence Day
Celebrate Independence Day with a stars and stripes handprint! Meet meerkats and mandrills, make shadow art and pendulums, and toss balls into Uncle Sam's hat.
Tuesday, July 13: Celebrate Your Name Day
Make a name sign, read The Name Jar, meet colorful macaws, play “Match My Height,” use vegetables to design a t-shirt, learn about simple machines with a scavenger hunt, and do a yoga dance.
Wednesday, July 14: Sports Day
Join head counselor Zach for a game of mini-golf, mini-football, and mini-bowling. Make a racer from cups, meet kangaroos and rhinos, and learn to steal a base.
Thursday, July 15: Royalty Day
Read Crown, make a coat of arms, and meet the king of the jungle! Learn hip-hop moves, turn lemons into lemonade, create tessellations, and make an animal craft.
Friday, July 16: Travel Day
Try food from different countries, play “Land, Sea, Air,” and make a compass. Meet giraffes and cowboy kids, go on a sensory hike, read Suki’s Kimono, and do a pattern dance.
Week #3, July 19-23
Monday, July 19:Mismatched Shoe (or Sock!) Day
Bring shoes and socks to mix and match for the day! Ride the rounding roller coaster, meet tortoises and squirrels, and make a treasure chest.
Tuesday, July 20: Favorite Animal Day
Join head counselor Zach for an animal dance party. Meet otters, llamas, and red pandas, make a hungry bunny, and start a nature journal.
Wednesday, July 21: Ocean Day
Learn about sharks, sketch in the sand, make a jellyfish, and play "guess the sea animal." Learn a card trick and samba dance.
Thursday, July 22: Career Day
Meet a firefighter and a conservation biologist. Make a balloon rocket and a flip book, learn about meerkats and pikas, do a freeze dance, and write hero stories.
Friday, July 23: Poem in My Pocket Day
Hear a poem, write a poem, and make a pocket. Meet zoo animals, do an emotions dance, create strong shapes out of paper, and read The Land of Nod.
Week #4, July 26-30
Monday, July 26: Black and White Day
Meet penguins and ravens, turn black-and-white video into color, and sketch the moon! Bake chewy chocolate chip cookies, dance to go-go rhythms, make a sheep, and sing about a shooting star.
Tuesday, July 27: Rainbow Day
Make a walking water rainbow, sing about ROY G. BIV, and learn why the sky is blue. Sketch clouds, watch elephants, and meet river otters at the Roger Williams Park Zoo.
Wednesday, July 28: Global Food Day
Sketch with food, make hummus, learn about seeds on the move, and take a food festival quiz. Meet baby animals, learn to salsa, and read Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix.
Thursday, July 29: Favorite T-Shirt Day
Decorate a t-shirt, turn an old one into yarn, and make a friendship bracelet! Meet a sloth and tarantula, sing about cells, make a secret picture, design a repeating pattern, and learn about migratory seals with Save the Bay.
Friday, July 30: Farm Day
Join head counselor Zach to meet pigs and horses, regrow vegetables, make a paper plate chicken, and sculpt clay sheep. Do a shape sort, sing about states of matter, learn about electric cars, and meet golden lion tamarins at the Roger Williams Park Zoo.
Camp TV is a production of The WNET Group. The program is distributed nationally by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA).
Major funding for Camp TV is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by The Peter G. Peterson and Joan Ganz Cooney Fund and the Pine Tree Foundation of New York.