(Above) Campers explore artificial intelligence and art during an SIU STEAM camp. (Photo by Amihere Benson) (Below) Children enjoy a wide variety of arts and crafts in the Student Center’s Craft Shop workshops. (SIU Carbondale Photo)
June 24, 2025
Time is running out to join the fun at SIU’s summer camps
CARBONDALE, Ill. – There’s excitement and activity all across the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus as children immerse themselves in fun, educational and exciting summer camps. Families still can sign up, but time is running out.
Academic, athletic, art, music, and outdoor and nature camps for children from first grade through high school are planned in the coming weeks before the camp season wraps up in early August. SIU’s experienced and talented faculty and staff members and coaches, with assistance from Saluki athletes, students in related fields and special guests lead the camps, ensuring they are meaningful, inspiring days filled with acquisition of knowledge, skills and memories to last a lifetime.
Creative arts and crafts
Children can explore and expand their inventive and imaginative sides, thanks to a series of special arts and crafts workshops at SIU’s Craft Shop. Located on the lower level of the Student Center, the shop offers arts and crafts opportunities throughout the year for students and the public, but in the summer, much of the focus is on letting youngsters expand their creative horizons.
Youths in grades 4-8 can design and make their very own stuffed animals from fabric and felt, using both hand sewing and the sewing machine during the Sewing: Stuffed Animals workshop set for July 7-11.
A pair of workshops will give students the opportunity to make personalized comic books. They will invent their own characters, develop a storyline, and make their own books using pencils, markers and colored pencils and then sew their creations together to make a real bound book. There is a session July 14-18 for grades 1-3 and a session July 21-25 for grades 4-8.
Fun with Fibers, set for July 28 to Aug. 1, gives children in grades 4-8 the chance to create one-of-a-kind handmade fabrics using dye, fabric ink, weaving, felting and other techniques. They’ll learn about various styles of fiber art and use sewing machines and sew by hand to add embellishments.
Promoting agriculture education and more
The action-packed Ag Education Camp offers nonstop overnight fun for students in grades 10-12 as they explore the world of agriculture education and sharpen their leadership skills July 14-16. Along with an immersion into SIU’s agriculture program, they will try out the high ropes course, build bird houses, hone their archery skills and much more at SIU’s Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center (TON) and enjoy horseback riding at Giant City Stables. They’ll go rock climbing, play field games, create with crafts and woodworking, enjoy a campfire, play corn hole, Earthball, Frisbee, washers and horseshoes, and create and perform skits.
SOARing into the business world
High school juniors and seniors from under-represented ethnic groups will enjoy an intensive introduction to college life during the innovative Saluki Opportunities Awareness Residency (SOAR) career development program July 20-26. The weeklong camp provides an immersive introduction into college life amid activities involving finance, accounting and other business-related fields. Participants will strive to develop interpersonal and financial literacy skills, among others, to encourage and prepare them to succeed in college and in life beyond.
The camp will feature stock market simulations and business workshops and career exploration at Rehn Hall, trying out the zip line and other activities at TON, marketing activities with SIU’s photo lab and much more, including team-building activities and tours of local accounting firms.
Sports and recreation
Saluki Athletics is providing numerous camps throughout the summer to help young athletes improve their skills in various sports. For instance, athletes ages 12-18 can take their track and field skills to a higher level during the Track and Field – Throws Camps set for July 25-26. Participants will receive coaching and guided practice to help them improve their performance with the shotput, discus and hammer.
Additional information
There are dozens of options for summer camp excitement and adventure, but the deadline to sign up for some camps is fast approaching. Upcoming camps on the schedule include sessions focusing on aviation and flight, volleyball, soccer, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math), track and field, piano/music and more.
Explore all of the SIU camps and find online registration at camps.siu.edu. Events and Outreach and Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center coordinate most of the camps, while Saluki Athletics and various other campus units handle the rest.
Media Advisory
SIU’s summer camps offer a wide variety of opportunities for reporters, photographers and news crews to obtain appealing activity stories, photographs and videos. Contact Christi Mathis at cmathis@siu.edu for details about camp plans as well as specific times and dates offering the most opportune options.