Cardinal PTA Enrichment Programs

FALL 2025

MONDAYS

Digital Art & Illustration 2nd-5th

Introduce your child to the exciting world of graphic design and digital art! Our young learners will explore the fundamentals of design, color theory, typography, and basic photo editing, while cultivating their creativity and artistic expression.

Watch as they unlock their creative potential, gain valuable digital art skills, and proudly showcase their projects! Give your child the opportunity to embark on a creative journey that will spark their imagination and foster a lifelong love for design.

 

Chess K-5th

Learn chess with Silver Knights Chess Academy, formerly Magnus Chess Academy!  We’ve taught 100,000 children to play including state & national champions, but most students are beginners looking to learn a new skill and have FUN. Class time is divided between lessons and practice games.  Lessons range from the basic rules to advanced tournament strategies.

This in-person club includes free online extras including weekly practice tournaments, a Chesskid Gold membership ($49 value!), and an event with a chess celebrity.  All chess supplies provided. All skill levels are welcome.  For more information please visitchessacademy.com.

 

Move and Bloom Club K-5th

Move & Bloom Club is an afterschool adventure where movement meets mindfulness and kids learn to groove through emotions! This energetic, play-based program is all about using the body to build confidence, coordination, and calm.

Each session is packed with active games, creative movement, stretching, and fun physical challenges that help kids release energy, boost focus, and feel great in their bodies. As they leap, twist, balance, and breathe, children learn important social-emotional skills like self-regulation, teamwork,  and empathy through motion!



TUESDAYS

Cooking: Baroody’s No Bake Bonanza K-5th

In this session, children will get to learn in a no-bake no-stove cooking class designed for appetizers, dips, wraps, salads, finger foods, sandwiches, smoothies, desserts, and more! The young chefs will get their hands moving and taste buds singing as we dive into different culinary techniques, presentation, and easy to repeat at home recipes. Get those chef hats on, whisks ready, and appetites big for our new Mix & Munch No Bake Bonanza Class. 

 

Kaizen Karate K-5th

Karate: this popular class is a disciplined introduction to the sport by Kaizen Karate. Your child will learn the beautiful art of karate while gaining safety and defensive skills in a respectful environment. The class will also emphasize the basic karate principles of focus, patience and self-discipline. Returning students will continue to work toward new belts while first time students will be able to start the belt program.

(Instruction provided by Kaizen Karate)

 

Thinking Outside The Box K-5th

DO YOUR CHILDREN THINK THEY HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS?

“Thinking Outside the Box" is just the right thing for them! This class will give your child the opportunity to learn how to think on their feet and spend time in a wonderfully stimulating and creative environment while learning how to tackle challenging problems.

This enrichment class is a great complement to the international competition  Odyssey of the Mindhttps://odysseyofthemind.com  since “TOB” teaches the students creative and critical thinking, problem solving and learning to look at concepts and ideas from different angles.

The teacher and founder, Paula De Brito Cohen, is an international business development consultant with extensive experience in project management, coaching and leadership development. A resident of Arlington for over 30 years she was presented in 2020 with the APS Honored Citizen Award for her important contribution as a volunteer for the APS schools as well as a coach and judge for Odyssey of the Mind.

While working from home as a consultant, she came up with the idea of an enrichment class, "Thinking Outside the BOx" as a way to complement the great education we have in Northern Virginia with very important life, business and work skills adapted for young minds. She has been offering “TOB” for more than 18 years at several APS schools and some camps in the Northern Virginia area.

The class usually starts with a brain warm up question or challenge, followed by a presentation and open discussion on a specific concept/topic, such as brainstorming, team building, problem solving, creativity learning, leadership development, etc and ends with a subject related hands-on project or activity, individual or team oriented. 

Children use their imagination to build and create all sorts of  contraptions, structures, bridges, vehicles, creatures, etc out of all kind of materials such as pasta, marshmallows, straws, toothpicks, elastic bands, paper, clay, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, bubble wrap, yarn, duck tape, card board, etc.  

They are introduced to brainstorming techniques such as, "time travel", "mind map", " Venn diagram", "superpowers", “SWOT”  analysis, “brain writing", etc. 

They learn and practice the basics of problem solving and conflict resolution, they apply creativity development techniques such as the ""De Bono Six Thinking Hats"" method of parallel thinking and the ""SCAMPER"" model of teaching creativity by Bob Eberle. 

We talk about leadership skills and traits and the crucial relationship amongst effective communication, trust and leadership. Students have the opportunity to lead a group brainstorm session, gather, organize and evaluate the answers from their team mates, and lead the team to a consensus and final decision.

They  work on and solve, individually or in a team, challenging problems and activities such as "human knot", “egg drop”, "paper fold", "blind walk”, "balloon toss", etc. 

Most importantly, they will have fun and apply their creative and critical thinking while learning crucial concepts and skills for our new digital increasingly complex and challenging world.


WEDNESDAYS

Minecraft: Creative Building K-2nd

Spawn into a world of endless possibilities! Join us for a fun-filled Minecraft adventure where your child will learn to build, design, and engineer their way to endless creativity. In this class, your child will learn essential Minecraft/Gaming skills, including building techniques, spatial reasoning, block physics, and a taste of redstone engineering! Children will have a blast building their dream home, creating 2D art, cobblestone towers using lava, animal farms and more! This class is fun for children of all levels, from beginners to experienced Minecraft players. No device needed! Join us and let your child's imagination soar!

 

The Messiest Art Class Ever K-5th

What’s one thing all great artists have in common? They make a mess, of course! In this class, we’ll create stunning masterpieces while using some of the coolest, messiest art techniques ever.

 

Discover Magic: Green Wand Course 2nd-5th

Get ready to take an amazing adventure into the exciting world of magic. Learn how to teleport objects across the room, find hidden magical treasures and levitate a cup of popcorn just to name a few. In this course students will learn the three parts that make up a magic trick with a special focus on presentation. More importantly they will discover the real secrets to becoming a true magician as each lesson reveals an important life skill to help build their confidence and communication skills. Each lesson comes with a custom magic prop, a top secret file folder, and a secret word to unlock bonus videos in an online video vault. This life changing program builds self-confidence and develops critical communication skills in a fun and unique way that is guaranteed to unlock your child’s potential and impact the rest of their life.

Check out this video for more fun content!https://vimeo.com/502143564?share=copy#t=0

REQUIRED SKILLS: your child/ren must be able to tie a knot.

www.UltimateMagicAcademy.com

THURSDAYS

Drama Club: Acting 101 K-2nd

What does it take to be an actor?  Let ETC give you the acting tools you need! Students will create big characters for the stage through vocal technique and physical movement. Using improvisation, scene creation, and acting exercises, students will gain team building skills and overall confidence! Grownups will be invited to see a sharing on the last day of class.

 

Dimensional Painting 3D 1st-5th

The Magic of 3D Pens, a world of dimensional art. Imagine a pen that allows you to draw not only on a surface, but in the air. Using eco-friendly materials such as non-toxic recycled plastic, specially formulated for safe handling by children and low heat. In this fun class, children will learn to create three-dimensional objects with a 3D pen, developing visual skills and exploring how to transform a flat idea into a three-dimensional work full of color, shape, and meaning.

Children will create a 3D painting to take home!

 

Tunnel Boring Machine: Cave to Explore Inside the Earth K-3rd

Embark on a LEGO®  engineering adventure! Design and build incredible machines used to explore our world and beyond. Learn core engineering principles through hands-on challenges, by constructing everything from drill machines that take us to the core of the earth to rockets that launch us high into space. Get ready to explore, innovate, create, and discover!


FRIDAYS

STEAMCRAFT: Minecraft Science 2nd-5th

In a world focused on creativity and imagination, Minecraft is an adventurous title that kids can’t get enough of. Have you ever thought about how we can apply some of those concepts to real life? This class will bring to life many of the in game experiences using SCIENCE! From Creeper slime to item enchantments, we will be putting on our lab coats and dissecting the wonderful world of Minecraft.

 

Let's Be Creative K-5th

Creating is a fun and exciting way for children to express themselves. Lines, shapes, shading, color, texture and more will be explored in Let's Be Creative. Using active imagination, stories, music and visual references, students experience how elements of drawing, painting and sculpture magically give form to themes from nature, everyday life, fantasy and the inner world of your child. Each session presents new and fun themes. It is also valuable to explore a familiar theme using different materials and reworking it in new and exciting ways.

To view examples of student artwork please visit wgkcreative.com.

 

Hip Hop K-5th

Come pop, lock and bounce with us. There is nothing like hip-hop to get the party started!


Baroody Camps, Inc.          www.baroodycamps.com         Follow us!          [email protected]          703.539.2602