Dolls, Crafting + Covid!

Kate, Madeleine, and Gabrielle holding their kit & sis craft boxes created for American Girl dolls

(AG Sisters recently rebranded to kit & sis™)

May 23, 2020, two sessions of  our AG Sister in-person summer camp were sold-out and scheduled for the end of June. However, there was also a global pandemic inhibiting social gatherings. Unsure of what a Covid-19 summer would look like, we quickly made the decision to pivot our summer camp to an online format. 

Over the span of 3 days we transformed our annual summer camp into the AG Sisters’ Virtual Summer Camp. We quickly learned how to use Zoom to our advantage, list and sell products on our website, conceptualize how we could possibly run camp online, and remarketed our camp.

Transitioning to an online platform in such a short time presented more challenges than just teaching over Zoom. We redesigned our crafts so that they could be completed by all age levels and without assistance. We realized any crafts that involved knots and bows were out of the question, in order to make our crafts accommodating to our younger campers. We designed, prepped, and packed individual summer camp craft kits for each of our campers. Our biggest concern of hosting camp virtually, was being able to deliver the experience of AG Sisters’ summer camp virtually! We wanted to capture and deliver the creativity, imagination, and fun of our summer camps! 

Despite our concerns, our Virtual Summer Camp exceeded our expectations! Watching our campers craft on screen and interact with others, even though they were miles apart, was such a fulfilling experience! Even in a virtual format, we were able to create a collaborative and creative experience for our campers. 

Planning and executing our virtual camps was the most intense pivot of our company. However, it was one of the most rewarding experiences as well. Virtual camp allowed us to share the joy and creativity of our summer camps with girls across the country. It also allowed us to fulfill one of our biggest dreams, creating our own line of subscription doll craft kits. 



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