Summer Camp Descriptions

Our STEM education team is excited to bring back old favorites and introduce new themes for in-person camps available for grades pre-K through 6. Topics include art, biology, carpentry, chemistry, coding, engineering, magic, media, paleontology, space, and more. Campers should select camps based on the grade they will enter in Fall 2024.

Pre-K

Busy Bugs 
What’s bugging you? Discover what makes these multi-legged animals so important as you collect and examine bugs, make a bug house, and create bug art. Find out how a bug’s life keeps them so “busy!”

Chemistry Cooks
Turn a kitchen into a chemistry lab by using items from the grocery store. Measure, stir, or bake to see how chemicals and heat cause color changes, form rising dough, or create fun foams. Take-home recipes bring the fun back to your kitchen.

Dinomania
Dive into the world of dinosaurs! Look at dinosaur bones, create your own dinosaur models, and visit our Dinosaurs & Fossils Gallery for a week of fossil-focused fun.

Fly, Float, and Vroom
Experiment with gravity, gears, wheels, ramps, tracks, and vehicles in motion. Play the Go, Dogs, Go! game and make a car or truck to take home.

Grades 1-3

Blow it Up
Launch rockets, experiment with dry ice, and learn all about how simple ingredients come together to make exciting explosive reactions.

Build a Fort
Imagine a fort too big to fit under the dining room table. Come build big with cardboard and create the life-size fort of your dreams!

Calling All Marine Biologists 
Through hands-on activities, look at the adaptations of ocean animals, from dolphins to fish to octopuses. Dissect a squid and make a coral reef model.

Camp Curie
Develop and perform experiments, unearth ancient mysteries, and meet and work with female scientists while learning about the history of women in science. Discover the meaning of STEM with the Camp Curie team!

Carpentry Artpentry 
Get comfortable with a hammer and saw as you develop carpentry skills. Build gadgets that allow you to create unique masterpieces in unexpected ways. Show off your creativity and craftsmanship with works of art and engineering.

Code a Bot
Use a unique coding system to program a mini robot called an Ozobot. Make Ozobot dance, do tricks, and work together with other Ozobots. Create costumes and design a neighborhood for your Ozobot. Your ideas make the Ozobot move and groove!

Foam Lab
Uncover the bubbly and exciting science behind foam by concocting foamy chemistry experiments, building with plastic foam, and playing with mountains of shaving cream.

Fossil Finders
Dinosaur and fossil fans, this is the camp for you. We'll visit all your favorites at the museum: Triceratops, Diplodocus, and even T. rex. Explore and excavate ancient fossils, experiment with dinosaur teeth, and see the world from a dino’s view.

Get Set to Be a Vet
Explore what veterinarians do and what it takes to become one. Discover how best to take care of your furry, feathery, and scaly friends. Get hands-on with veterinary techniques as you learn to understand real animal X-rays and perform treatments as a vet-in-training. 

Imagination Island
You've found yourself on a deserted island! Experiment with preserving food and purifying water. Design a model shelter on stilts to keep you high and dry, create and use tools to navigate and learn the land, and build a raft to explore the waters around the island.

Intro to Carpentry
Head to the workshop and safely start to use carpentry tools such as saws, hammer, and nails. Measure wood and build a wooden toy to take home.

Magic at the Museum
Warm up your cauldrons, crack open your spellbooks, and get excited for a week of practical sorcery. Experience the magic of everyday science by mixing potions and conjuring transformations as you discover what’s fantastical about the natural world.

Marble Run Engineering
Use your imagination to design a marble run that uses twists, turns, and tricks that defy gravity. Let the good times roll right through your marble run as you create, test, improve, and occasionally fail while always having a ball.

Minifigure Movie Stars
Make a LEGO® Minifigure into the star of your animated film adventure. Learn new animation skills every day as you add scenes to your movie. Build sets, edit video, and add sound and credits before sharing your film with friends and family online.

Museum Adventure
Play-based science experiences await! Campers will enjoy a full spread of activities, games, crafts, and an excursion around the museum each day. Campers set their own pace and choose their adventures to experience STEM learning fun all week!

Ocean Expedition
Dive into the deep blue sea! Create your own marine animal for a room-sized oceanic art installation. Learn about marine creatures’ unique adaptations and explore human impact on the salty solution that covers two-thirds of Earth’s surface.

Reaction Lab
Get ready to think like a scientist as you create chemical reactions, experiment with dry ice, engineer a slow roller game, and explore motion.

Space Explorers
Get ready to be an astronaut! Experiment with spacecraft technology, launch a rocket, and design your own spacesuit. See what it takes to get humans to the moon in this space spectacular!

STAR Collective
Investigate natural wonders through Science, Theater, and ARt in this unique collaborative camp. Explore and experience some of nature's tiniest transformers, create nature-themed art, and develop and act in a play to showcase your talents. STAR Collective is a collaboration between the Science Museum, Park Square Theatre, and COMPAS.

Super Scratch 
Create your own simple interactive animations, learn the basics of computer programming, and design a simple computer game using ScratchJr, a fun program that will help you explore coding. Improve game building skills by creating your own board game.

Grades 4-6

Blow it Up
Launch rockets, experiment with dry ice, and learn all about how simple ingredients come together to make exciting explosive reactions.

Calling All Marine Biologists 
Through hands-on activities, look at the adaptations of ocean animals, from dolphins to fish to octopuses. Dissect a squid and make a coral reef model.

Carpentry Furniture
Learn the lingo of the carpenter and the tools of the trade. Build a pine and plywood table to use in a fort or bedroom.

Design a Computer Game
Use your imagination to program your own interactive game or story using Scratch. Whether you’ve tried coding before or not, you’re sure to grow your skills and have fun while taking on exciting new challenges.

Dino Discovery
If you dig fossils, this camp is for you! Visit the Dinosaurs & Fossils Gallery. Look at the latest research on dinosaurs and a variety of fossil animals and plants. Use the tools of a paleontologist to excavate and explore. (formerly Be a Paleontologist)

Get Set to Be a Vet
Explore what veterinarians do and what it takes to become one. Discover how best to take care of your furry, feathery, and scaly friends. Get hands-on with veterinary techniques as you learn to understand real animal X-rays and perform treatments as a vet-in-training. (Note: Camp for grades 4-6 includes watching a dissection.)

Imagination Island
You've found yourself on a deserted island! Experiment with preserving food and purifying water. Design a model shelter on stilts to keep you high and dry, create and use tools to navigate and learn the land, and build a raft to explore the waters around the island.

Magic at the Museum
Warm up your cauldrons, crack open your spellbooks, and get excited for a week of practical sorcery. Experience the magic of everyday science by mixing potions and conjuring transformations as you discover what’s fantastical about the natural world.

Maker Space: Make Your Space
Use techniques like carpentry, circuitry, weaving, and more to make useful and unique items to deck out your personal space. Choose your own way to construct and create your works of art and design that will make your place pop.

Marble Run Engineering
Use your imagination to design a marble run that uses twists, turns, and tricks that defy gravity. Let the good times roll right through your marble run as you create, test, improve, and occasionally fail while always having a ball.

Mechanical Makers
Explore gears, mechanisms, and machines on your way to designing, creating, and sharing your own amazing storytelling contraption called automata (aa-taa-muh-tuh).

Mini Golf Maker 
Design and build a tabletop mini golf hole. Improve your design as you play through your group’s course during the week, and putt your way to fun! 

Ocean Expedition
Dive into the deep blue sea! Create your own marine animal for a room-sized oceanic art installation. Learn about marine creatures’ unique adaptations and explore human impact on the salty solution that covers two-thirds of Earth’s surface.

Planet Protectors
Become a friend of the earth by learning about the 4Rs (recycle, reduce, reuse, and repair), and discovering how we can care for the nature all around us. Turn trash into art, and learn how you can make a difference for our planet! 

STAR Collective
Investigate natural wonders through Science, Theater, and ARt in this unique collaborative camp. Explore and experience some of nature's tiniest transformers, create nature-themed art, and develop and act in a play to showcase your talents. STAR Collective is a collaboration between the Science Museum, Park Square Theatre, and COMPAS.

Video Mashup
Discover video editing and special effects. Combine short video and sound clips using Canva to create your own extended movie, and then use a green screen to add yourself to a story you create.