The SPARK Program

Join us on a W!LD animal adventure and explore the most spectacular and inventive animals on the planet. During the W!LD:  Wondrous Innovations and Living Designs™ module, children explore W!LD and wondrous animal inventors. During the week, participants explore how cuttlefish use camouflage to hunt and hide, paper wasps that make “paper”,  snails that create iron plated armor, fire beetles that use infrared light, and geckos that climb walls using nano hairs. Mother Nature’s very own inventors are sure to spark your imagination on this W!LD animal exploration. 

Mysterious coded messages have been left at The Curious Cypher Club™ headquarters, and it is up to the Camp Invention participants to solve this puzzling mystery.  Each day, children solve a different coded message and use the same code to send a message back to the culprit.  After working on their codes each day, children work together to build a clubhouse using materials such as PVC pipes, rolls of corrugated cardboard, and other upcycled materials.  After a week of solving coded messages and using their engineering skills to build a unique clubhouse, children uncover the culprit, end the message sending, and are awarded membership into The Curious Cypher Club!

During the Bounce! An Atomic Journey™ module, children investigate the science of atoms and molecules by experimenting with bouncy balls!  A dynamic mix of chemistry and physical science, children bounce their way through atoms, molecules, mixtures, and compounds to figure out how cool matter (like a bouncy ball) is created.  Children gain experience designing and conducting their own experiments and investigations as they explore how atoms join together to make molecules that shape our entire world!  Children design high-bouncing investigations, practice moving atoms like nanotechnologists, conduct inquiry-based static electricity experiments, and make salty solutions, slimy compounds, polymer snow, and their very own bouncy ball to take home! 

Children shake up traditional games to create new experiences that will have them thinking and upcycling their way to a brand new kind of fun!  In the Game On: Power Play™ module, children are challenged to use nontraditional equipment (such as water balloons) to play classic games.  Each day features fresh ideas that will have children mentally and physically engaged and completely entertained.  The laughter is contagious as children use fun ways to enhance their level of cooperation and coordination in these innovative, team-building exercises.  Children's minds and bodies are put to the test as they combine physical activity, creativity and fun!

During the I Can Invent: Edison’s Workshop™ module children walk in the footsteps of Thomas Edison as they create and market a multi-step machine.  Creative problem solving is fostered as children imagine and assemble the unthinkable!  Younger children work in teams to create multii-step inventions using pieces and parts of an alarm clock and other recyclable materials. Older children work in teams to build complicated, multi-step machines that solve a challenge. All children further explore the process of invention as they market their inventions and receive mock patents.  A participant favorite, children of all ages find this module incredibly challenging and exciting!