The INNOVATE Program

Power’d™

In the Power’d module, a mysterious scientist is seeking new ways to power robotic creatures in a secret lab. The scientist requests the help of Camp Invention children to explore new types of energy to help bring the robotic creatures to life. Children spend the week investigating alternative energy such as wind, solar, and hydro power to design and build their own creatures.

Children explore static electricity, circuits, and how to power Direct Current (DC) motors.They build and power their robotic creatures and explore the strength of the chemical substance phosphor, allowing them to capture and utilize the sun’s power. Children create enclosures to surround their creatures and protect them from the dangers inside the lab, and then harness ecofriendly wind power to light their creatures’ enclosures. Participants must figure out a way to feed the robotic creatures using a waterwheel as inspiration. The children use lemons to create batteries that power lights and design a new way to power their creatures when their batteries die. They then design a race track for their creatures and measure the distance that their creatures can travel in one minute.

Hatched™

The Hatched module utilizes a virtual computer world to introduce children to entrepreneurship and economics. During the week, children are presented with the challenges of rebuilding a virtual world for the world’s residents and restoring the world’s economy.

Children hear that their instructor has been contacted by a being named Inventar, an avatar, who needs their help in restoring the health of his virtual world. They begin their work by designing a map of the virtual world that details where the avatars live and work, and design their personal avatars for the Hatched world. Then, children break into tribes (teams) and build aqueducts to carry water from the Hatched Lake to the areas where the avatars live and then hear their first economic challenge, to restore the Hatched world. The tribes create items to sell to other tribes for their avatars, and then create a marketplace in which to sell their items and establish pricing and advertising for their businesses. The week ends with participant tribes advertising their wares, and buying and selling with other tribes. The tribe that manages to accumulate the most Hatched money by selling their items is declared the most entrepreneurial of the Hatched world!

I Can Invent: Balloon Burst™

In the I Can Invent: Balloon Burst module, children invent fantastical machines. Using science, creative problem solving, and hands-on applications, children advance their creative and critical-thinking skills. Working in teams, younger children focus on building inventions that burst water balloons, while older children create multi-step, balloon bursting Rube Goldberg-type machines, signifying their success.

Children will enter the workshop, receive their challenge, and begin taking apart broken machines while learning about machines and tool safety as they work. The older children learn about Rube Goldberg and complicated ways to solve simple problems! The excitement builds when children continue to dismantle broken machines and investigate how the gears, motors, magnets, and springs inside the machines work. Using this knowledge, children begin planning their balloon bursting inventions and Rube Goldberg-type machines. Children investigate intellectual property tools, including the patent system, and put their invention plans into action as they immerse themselves in full-on construction of their machines. The younger children complete their balloon-bursting inventions and design a marketing campaign. The week ends with the older children enhancing their Rube Goldberg machines using the engineering design process by testing, retesting, and making any necessary adjustments, preparing to set them into motion and documenting the work with a drawing and description of the final machine.

Action and Adventure Games™

The Action and Adventure Games module scores a home run by combining physical activity and creativity. Children practice teamwork, cooperation, coordination, and creative problem solving processes during fun, energetic games. Action and Adventure Games activities are based on the premise that traditional games can be modified using nontraditional approaches. Employing the concept of upcycling, children use available materials to create completely new games. Unlike competitive games or sports, this module stresses creative problem solving, rather than winning or losing, and encourages active physical participation while boosting self-confidence.

In this module, each day features new and exciting challenges that vary based on children's ages and abilities. All activities are designed to converge the functions of mind and body while children work collaboratively in diverse teams. These games facilitate inventive and inquisitive-thinking skills while incorporating 21st century learning skills such as collaboration, communication, and whole-systems thinking. Children play approximately four games per day that sometimes feature nontraditional sporting equipment such as recyclable items, water balloons, and other unconventional materials. Children's curiosity is sparked with a new line-up of wild and wet games that are sure to enrich and energize!