How Does Camp Invention 2026 Support Differentiated Instruction?

For over 35 years, Camp Invention^® has brought STEM education to children across the country to promote creativity and inspire innovative thinking. Each summer, the flagship program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® introduces an all-new program directly inspired and informed by our Hall of Fame Inductees and designed over a 20-month development process by our stellar education team. Our team researches everything from toys and games to educational trends, and they apply their expertise to create exciting experiences and high-quality instructional materials. They ensure our curricula always bridge state learning standards with engaging, hands-on experiences that empower educators and inspire students to become confident creators.

The 2026 Camp Invention program, Spark, is a versatile STEM program that brings four brand-new experiences to life through imagination and creative problem solving. From design thinking and entrepreneurship to space innovations and STEM career exploration, Spark ignites a love for learning and self-directed discovery. Each experience is curated to support flexible learning paths, self-directed discovery and differentiated instruction techniques to equip the next generation of students with lifelong skills.

Read on to learn how each of our 2026 Camp Invention experiences supports differentiation.

Fur-ensics^™

Students sharpen their detective skills as they discover how real-life investigators use forensic tools to solve crimes. Inspired by the inner mechanics of their robotic capybara sidekick, students use creative problem-solving skills to create sleuthing gadgets, collect evidence and explore the science behind analyzing fingerprints, DNA and more.

• All guiding questions and discussions are differentiated for primary and intermediate participants.
   
• Differentiated forensic science definitions and descriptions are provided to support greater comprehension.
   
• Intermediate participants are challenged to test trajectory angles and force with “splatballs.”

Make Waves^™

Inspired by National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee Tom Blake, who helped make surfing more popular through his surfboard innovations, students dive into an innovative journey and practice risk-taking as they ride the waves of entrepreneurship. They explore physics through hands-on buoyancy experiences, conduct market research and design eye-catching billboard boats to advertise their innovative products.

• All guiding questions and discussions are differentiated for primary and intermediate participants.
   
• Instructors read to primary participants, while intermediate participants read aloud independently.
   
• Primary participants are offered Barrel Wave game adaptations.
   
• Intermediate participants engage in forming a hypothesis.
   
• Intermediate participants experiment with surface tension.
   
• Intermediate participants label their invention sketches.
   
• Intermediate participants integrate additional invention feedback into their final designs.
   
• Intermediate participants explore the concept of objectivity in research.
   
• Intermediate participants skip count and calculate weight during a challenge involving washers and foil.

Space Morphers^™

Children explore materials science, design engineering and space innovation as they build a DIY rocket and launch a mission to transform a faraway planet for future habitation. After collecting important data and samples in a high-energy rover race, they record scientific observations in their space lab and build inventions for navigating the intense conditions of their planet.

• All guiding questions and discussions are differentiated for primary and intermediate participants.
   
• Primary participants build one consistent solar sail prototype design, while intermediate participants select their own materials to customize their designs.
   
• Primary participants engage in gross motor activities during the rover race.
   
• Primary participants work in pairs on their DIY rockets to strengthen their collaboration skills.
   
• Intermediate participants work independently to build their DIY rockets.
   
• Intermediate participants receive more detailed explanations of STEM concepts including atmosphere, temperature shifts, photosynthesis and trajectory.
   
• Intermediate participants receive more challenging prompts during the rover race.

The Infringers^™

Children strengthen collaboration and communication skills as they unlock the superpowers of the I Can Invent^® Mindset and team up to solve challenges in their community and around the world! They design and miniaturize a top-secret invention, create a wearable device that incorporates cryptography and explore security features like reCAPTCHA to protect their ideas from The Infringers. Then they race to file a patent to protect their intellectual property.

• All guiding questions and discussions are differentiated for primary and intermediate participants.
   
• Instructors read to primary participants, while intermediate participants read aloud independently.
   
• Primary participants brainstorm collectively, while intermediate participants brainstorm independently in teams.
   
• Intermediate participants explore licensing their inventions.
   
• Intermediate participants label their sketches.
   
• Intermediate participants receive an additional materials challenge with a top-secret “Do Something” box.

Spark Student Engagement In Your District

The all-new Camp Invention 2026 program brings enriching, hands-on STEM experiences that engage students and combine summertime fun with exploratory learning. Learn more about next summer’s all-new program, Spark!