Spark an Innovative Mindset at Camp Invention

This summer is all about imaginative thinking and hands-on fun at the all-new Camp Invention^® program, Spark! As campers in grades K-6 discover the inspiring stories of real-world inventors and their innovations, everyday applications of STEM inspire them to cultivate their own world-changing inventions. 

Curious campers will transform into confident creators as they explore entrepreneurship, launch a space mission, solve an animal mystery and spark their innovative superpowers.

Read on to discover how each experience in this year’s all-new, action-packed Camp Invention program will inspire campers to build an innovative mindset. 

Sparking an Innovative Mindset 

Fueled by imagination and brand-new experiences with STEM, this summer’s Camp Invention combines fun and learning to empower campers with lifelong skills. Inspired by real-world applications of STEM, campers build the I Can Invent^® Mindset — the same mindset shared by National Inventors Hall of Fame^® Inductees — to solve important challenges with world-changing ideas. 

This powerful growth mindset equips children to become confident creators and overcome challenges throughout their lives with perseverance. Through hands-on learning experiences that inspire children to think of themselves as creators, innovators and even detectives, four all-new experiences inspire them to develop essential skills and traits to build a bright future. 

Inspire an Entrepreneurial Spirit in Make Waves

Through exploratory learning and experimentation, this immersive experience empowers children to think like entrepreneurs and take creative risks as they bring their big ideas to life and splash into ocean advertising. In Make Waves^™, campers focus on these essential components of the I Can Invent Mindset:

Innovation: Like surfers moving from the safety of the shore to the rush of breaking waves, campers explore innovation through the lens of a surfer’s journey and take calculated risks to turn their inventions into popular products that make a world-changing impact.

Entrepreneurship: From conducting market research to pitching prototypes and hooking investors, children develop entrepreneurship skills as they design, commercialize and launch their innovative products. 

STEM: Campers build important STEM skills as they conduct hands-on physics experiments and discover buoyancy and surface tension concepts. As their billboard boat glides across the water, children observe potential energy converting into kinetic energy and experiment with the direction and momentum of their boat. 

Transform a New Planet in Space Morphers

In an out-of-this-world experience, children launch a mission to transform a planet’s ecosystem for future habitation. During hands-on, creative projects, they engineer a DIY space rocket, create a planet model and record scientific observations in their Space Lab. In Space Morphers^™, campers focus on these essential components of the I Can Invent Mindset:

Creative Problem Solving: Campers strengthen their creative problem-solving skills as they take on the challenge of terraforming an exoplanet for future habitation. 

Design Thinking: As children create a personalized DIY space rocket and solar sail, they use design thinking to develop the best solutions. 

STEM: Campers build STEM skills by collecting and analyzing data in the Space Lab. As they make observations, campers will draw connections to fascinating STEM concepts. 

Solve Community Challenges in The Infringers

In this inspiring experience, campers team up with the Innovation Force^® — National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees — to solve challenges in their community, discover innovative security tools and protect their ideas from the Infringers. In The Infringers^™, campers unlock the following superpowers of the I Can Invent Mindset: 

Collaboration: Campers apply insights from the Innovation Force as they team up and share their ideas to solve challenges in the community through invention. 

Intellectual Property: Children develop Intellectual Property Literacy^® by exploring challenges like invention infringement and learning how they can protect their ideas. 

Persistence: Building resilience, campers practice persistence to push past obstacles and solve challenges as they miniaturize technology. 

Think Like a Detective in Fur-ensics 

In this animal adventure, campers discover the fascinating world of forensic science as they sharpen their detective skills to solve an animal mystery, conduct their own investigation and collect curious clues to narrow down suspects. In Fur-ensics^™, children focus on these important components of the I Can Invent Mindset:

STEM: Campers strengthen their STEM skills as they reverse engineer their capybara robot in a hands-on, take-apart activity and practice forensic science techniques. 

Persistence: Children demonstrate persistence as they work through each step of solving a mystery, from gathering evidence to analyzing clues and applying forensic science tools. 

Confidence: Campers build confidence in their ideas and abilities as they successfully use deductive reasoning to locate the prankster.  

Spark Confidence This Summer 

Is your child ready to dream up new possibilities? Register for Camp Invention today to spark an innovative mindset and see where their next idea could lead!

Are you an educator looking to bring this experience to students? Request more information about how to bring Camp Invention to your school district.