Camp Invention
What is Camp Invention?
- Who: Curious kids entering grades K-6.
- What: A confidence-boosting STEM summer camp where kids build creative inventions and lasting friendships. Led by qualified local educators, our camps offer new and exciting hands-on experiences every year.
- Where: Over 1,000 camp programs run nationwide in schools, community centers and other local facilities.
- When: Our camps’ dates and hours, including start and end times, vary by location. Some locations offer Extended Day programs to fit families' busy schedules – check your specific site for details. If your local camps don’t offer dates and times that work for you, we also can send an at-home camp experience directly to your doorstep.
- How Much: Pricing for this weeklong STEM summer camp, complete with take-home materials and limitless inspiration, starts at $270. See your local camp for exact pricing.
- Why: To help your child grow their confidence, build problem-solving skills, reduce summer learning loss, improve academic achievement, discover innovative role models and more!
Here’s what an action-packed day looks like with Camp Invention

A.M. Base Camp
Drop off your camper with qualified local educators and Camp Invention Leadership Interns, and they’ll start each day with games that encourage teamwork and spark creativity.

Morning Experiences
Campers take on two creative experiences and enjoy the healthy snacks they’ve brought to help keep their minds moving.

Games & Lunch
Half of the campers head outside — or to the gym — to play action-packed games while the other campers eat the lunch they’ve packed. Then they switch!

Afternoon Experiences
Time for two more experiences that will introduce your child to world-changing inventors, keep them active, and encourage their curiosity and creative thinking.

P.M. Base Camp
The day wraps up as campers wind down with problem-solving games. When you sign out your camper, they’ll tell you just how much fun they had at Camp Invention!

Beyond Camp
The learning doesn’t end when camp is over! While Camp Invention builds long-term skills and traits like creative problem solving, collaboration and confidence, it is also proven to contribute to better school attendance, a higher GPA and improved test scores.
This year’s brand-new program will illuminate imaginations, inspire curiosity and help kids build essential STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills through collaboration and problem solving. Campers explore hands-on challenges and open-ended adventures designed to unlock creativity and help them shine their brightest!
As children create their own light-up game board, they team up to tackle athletics, design, business and invention! Campers examine the features and specialized materials of a variety of sports balls, then create their own to use with their personalized game. They build a brand, create a logo and are recognized for their creativity by being inducted into the Game of Fame!
Creativity radiates as campers uncover the science of light through illuminating inventions and glowing animals. They build persistence as they make a one-of-a-kind Glow Box, experimenting with different forms of light and customizing their designs. Through the power of illumination, their ideas shine!
Campers embark on an epic global operation to help solve water challenges around the world! They learn about the role water plays for people and the planet, then customize a robotic lab-on-wheels to assist in their exploration. They use problem solving to design engineer inventions that will help create a crystal-clear future!
Children star as contestants on a game show where they mold, shape and transform their ideas into amazing inventions! Using a DIY toolbox and everyday materials, as well as inspiration from Our Nation’s Greatest Innovators™, they complete a series of exciting prototyping challenges. While tapping into their imagination, they discover that invention can happen in any place at any time!
Camp Invention Parents' Donations

The Fossum Family Endowment

The Al and Helen Free Foundation

The Amos E. Joel Young Inventors Endowment
