Camp Invention
What is Camp Invention?
- Who: Creative kids entering grades K-6.
- What: A summer day camp filled with fun, hands-on STEM adventures! Led by qualified local educators since 1990, Camp Invention is designed to spark creativity, build confidence, and ignite a lifelong love for learning.
- Where: Over 1,500 camp programs run nationwide in schools, community centers and other local facilities.
- When: Our camps’ dates and hours vary by location. Some locations offer Extended Day hours to fit families' busy schedules – check your specific site for details.
- How Much: Pricing for this weeklong STEM summer camp, complete with take-home materials and limitless inspiration, starts at $275 or ~$8/hour plus we offer many ways to save and pay. See your local camp for exact pricing.
- Why: Each hands-on STEM experience is carefully crafted to ensure children develop important skills such as persistence, adaptability and creative problem solving. And the best part is campers don’t even realize how much they are learning and growing because they are having so much fun!
This year’s exciting new program inspires curiosity and helps kids build essential STEM skills through collaboration with friends and one-of-a-kind creative problem-solving experiences. Campers explore hands-on challenges and open-ended adventures designed to encourage new discoveries and bring big ideas to life!
Campers step into the mesmerizing world of optical illusions, where things aren’t always as they seem! They discover how special effects work in art, movies, theater and animation, and they invent moving props with inspiration from real-life inventors behind special effects technology. Tapping into their curiosity, they build their own spinning animation device and become illusion experts, ready to design entertainment experiences of the future.
Campers unleash the power of creativity as they construct their own functional claw machine, exploring physics concepts in easy-to-reach ways. Finding inspiration from claws in nature, they build, test and adapt their clawsome machine, then fill it with novel prizes. Along the way, they pick up entrepreneurship skills and uncover how to hook investors on their awesome new arcade experience!
Campers unlock their imagination as they head to Antarctica to explore penguin habitats in snowy landscapes. With the help of a Snow-ver – a rover equipped with a robotic research penguin – they glide across icy surfaces to enter penguin colonies undetected. To deliver planet-saving eco-messages, they design launchers to propel their own magnetic, wearable plush penguin across the South Pole and beyond!
Campers hit the road for the ultimate trip! They assemble a custom control panel complete with a transmitter and receiver, reference a travel map and explore the use of artificial intelligence in everyday items, such as the GPS. While inventing their way out of bumps in the road, they build confidence, overcome obstacles, and find joy in both the journey and the destination.
Payment Plans
Camp Invention payment plans are simple and stress-free with three interest-free installments. Pay just one-third of the program cost when you register, and your remaining balance will be automatically charged in two consecutive monthly payments.
Registration for the payment plan option must be done by debit or credit card and received no later than 12 weeks before the start of your camp. Please ensure your card expiration date remains valid before your final scheduled payment date.
Sibling Discounts
We are happy to offer families with multiple kiddos extra discounts on Camp Invention! Using code SIBWEB30, you can save a total of $60 on two camp registrations. For families registering three or more siblings, use code SIBWEB40 for a total of $120 or more in savings!
Sibling discounts are valid only for children living in the same household. Discounts cannot be combined.
Company Reimbursement
Many insurance plans offer employees reimbursement on childcare and extracurricular programs. Ask your employer if they offer benefits packages that include reimbursement on summer enrichment programs like Camp Invention.
Tax Savings and State Programs
Your registration confirmation can be used as a tax receipt. National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and our federal tax ID number is 34-1580038.
Also, be sure to check out your state’s Department of Education website to see if there are state-level programs that offer savings or reimbursement on summer enrichment programs.
Our Parents Say It Best
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.