Camp Invention
What is Camp Invention?
- Who: Curious kids entering grades K-6.
- What: A confidence-boosting STEM summer day 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 $275. 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 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.
Our Parents Say It Best
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“[My daughter] went to visit Purdue University today to see the polytechnic school. I shed some tears today thinking about her experiences at Camp Invention. You all introduced her to another world she may have never even visited.”
Alana D.Dyer, IN
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“The staff was so welcoming and inclusive, and my son made so many friends at camp. He loved the whole experience and was so proud to bring home and show off everything he made. I would highly recommend this program to everyone.”
Kayla E.Manorville, NY
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“Camp Invention had a huge impact on both my children who attended! They came home with very detailed explanations of ‘symbiosis’ and how they built things. It was amazing! It was a wonderful experience from beginning to end.”
Heather P.Harrison, AR
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“My son has not stopped talking about camp since day 1 … He had a creative mind going into camp, but has found so many fun, new and interesting ways to repurpose so many household items.”
Caitlin O.Manhattan, IL
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“Every single day my child got in the car she told me so many exciting stories about the learning that happened that day. Her self-confidence was boosted in the way she made friends, and grew in her problem-solving skills and perseverance.”
Alicia L.Denton, TX
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“My son adores Camp Invention and begs to go every year! He has made new friends from other schools and loves the creative process, learning all kinds of skills he proudly brings home to teach us about!”
Amanda L.Arlington HTS, IL
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“Each afternoon, our son came home pumped about his day of camp. Love how it had his gears turning. We'll definitely recommend this camp to all of our friends!”
Danielle G.Bellingham, WA
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“Long ago I participated in Camp Invention. It taught me crucial social skills, but more importantly it gave me critical thinking skills that I’d have struggled to gain otherwise. Please keep providing amazing experiences for kids, it changes lives!”
Jaden S.Brainerd, MN
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“We have two kids in camp (9 and 7), and they talk about what they did in camp nonstop when they get home and build things together. They are always showing each other things that can be ‘repurposed’ for something else and building gadgets together.”
Dan O.Lowell, IN
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“My son is quite the engineer and inventor. When a neighbor raved about this camp, my husband and I immediately signed him up. We appreciate how kind, thoughtful, fun and safe the teachers all kept the entire camp.”
Sonya I.Indianapolis, IN
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“[My daughter] absolutely loves going to Camp Invention. She asked all year round, ‘When is it time for Camp Invention?’ The only complaint she has is it is not long enough; one week isn’t enough for her. She wishes it would never end.”
Tammy M.Dickinson, ND
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“My kiddo loves Camp Invention! He is extremely smart and creative but struggles in school due to his disability. He just finished his second summer at Camp Invention and had an amazing time without one issue.”
Leslie S.Cresson, TX
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, save a total of $60 on two camp registrations. For families with 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.
State Programs
Did you know there are state-level programs that offer savings or reimbursement on summer enrichment programs? Check out what’s available in your area by visiting your state’s Department of Education website.
The following sponsors help make our education programs possible:
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Overdeck Family Foundation
Army Education Outreach Program (AEOP)
Nordson
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) STEM, Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC)
General Motors
Burton D. Morgan Foundation
United Way of Summit & Medina
Grainger
Camp Invention Parent Donations
John Deere
Shurtape
H.B. Fuller Company Foundation
Community Foundation Lorain County
APS Foundation
Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation
ABB
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
The Anschutz Foundation
Walton Family Foundation
