Camp Invention Connect
What is Camp Invention Connect?
The most inspiring online summer camp available anywhere!
- Who: Children or dependents of active-duty Armed Forces, National Guard or Reserves, who are entering grades K-6
- What: An opportunity to safely explore hands-on STEM fun at your own pace
- Where: Anywhere in the United States*
- When: Camp is offered June 23-27, July 7-11 and July 21-25, and you may choose the week that works best for you
- Why: Because when kids have this much fun creating, they won’t even realize how much they’re learning!
- How much: FREE for the first 100 kids, thanks to support from DoD STEM! Registrations are first-come, first-served, and once they have been filled, the cost will be $275 for a week of action-packed virtual camp sessions and an Innovator’s Toolkit filled with all the materials your child will need.
*Program materials cannot be shipped to PSC addresses at this time.
Here’s how our camp works:
- Your Innovator’s Toolkit — packed with all the materials needed for your STEM summer camp experience — is shipped directly to your door
- Your child can join a week of virtual camp sessions (four per day for five consecutive days!) led by a qualified educator, and they’ll get access to exclusive online resources
- Virtual session attendance is recommended but not required, so your child can join all, some or none of the sessions
- Even if you don’t plan to join any virtual sessions, we ask that you sign up for a specific week — this will tell us when to ship your Innovator’s Toolkit and ensure that if you do decide to join virtual sessions, we will have a spot saved for you!
See an Action-Packed Day With Camp Invention Connect
Get Excited for Your Program
The Innovator’s Toolkit — packed with everything your camper needs — will be sent straight to your home ahead of the program start date, so you’ll be set for a week of hands-on fun and exploration!
When your package arrives, your camper can check out all their materials and set up their own space for creativity with their Innovator Workshop, complete with a Toolbelt and Maker Mat.
Daily Kickoff (9 a.m.)
Your child will join an educator — their Camp Invention Connect Coach — and fellow campers to start each day of camp with a live online session that includes icebreakers, module instruction and opportunities to collaborate.
If your camper can’t join live, don’t worry — you will have access to videos that go through each activity step by step.
Create and Invent (11 a.m.)
Following a quick break, kids get back together online to make, create and invent with their Coach and fellow campers.
Afternoon Hangout (1 p.m.)
After taking a break for lunch, your child can join their Coach and fellow campers to socialize, build friendships and gear up for the rest of the day’s hands-on fun.
Unplug and Get Outdoors
Hands-on STEM exploration continues as kids enjoy screen-free time and get outdoors with high-energy challenges.
Collaborate and Share (2 p.m.)
Each afternoon, campers regroup with their Coach online to complete their final challenge and proudly share their projects and inventions.
Sign Up Today!
When you sign up for a specific week, this tells us when to ship your Innovator's Toolkit and ensures that a spot will be saved for you in our virtual sessions. A schedule and meeting links for the optional live sessions will be provided by your Camp Invention Connect Coach the week before your start date.
With a set of four themed kits providing tons of materials, our 2025 program, Discover, offers hours of hands-on fun! Each kit brings a unique set of challenges inspired by world-changing inventors, and certified educator Coaches help kids make real connections through instruction, teamwork and outdoor play. It all adds up to a one-of-a-kind experience that’s sure to get kids thinking, moving and creating!
Children dive into ocean research when they receive their own aquatic animals! To provide the perfect habitat in a mini tank, they design and patent new aquatic plants and create a symbiotic best friend. Then they develop a unique, bio-inspired invention that is sure to hook investors.
Art and STEM combine in this immersive experience! Campers get all the materials they need to build their own robotic artist and make awesome spin art. While experimenting with materials science, chemistry and art, they learn how inventions have changed the way people create.
Children zigzag through physics, engineering and gaming as they receive everything they need to build a mega marble arcade! First, they use scientific principles like potential and kinetic energy to roll gaming spheres at different speeds. Then they level up their designs through hands-on problem solving.
With activities and materials inspired by real space exploration, campers create Spacepacks and Astro-Arm devices to help them with gravity-defying cooking, glow-in-the-dark lunar discoveries and erupting ice volcanoes! Before returning to Earth, they mine an asteroid and collect data on how animals can hatch and grow in space.
For more than 30 years, Camp Invention® has been inspiring confidence and creativity through fun, hands-on STEM activities. Now, young innovators can bring the excitement of this STEM summer program home with Camp Invention Connect.
-
“He was so excited for each day to arrive so he could log in! He learned so much he didn’t want it to end. Thank you for having a virtual option.”
Angelia D.North Canton, OH
-
“My son did the online program and attending every session ... I realized how much he likes to build, and how intently he can listen while his hands are busy! I also loved to hear how he spoke up and shared with the group.”
Lynn L.North Canton, OH
-
“Love the virtual camp option and lots of live interaction it provides.”
Sarah H.North Canton, OH