The Power of Mindset

By exploring the Camp Invention^® Mindset poster, children gain valuable insights from our world-changing National Inventors Hall of Fame^® (NIHF) Inductees that they can apply to their own creative process.

Materials Needed

• Camp Invention Mindset poster 

At-Home or In-Classroom Instructions

1. Read the Camp Invention Mindset poster out loud.
    
2. Find the phrase you feel you apply most in your life.
    
3. Discuss the ways in which you apply it in your daily life.
    
4. Find the phrase that most inspires you.
    
5. Discuss what is inspirational about it.
    
6. Finally, find the phrase that feels the most challenging, but would make a great stretch goal!
    
7. Reflect on how you will reach for this goal.
    
8. Print and display the poster for daily inspiration.
    
9. Remember what NIHF Inductee Marshall Jones says: “Never give up!”

What are we learning?

The Camp Invention Mindset poster is featured at every Camp Invention site and on participants’ Inventor Logs. These quick tips, informed by NIHF Inductees, remind us what it takes to be a great creator, innovator and entrepreneur. Not only do children build STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills during the Camp Invention program, but they also cultivate a mindset to imagine, wonder, problem solve and innovate.

NIHF Inductees like Marshall Jones help shape the dynamic resources of Camp Invention. Jones, who attributes his career as an engineer in part to repeating the 4^th grade so that he could further develop his reading skills, is a pioneer in the use of lasers for industrial materials processing. He invented methods to weld dissimilar materials (combining materials that have major differences in composition). Along with developing a technique to quickly weld aluminum and copper using a laser, Jones also invented a laser-welding system using fiber optic cables that is able to simultaneously split a laser beam and heat opposite sides of a workpiece (a piece of material in the process of manufacture). His story exemplifies persistence at every step of the way and is just one of the sources for the Camp Invention mindset!

Looking for more STEM activities?

For more exciting activities to explore at home with your child, we invite you to visit our brand new at-home learning resources page!

If you enjoyed this activity, we encourage you to check out all our back-to-school curriculum options.