Program keeps kids’ brains active while providing hands-on fun
Decades of research have shown the loss of learning over the summer is a critical issue. And since 1990, thousands of children have participated in the Camp Invention summer enrichment program, which engages children in grades 1-6 with hands-on, discovery-based activities that inspire their interest in science, technology, engineering and math.
The Camp Invention program at the College of St. Benedict will offer area children the opportunity to test their teamwork and imagination when they travel through time in the Ci6000 Space Modulator Time Machine, build a magnet-powered city and use reverse engineering on discarded appliances to create a new invention. They will hone 21st century learning skills such as teamwork, creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving while working through a variety of individual and team challenges.
“Building capacity to create and innovate in our students is central to guaranteeing the nation’s competitiveness,” according to the President’s Council of Advisers on the Arts and Humanities in a May 2011 report. Researchers studying the essential building blocks of creativity point to the willingness to take risks, learn from failure, and the ability to draw inferences from a specific event to the wider world.
That’s what the Camp Invention program is all about. Creativity, invention, risk-taking, working through failure, and learning by doing are the core components of the inquiry learning method used in the Camp Invention curriculum. Children are presented with a series of real-world problems that require innovative solutions. Along the way, they practice brainstorming, group decision-making, testing, evaluating and revising their ideas … essentially learning to use the scientific process while having lots of fun.
Camp Invention will be offered at the College of St. Benedict during the week of July 9-13. The program will be directed by Missy Tellinghuisen, taught by local qualified educators, and will feature a 1:8 staff-to-student ratio. High school and college students will help lead the groups through four different exciting modules each day.
This Camp Invention Envision program is proudly supported in this region by AIPLA, the Nordson Corp. Foundation and the Pentair Foundation. For more information about the programs in your area or to register, visit www.campinvention.org or call 800.968.4332.