Camp Invention began the week of June 22, allowing 60 day campers to explore STEM challenges, build confidence, and develop inquiry and creativity at Parkway Manor Elementary School in Allentown.

The nationally-recognized program provides unique units that are hands-on and encourages persistence, adaptability, and creative problem solving skills. The program utilizes local, qualified educators to implement the units to students entering grades one to six.

According to Director Michelle Moser, many of the campers return for consecutive years because no units are repeated. Each year offers unique challenges in creativity and thinking.

Moser has been a part of the program for the past 25 years. Her daughter started the program when she was in kindergarten and today her daughter is a nurse. “That’s how long we have been doing this program,” she said. Moser shared that the program even “survived COVID” because they engaged online and science kits were mailed to the students to use at home.

Campers are grouped and exposed to four different 75 minute rotations. One of the stations, Space Morphers, allows campers to build their own rockets and launch them. Campers are given a “mission to transform a planet’s atmosphere, terrain, and ecosystem for future habitation.” They engage with the concepts of engineering developing their own rockets and tackling real-world problems of exploring how they will handle survival on their new planets.

The second station of “Make Waves” offers campers the opportunity to explore the world of surfing engaging in buoyancy experiments. Station 3 is Fur-ensics and campers become detectives who have to solve an animal mystery. Campers created tools of discovery and decorated capybaras with these tools to help them solve the mystery.

Finally, Station 4, The Infringers, helps students identify challenges in their local communities. Campers explore ways to protect their ideas and also learn to create codes with their cryptography devices.

Even though the children receive science instruction in school, most of the time the lessons are scripted, explained Moser. Camp Invention allows campers the opportunity to explore their creativity. “They take junk and turn it into something useful,” added Moser.

In addition to the materials provided by Camp Invention, there is a room of recyclables (paper rolls, tubes, and beads) that campers use in their stations.

Each instructor is assigned a counselor to assist in the groups. The counselors are high school and college students; many are former campers who experienced the program. They are responsible for moving the campers from one rotation to the next. Middle school students serve as “counselors in training” and learn how to help in the groups as well.

The program has lasted for 25 years because it offers challenging units every year. Children enjoy the program so much that they return in middle school, high school, and even college to help other children enjoy the experience of learning like they did.

Camper Gabe excitedly shared how he followed steps to place solutions on trees and how this could affect life on their planet. He also explained how they dropped plastic eggs that contained different items into solutions that will “hatch.”

The campers then had to decide how the items might be used on their new planets. Connor added to the conversation about how they built rockets and launched them using rubber bands attached to their rockets.

Even recess encourages the use of creativity and keeps campers thinking using a variety of games. Moser described one of the recess activities as the “leaky cup.” Campers have to transfer water from one bucket to another using a cup with holes in it. They have to work together and figure out how to move as much water from one bucket to another.

The camp runs 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and is held every year for one week. Families interested in next year’s camp can contact Moser at Parkway Elementary School for more information.