Ready. Set. Invent!

More than 100 local kids are primed to tackle Camp Invention next month at , when it opens under the guidance of teacher Joan Wright.

“The kids love most everything,” Wright said. “This camp allows for their imagination and the sense of play to come into learning—it’s not your typical science camp. It’s all hands on!”

The camp, rooted in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, gives students, who are entering first through sixth grade, an opportunity for a hands-on educational experience. It's offered through

Students will get the opportunity to work together in the weeklong camp to build a clubhouse, decipher mysterious codes and tear apart broken appliances and revamp them into multi-step inventions akin to a Rube Goldberg-type machine, which performs a task.

“Creativity is one of the 21st century skills that business say kids are losing that they are going to need,” Wright said. “They will get that here.”

Wright, who lives in the Minnetonka school district, has been with Camp Invention for more than a decade. And she’s not the only professional educator at the camp—every teacher at Minnetonka's Camp Invention is state licensed.

Started in 1990 as an outreach program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Museum, Susan Clarke, regional coordinator for Camp Invention in Minnesota, said the nonprofit has grown to 48 states. Last year, 66,000 kids participated in various summer programs.

“It’s learning with a twist,” Clarke said. “Everything is open-ended. There are no right or wrong answers.”

Camp Invention touts four different programs, which rotate annually through participating schools so kids have a chance to try different activities each year. Wright said that she has had many kids who have participated in the camp for years—first as campers, then as counselors. This year, Minnetonka is offering the SPARK program for the July session and the DISCOVER program for the August session.

“The curriculum changes each year. It’s not a one year camp. Kids can do this every year,” Wright said.

The ‘I Can Invent’ workshop is the signature unit of Camp Invention and will be taught at both sessions. During this workshop, kids are asked to bring in an item from home, like an old VCR, clock radio or answering machine, which they will then take apart. Once dismantled, the kids will use recycled products like boxes and cardboard, in addition to the pieces from their home electronics, to invent something new.   

“(The children) would be perfectly happy to do that all week long,” Clarke laughed. “They love investigating how things work.”

At the end of the week, family, friends and community members are invited to see what each student made. According to Wright, the most popular inventions include robots who roam, do homework and feed pets. One year, she said, a camper invented a gadget to keep their siblings out of their room. 

“We’re improving and increasing their love for learning science,” Wright said. “They are having so much fun, they don’t know they are learning the science part!”

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SPARK Curriculum

July 11-15, 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.    

• Bounce! An Atomic Journey™ - Learn about nanotechnology, chemistry, and polymers as you explore the science behind bouncy balls.
• The Curious Cypher Club™ - Decipher puzzling riddles and crack unusual codes to discover who is sending mysterious messages ... and why!
• Wild! Wondrous Innovations and Living Designs™ - Join us on an animal adventure as we investigate the survival traits of nature's most inventive animals.
• I Can Invent: Edison's Workshop™ - Work with real tools to take apart a machine, use the parts and other materials to build an invention and become America's next great inventor!
• Game On: Power Play™ - Explore new games and add your own twist to high-energy challenges!

DISCOVER 3 Curriculum

August 8-12, 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.  

• I Can Invent: Fantasy Inventions and Complicated Machines III™ - Use real tools to take apart old appliances and see how they work, then create a model of your own invention.  Older campers participate in a Rube Goldberg team challenge that starts a (safe) explosion.
• Viking Treasure Trek: The Quest Begins™ – Navigate the oceans and investigate clues to locate long-lost Viking treasure!
• Comic Book Science:  FlyJack and Jill™ – Discover the science behind super powers, such as flight and DNA coding!
• Land Sled X-Treme™ – Be a part of the winning team that engineers the ultimate land sled in an X-treme obstacle course!
• Game On: Power Play™II - Have fun with a whole new set of games this week!

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To register, click here.