‘Camp Invention’ coming this summer to Champaign and Monticello
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Camp Invention®, a nationally recognized, nonprofit summer enrichment program, is coming to the following locations.
Champaign: St. Matthew Catholic School the week of July 13 – July 17.
Monticello: Washington Elementary School the week of June 8 – June 11.
Regional program sponsors include Johnson Controls Foundation and Overdeck Family Foundation.
A program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame® in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Camp Invention challenges children in grades K-6 to tap into their natural curiosity and use their creativity to solve problems. Through hands-on activities, Camp Invention promotes STEM learning; builds confidence, leadership, perseverance and resourcefulness; and encourages entrepreneurship all in a fun and engaging environment.
Each year, the program features new curricula inspired by some of our nations most world-changing inventors the National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees. This years Spark program encourages children to be confident in their ideas and explore their innovativeness through hands-on activities including:
• Space Morphers™: Kids build a DIY rocket and launch an epic mission to transform a new planets atmosphere, terrain and ecosystem. After a high-energy Rover Race to collect samples and data, they grow dazzling crystal trees and hatch a mysterious animal egg in a Space Lab.
• Make Waves™: Campers ride the waves of entrepreneurship and invention! Inspired by a surfers journey, they create prototypes, pitch their innovative products to hook investors and build a billboard boat to set sail and make waves in the market.
• Fur-ensics™: Kids sharpen their animal detective skills with Cap E. Bara and a fleet of robotic capybaras. They investigate a trail of footprints, collect bits of fluffy fur and examine suspicious splatters before forensically analyzing evidence that has a surprising twist.
• The Infringers™: Campers use their invention superpowers to solve challenges in their community and around the world. They miniaturize top-secret innovations, safeguard their designs using cryptography and protect their intellectual property from the Infringers.
“I love that this camp lets my kids step out of the usual roles that they have at home and in school, and explore different parts of themselves,” said the parent of 2025 Camp Invention campers. “At camp, my son learns to be more creative, and my daughter learns to be more independent.”
All local Camp Invention programs are facilitated and taught by qualified educators who reside and teach in the community, organizers said. Camp Invention serves 147,000 students every year and partners with more than 2,600 schools and districts across the nation. For more information or to register, visit invent.org/camp.