Camp Invention

Jack's school hosts Camp Invention each summer, and he really wanted to go so we signed him up.  It's a science camp, and we figured if he was showing interest in doing something educational during the summer we ought to jump on it.  Justice has been to this camp before when he was Jack's age, so we knew what to expect.

The basis of the camp is that you use recyclable materials throughout the week to build things.  Kids bring in all sorts of old items and repurpose them.  

This is the "treehouse" crew.  Jack and his team built a treehouse with running water and a wading pool.  They had to use their imaginations from start to finish.

The next phase of camp was to team up with someone and invent something repurposed out of old electronic items.

This little contraption actually worked.  They used a flat cell battery to make both the light work and the fan run.  Pretty neat.  And again, 100% imagination driven with nothing but a big pile of random pieces and parts in front of them to choose from.

 

The light works

And the fan blows.

They also learned about crickets during the week, and built a solar powered cricket that chirps and hops when it's fully charged.  

Jack had a great time this week and I imagine he will want to go back next year as well.  He isn't normally very good about using his imagination, so this was a big deal for him.  It's just proven hard to tap into it...  hopefully if we continue to find creative ways for him to learn he will enjoy learning a little more.  This camp was definitely 100% educational and he loved it.