BHSU to facilitate at-home STEM camp for grades K-6

Child helping with a STEM project and writing on a piece of paper

This summer Black Hills State University is offering a STEM enrichment program, Camp Invention Elevate At Home, June 8-July 3. The four week at-home camp is designed for students entering grades K-6. The cost is $170 and scholarships are available. Registration is encouraged by May 20 at www.BHSU.edu/CampInvention

This summer Black Hills State University is offering a STEM enrichment program, Camp Invention Elevate At Home, June 8-July 3. Developed by the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Camp Invention provides children with hands-on/minds-on opportunities to explore, create, and invent.

The four-week at-home camp is designed for students entering grades K-6. The cost is $170; scholarships are available. Registration is encouraged by May 20 at www.BHSU.edu/CampInvention

Terri Bauerly, camp co-director and educational technology instructor at BHSU, says students will end camp with working robots and fun challenges they can continue to build on.

“Students will feel a sense of community with their fellow campers and peers, as well as a feeling of great accomplishment through this camp. They will have developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills and have an active interest in STEAM, building and creating, experimenting, and entrepreneurship,” she says.

Registered families will receive a kit by mail that includes all materials need to complete the learning activities. One unit will be covered each week. Units include Flight Lab™, Camp Invention Champions™, Design Thinking Project™, and Rescue Squad™. 

Small group video sessions will be held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 6-6:30 p.m. Student participation in the ‘virtual camp’ is optional but encouraged. The video sessions will include instruction by teachers and a show-and-tell for students to share their completed work.

Bauerly says the camp uses project-based learning, a beneficial instructional strategy in the classroom but also a fun way to continue learning in the summer.

“Students who continue to learn and practice skills they obtained during the school year have an advantage over students who don't. Skills are retained longer and prepare students to learn new things,” says Bauerly. “Camp Invention Elevate At Home provides project-based learning that will tap into student’s background knowledge, initiate critical thinking, and get kids moving!”

Learn more at www.BHSU.edu/CampInvention