Camp Invention turns STEM into summer adventure for local children
By: Jenna Bolton
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Campers huddled around a table examining suspicious splatters and fluffy strands of fur, using detective gadgets to track clues left behind in a series of mischievous pranks involving robotic rodents.
Just down the hall, another group counted down before sending DIY rockets soaring, part of a mission designed to collect data and imagine how a distant planet could transform into a place humans could one day call home.
And in another room, young inventors raced against the clock to protect their newest homemade creations, using cryptography and other methods to keep the sneaky “Infringers” from stealing their ideas.
For a moment, the Ohio University Grover Center looked less like a traditional summer camp and more like a forensic lab, space station and inventor workshop all combined into one.
The STEM camp, operated through the National Inventors Hall of Fame, combines science, technology, engineering and math with creativity, teamwork and problem solving.
For many campers, the STEM projects are what draw them in.
Longtime camper Adriel said the freedom to experiment is what keeps him coming back.
“My favorite part of camp is the creativity you get to have with your inventions and just being able to create all of these different designs, and the trial and error of inventing,” he said.
While the inventions and experiments capture children’s attention, camp director April Louthain said the experience goes far beyond just educational lessons.
“One of the things I like about it is that they have to work together and they have to collaborate,” Louthain said. “There’s kids from all different schools in Athens and outside of Athens, so I really like that part.”
Throughout the week, campers rotate through hands-on modules such as Fur-ensics, where children use forensic science techniques to solve mysteries with robotic capybaras, which are giant rodents, and Space Morphers, which challenges campers to imagine how humans might transform another planet into a place people can live.
Outside, campers participate in team-building challenges, games and problem-solving activities that keep the energy high.
“It’s very high energy,” Louthain said. “Even though it’s mostly an inside camp, they still get to release that energy, and they get to work together, and they learn a lot of really cool stuff.”
For Savannah Rapp, who attended Camp Invention as a child and now serves as a leader, she now gets to watch the same friendships and memories form from the other side of the classroom and describes this as the most rewarding part of her experience.
“My favorite part about being a part of the camp is just the whole environment,” Rapp said. “It’s so supportive of creativity and friendship.”
Rapp said she also loves watching campers connect with one another the same way she did. Campers often arrive from different schools and backgrounds but quickly bond through the week’s activities.
“I get to watch kids play chopsticks across from each other at the tables, and they don’t go to the same school, but they’re best friends for this week, and will be next summer again too,” she said. “It’s just so supportive.”
The camp also has a waiting list, and many of its instructors are certified teachers who already know some of the children attending.
Asked about her favorite part of the camp, Ava was quick to respond: “I love hanging out with the (leaders) and just getting to be around the kids because they’re super fun, and we’re cultivating leadership here. They kind of like raised us, in a way, because some of us have been here for forever, and they’ve kind of just been like our best friends.”
Leaders also say the STEM experience feels different from a traditional classroom, even though learning remains at the center of every activity.
“It’s like school, but like a hundred times better,” Rapp said.
In her module, campers learned about the Goldilocks zone and what makes Earth habitable. But because the lessons are woven into games, inventions and challenges, children often don’t realize how much academic material they’re absorbing.
“We’re learning things, but kids don’t think of it like school,” she said. “They’re going to learn it and it’s going to stick with them.”
As the STEM week comes to an end, inventions will get taken home, DIY rockets will be packed away, and mystery clues will be cleared from the tables. But organizers hope campers leave with something much bigger than a science project.
“Something that I would want them to remember is really more with their heart,” Louthain said. “That it was really fun and exciting and those friendships that they make.”