Camp Invention

 

SmartFit Kids is partnering with Camp Invention, a nationally recognized summer enrichment program this year. Camp Invention is the only nationally recognized, kindergarten through sixth grade, nonprofit summer enrichment program, Camp Invention®, inspired by National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) Inductees — our world changing inventors. Recent research found that early exposure to inventors can increase the chances for a child to innovate one day themselves. At Camp Invention, children are empowered to have big ideas while they take on challenges that inspire them to question, brainstorm, and collaborate with teammates and build amazing invention prototypes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Camp Invention fosters learning for all involved. While K-6 campers use problem-solving skills, ingenuity, creative and critical thinking skills, Leaders-in-Training and Leadership Interns develop and hone their leadership skills. I love seeing the innovative and inventive creations campers produce and genuinely enjoy watching the older students step in as leaders and teachers throughout the week of camp.   

 

A detailed weekly camp schedule is in the bottom of this page.

 

Our normal camp hours are 8:00am-5:00pm with before and after care available from 6:30am-8:00am and 5:00pm-6:30pm. 

 

Spots are limited for our summer camp and spots tend to fill up fast. Be sure to sign up to reserve your spot! 

 

SmartFit Kids Summer Camp is licensed through the Department of Health (formally DHMH). 
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WHEN    June 18 – August 10th (8 weeks)
               8:00am – 5:00pm (Regular Camp Hours) 
               6:30am - 6:30pm (including Before and After Care)
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WHO     Invention Summer Camp is open to students, ages 4-14
               in Severna Park, Arnold, Annapolis, Pasadena, Glen Burnie and other areas of Anne Arundel County, Maryland
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COST (Monday through Friday camp)

Camp invention costs $255/week regardless of the number of weeks signed up for.

Before Care: $25 Per week  After Care: $25 Per week
Siblings receive 5% discount on weekly fees
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Each camper requires to wear a camp shirt on every field trip.
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WHERE DO I SIGN UP?
Just fill out the registration forms, and the Campers Health form online at the Registration tab.
 

SCHEDULE 
WEEK     THEME
17-Jun   Innovation Force -           In The Innovation Force, children team up with members of Innovation ForceTM, a group of NIHF Inductees who                                                                    have been transformed into comic book superheroes! By thwarting the evil Plagiarizer, a supervillain out to steal

                                                          the world’s ideas, children create a device to retrieve the stolen ideas and, in the process, learn about

                                                          the importance of intellectual property and the patent system.

                                                Children will:

                                                   • Engage with inventors in a relatable and exciting way.

                                                   • Design, build and market an invention to aid the Innovation Force and their noble cause.

                                                   • Learn the basics of intellectual property and the importance of protecting one’s ideas.

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24-Jun   Deep Sea Mystery -        In Deep Sea Mystery, children embark on a research adventure at sea to dig up fossils, but soon find themselves

                                                         stranded on an island. Using lessons and advice from NIHF Inductees Sumita Mitra and Stan Honey,

                                                         children invent island-survival tools and underwater equipment used to better study marine life.

                                                Children will:

                                                  • Explore navigation techniques using the constellations by creating a Little Dipper Lamp Projector

                                                     to take home, which helps find the North Star.

                                                  • Use group work to build confidence and collaboration skills as campers work in teams to solve

                                                     real-world problems.

                                                  • Build and design miniature boats that must float and carry pieces of cargo.

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1-Jul       Farm Camp -                   In Farm Tech, children are put in charge of managing their own farm and learn the basics of running a business.

                                                         With the assistance of their very own Bot-ANN-E robot, campers learn fundamental coding

                                                         techniques to maximize their time and profits. NIHF Inductee Marvin Caruthers joins the fun and

                                                         introduces students to DNA syntheses, and children perform their own mock DNA experiment

                                                         to check the health of their newly purchased cattle.

                                               Children will:

                                                 • Play the role of a farmer and tackle the real-world economic challenges of running a farm and business.

                                                 • Program a robot to conduct the practical tasks of running a farm and explore the power and

                                                    efficiency of automated tasks.

                                                 • Explore DNA and learn how doctors and scientists determine the health of people and animals.

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8-Jul       DIY Orbot -                     In DIY Orbot children explore frequency, circuit boards, motors and gears as they use real tools to reverse

                                                       engineer a remote-controlled DIY OrbotTM. Throughout the week, campers will adapt their DIY Orbot

                                                       to perform increasingly challenging tasks from sports to art.

                                              Children will:

                                                 • Work together in teams to overcome each day’s unique challenge, culminating in the creation

                                                    of a large obstacle course.

                                                 • Learn basic engineering skills by taking apart their robot to better understand its inner workings.

                                                 • Use engineering design principles to adapt their robot to each day’s new activity.

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15-Jul     Mission Space Makers - In Mission Space Makers, participants are on a mission to locate and prepare a new planet for human habitation.

                                                          They terraform a distant new exoplanet—designing inventions to transform its atmosphere,

                                                          terrain, and ecosystem to create the next Earth. They set up a Space Lab

                                                          to hatch eggs, sprout living plants and grow crystals.

                                                  Children will:

                                                   • Explore National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees and NASA engineers who have designed

                                                     and built telescopes, rockets, and observed planets outside of our solar system

                                                   • Build a space rocket and launch it to land on their exoplanet as they investigate rocket science

                                                   • Protect their team’s Space Lab from a meteoroid storm, search for fallen meteorites, and identify their type

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22-Jul     OFF

29-Jul     Duct Tape Billionaire -   As DIY duct tape experts, children design products that they can market and sell.

                                                         They explore how to create duct tape accessories and then put their own patented spin

                                                         on them. They build inventory, get ready to take some risks and create a start-up business

                                                         that will put their products in high demand.

                                                    Children will:

                                                      • Become an entrepreneur and bring an invention to a mock market

                                                      • Create duct tape money bags to hold their capital

                                                      • Launch their businesses and pitch their products to mock investors

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5-Aug     Operation Keep Out -   In Operation Keep Out, children take apart machines and devices and use their parts and pieces to create the ultimate

                                                        Spy Gadget Alarm Boxes to help millions of children keep their treasures secure. During the week, they

                                                        figure out how to read a note written in invisible ink to find a missing tool, use spy glasses to catch a toy

                                                        thief, and discover that both spies and engineers write in secret codes!

                                                  Children will:

                                                     • Dissect appliances, using tools correctly and safely to investigate how machines work

                                                         through the process of reverse engineering

                                                     • Explore how their machine pieces and parts might be used in a Spy Gadget Alarm Box

                                                     • Express ideas through writing and sketching in their Inventor Logs

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12-Aug   Have a Blast -               In Have a Blast, children are placed into teams, which compete in friendly air battles and use physics to boost their                                                               advantage. Children build and take home their own high-tech Bubble Blaster, complete with

                                                       flashing lights. They engineer an enormous cardboard castle, design “snowball”

                                                       throwers, make a giant air cannon, launch water rockets, and fling rubber chickens.

                                                  Children will:

                                                    • Apply principles of engineering to create a castle from cardboard and design a pulley system to raise a castle flag

                                                    • Build an air cannon that can demonstrate how air moves in response to force

                                                    • Employ the concepts of physics and motion to engineer aerodynamic water rockets

                                                       out of plastic water bottles that can soar more than 50 feet

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19-Aug   OFF

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26-Aug    OFF

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For our camp calendar and field trips please see our daily schedule below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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