Summer Camp Descriptions

Our STEM education team is excited to bring back old favorites and introduce new themes for camps available for grades 1 through 6. Topics include art, biology, carpentry, chemistry, coding, engineering, magic, paleontology, space, and more.

Grades 1-3

Blow it Up
Launch rockets, experiment with dry ice, and learn all about how simple ingredients come together to make exciting explosions.

Calling All Marine Biologists 
Through hands-on activities, look at the adaptations of ocean animals, from dolphins to fish to octopus. Dissect a squid and make a coral reef model.

Carpentry Artpentry 
Get comfortable with a hammer and saw as you develop carpentry skills. Build gadgets that allow you to create unique masterpieces in unexpected ways. Show off your creativity and craftsmanship with works of art and engineering.

Fossil Finders
Dinosaur and fossil fans, this is the camp for you. We'll visit all your favorites at the museum: Triceratops, Diplodocus, and even T. rex. Explore and excavate ancient fossils, experiment with dinosaur teeth, and see the world from a dino’s view.

Get Set to Be a Vet
Explore what veterinarians do and what it takes to become one. Discover how best to take care of your furry, feathery, and scaly friends. Get hands-on with veterinary techniques as you learn to understand real animal X-rays and perform treatments as a vet-in-training. 

Magic at the Museum
Warm up your cauldrons, crack open your spellbooks, and get excited for a week of practical sorcery. Experience the magic of everyday science by mixing potions and conjuring transformations as you discover what’s fantastical about the natural world.

Marble Run Engineering
Use your imagination to design a marble run that uses twists, turns, and tricks that defy gravity. Let the good times roll right through your marble run as you create, test, improve, and occasionally fail while always having a ball.

Museum Adventure
Calling all adventurers: are you ready to explore the museum inside and out? Join us for  afternoons of fun and games at everyone's favorite science museum. Go on exhibition expeditions, experience the Omnitheater, and discover the museum behind the scenes!

STAR Collective
Investigate the skills of puzzling through Science, Theater, and ARt in this unique collaborative camp. Piece together artistic solutions to everyday challenges and repurpose pieces into a whole through sculpture, collage, and mosaic techniques. Problem-solve the many puzzling components of creating and performing an original play. Try out the methods inventors, computer scientists, and archaeologists use to solve real-life puzzles. STAR Collective is a collaboration between the Science Museum, SteppingStone Theatre, and COMPAS.

Space Explorers
Get ready to be an astronaut! Design, build, and test a spacecraft for a mission to the Moon and beyond. Create a spacesuit, launch a rocket, and pilot a land rover.

Super Scratch 
Create your own simple interactive animations, learn the basics of computer programming, and design a simple computer game using ScratchJr, a fun program that will help you explore coding. Improve game building skills by creating your own board game.

Grades 4-6

Blow it Up
Launch rockets, experiment with dry ice, and learn all about how simple ingredients come together to make exciting explosions.

Calling All Marine Biologists 
Through hands-on activities, look at the adaptations of ocean animals, from dolphins to fish to octopus. Dissect a squid and make a coral reef model.

Design a Computer Game
Use your imagination to program your own interactive game or story using Scratch. Whether you’ve tried coding before or not, you’re sure to grow your skills and have fun while taking on exciting new challenges.

Dino Discovery
If you dig fossils, this camp is for you! Visit the Dinosaurs & Fossils Gallery. Look at the latest research on dinosaurs and a variety of fossil animals and plants. Use the tools of a paleontologist to excavate and explore. (formerly Be a Paleontologist)

Get Set to Be a Vet
Explore what veterinarians do and what it takes to become one. Discover how best to take care of your furry, feathery, and scaly friends. Get hands-on with veterinary techniques as you learn to understand real animal X-rays and perform treatments as a vet-in-training. (Note: camp for grades 4-6 includes watching a dissection.)

Magic at the Museum
Warm up your cauldrons, crack open your spellbooks, and get excited for a week of practical sorcery. Experience the magic of everyday science by mixing potions and conjuring transformations as you discover what’s fantastical about the natural world.

Maker Space: Make Your Space
Use techniques like carpentry, circuitry, weaving, and more to make useful and unique items to deck out your personal space. Choose your own way to construct and create your works of art and design that will make your place pop.

Marble Run Engineering
Use your imagination to design a marble run that uses twists, turns, and tricks that defy gravity. Let the good times roll right through your marble run as you create, test, improve, and occasionally fail while always having a ball.

Mechanical Makers
Explore gears, mechanisms, and machines on your way to designing, creating, and sharing your own amazing storytelling contraption called automata (aa-taa-muh-tuh).

Mini Golf Maker 
Design and build a tabletop mini golf hole. Improve your design as you play through your group’s course during the week, and putt your way to fun! 

Planet Protectors
Become a friend of the earth by learning about the 4Rs (recycle, reduce, reuse, and repair), and discovering how we can care for the nature all around us. Turn trash into art, and learn how you can make a difference for our planet! 

Sci Girls in the National Parks
Explore science, technology, engineering, and math with SciGirls, the popular TV show. Inform your field work with online SciGirls resources. Conduct hands-on investigations through citizen science projects that contribute to real-life research occurring at the national park in our neighborhood: Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Learn about being a STEM professional from women who turned their passion for science into a career.

STAR Collective
Investigate the skills of puzzling through Science, Theater, and ARt in this unique collaborative camp. Piece together artistic solutions to everyday challenges and repurpose pieces into a whole through sculpture, collage, and mosaic techniques. Problem-solve the many puzzling components of creating and performing an original play. Try out the methods inventors, computer scientists, and archaeologists use to solve real-life puzzles. STAR Collective is a collaboration between the Science Museum, SteppingStone Theatre, and COMPAS.