Summer Tinkering Camp - DuPage Children's Museum

Pajama Party  | Friday, March 15 | 5–8pm

Get Tickets
Close button

Summer Tinkering Camp

Building Creative Problem-Solvers

 

Over the course of one week (or six!), Tinkering Camp provides an immersive opportunity to build with real tools to solve real problems. Budding engineers will find joy in the challenges, knowledge in the failures, and the confidence and ability to keep trying.

Tinkering promotes creative problem solving, flexible thinking, a failure-positive mindset, and to top it off. . . it is incredibly fun! Working with other like-minded children and adult collaborators, Campers will have a chance to bring their imaginations to life.

Each week’s challenge offers multiple entry points for the youngest to most advanced problem solvers – making sure Tinkerers stay curious and dedicated to the project as it unfolds throughout the week. The process is more important than the end result; imagination and ingenuity will guide the outcome each week.

 

Location: Tinkering Camp is held at DuPage Children’s Museum. We have access to outdoor work space as well as indoor program rooms and playtime in the Museum.

 

Group Breakdown: 8 to 12 children per group*

  • Ages 4 – 5 years
  • Ages 6 – 7 years
  • Ages 8 – 11 years

 

*Campers will remain with the same group of children and camp staff for the entire week.

 

Adult:Child Ratio: 1:6

 

Week 1: Monday, June 17 – Friday, June 21, 2024    

Week 2: Monday, June 24 – Friday, June 28, 2024  

Week 3: Monday, July 8 – Friday, July 12, 2024    

Week 4: Monday, July 15 – Friday, July 19, 2024      

Week 5: Monday, July 22 – Friday, July 26, 2024  

Week 6: Monday, July 29 – Friday, August 2, 2024  

 

Full-Day Tinkering Camp | 9 am – 3 pm

Member: $350/wk | Non-member: $385/wk 

Half-Day Tinkering Camp | 9 – 11:30 am or 12:30 – 3 pm

Member: $195/wk | Non-member: $225/wk

Pricing is per child/per week

 

Receive 10% Off: Register multiple children or register for multiple camps and receive a 10% Discount. Use code TINKER10 at checkout to receive discount.

 

Make your camp week(s) Easy Peasy by ordering Lunch and Snacks from Bean Sprouts Café: View Options Here

 

Get More Details: Click Here for Summer Tinkering Camp FAQs

Six Weeks of Tinkering FUN!

Tinkering Camps

Week 1

Launchpad

 

Monday, June 17 – Friday, June 21, 2024
Registration Deadline: Monday, June 10

Launch means many things: get going, start, begin, embark on, initiate, originate, create, pioneer, mastermind, commence… Tinkerers will build unbelievable gadgets and gizmos that will reach new heights of creativity.

Projects: Catapults, Paper Airplane Launchers, Stomp Rockets

 

Register Now!

  • Launchpad Full-Day SOLD OUT
  • Launchpad Half-Day AM SOLD OUT
  • Launchpad Half-Day PM SOLD OUT
  • Join the Waitlist

 

 

Week 2

Crazy Contraptions


Monday, June 24 – Friday, June 28, 2024
Registration Deadline: Monday, June 17

Have you ever heard of a Rube Goldberg machine? (Google it!) What better way to learn about cause and effect while exploring the necessary interconnectedness of all the pieces and parts that make machines work. Tinkerers assemble! (And also disassemble!) |

Projects: Marble/Ball Run, Simple Machines – Levers and Pulleys, Cardboard Contraptions

 

Register Now!

  • Crazy Contraptions Full-Day SOLD OUT
  • Crazy Contraptions Half-Day AM SOLD OUT
  • Crazy Contraptions Half-Day PM SOLD OUT
  • Join the Waitlist

 

 

Week 3

Let it Roll – Make it Fly


Monday, July 8 – Friday, July 12, 2024
Registration Deadline: Monday, July 1

This week Tinkerers will create their own wheeled vehicles to test on a track of our very own creation! Then take flight; explore all things that fly and make the world’s greatest paper airplanes, cardboard boomerangs, gliders and kites!

Projects: Let it Roll – Design and build cars (things with wheels) and a track for them to race on, Make it Fly – Paper airplanes and cardboard boomerangs and your very own DIY kite

 

Register Now!

  • Let It Roll, Make It Fly Full-Day SOLD OUT
  • Let It Roll, Make It Fly Half-Day AM SOLD OUT
  • Let It Roll, Make It Fly Half-Day PM SOLD OUT
  • Join the Waitlist

 

 

Week 4

Music Makers


Monday July 15 – Friday, July 19, 2024
Registration Deadline: Monday, July 8

Join us for a week of exploring music!  We will not only have the chance to explore a wide variety of musical instruments and experience the joy of playing music together, but also have the opportunity to be a designer, engineer, scientist and inventor while creating fantastical musical instruments of our own creation!

Projects: DIY String Instruments, DIY Percussion Instruments, Design Your Own Sound Experiment

 

Register Now!

 

 

Week 5

Science & Art of Bubbles


Monday July 22 – Friday, July 26, 2024
Registration Deadline: Monday, July 15

Let’s explore the wonderful world of soap bubbles! At Tinkering Camp we playfully experiment with the world around us.

Projects: DIY Bubble Wands, DIY Bubble Solution, Find new and innovative ways to play with bubbles

 

Register Now!

  • Science & Art of Bubbles Full-Day SOLD OUT
  • Science & Art of Bubbles Half-Day AM SOLD OUT
  • Science & Art of Bubbles Half-Day PM SOLD OUT
  • Join the Waitlist

 

 

Week 6

Art Explosion


Monday July 29 – Friday, August 2, 2024
Registration Deadline: Monday, July 22

Tinkering is all about playful experimentation! Exploring all different kinds of art techniques and mediums, tinkerers will have the chance to let their creativity shine through and find the joy in making art together!

 

Register Now!

  • Art Explosion Full-Day SOLD OUT
  • Art Explosion Half-Day AM SOLD OUT
  • Art Explosion Half-Day PM SOLD OUT
  • Join the Waitlist

 

 

Attending all six weeks of Tinkering Camp will provide the ultimate opportunity for young engineers, designers, and inventors to expand their creative problem-solving skill set. Children will build self-confidence through a platform of innovative collaboration with peers and perseverance through challenges.

Tinkering Camp Curriculum

Think. Tinker. Make. Repeat.

When children arrive at Tinkering Camp, they are met with real tools, real materials, and adult collaborators who are ready to help them grow, learn, and build. The curriculum is born out of children’s perceptions of what those materials can become. Each week, an overarching challenge helps to propel the Campers in the same direction. After a morning of tool training, the project is revealed and oftentimes building and testing will begin right away. Other times, Tinkerers will need to dwell in the design phase, exploring concepts and ideas on paper before diving into the work.

 

Tinkering is the playful precursor to the more serious activity of engineering. Tinkering starts with very simple questions like: “What can I do with this?” or “How does this work?” and often leads to making something. When children tinker, they are learning about the properties of materials, the capabilities of tools, and the way to identify unique solutions to problems.

SAFETY

Each camp session will begin with some safety tips. Keeping children safe while using a variety of materials and building involves letting them take and manage risks. Working on and completing projects is very empowering to young children and promotes a sense of independence.

Tinkering Camp is Incredibly Fun!

Fun & Learning

Daily Milestones

  • Learning how to collaborate in small and large groups
  • Formulating ideas and communicating them effectively
  • Learning from and teaching other children
  • Trial and error, failure, and persistence leading to new knowledge
  • Building unique creations that only exist thanks to Tinkering Camp
Every Day is Something New

Schedule

EACH WEEK

MONDAY: Tool Training, Project Challenge Reveal, Planning

TUESDAY: Project Work & Explore Museum Makerspaces

WEDNESDAY: Project Work & Walking Field Trip (See FAQ)

THURSDAY: Project Work & Explore Museum Makerspaces

FRIDAY: Project Finalization, Presentation, Reflection

 

EACH DAY (Sample Schedule)

9:00 am: Campers Arrive

9:15  am: Project Introduction, Safety Training

9:45  am: Design, Build, Prototype

10:30 am: Snack Break

10:45 am: Play Time!

11:30 am: Lunch

12:30 pm: Design, Build, Prototype

1:30 pm: Free Build, Art Project, Snack

2:30 pm: Clean Up, Reflect, Plan for Tomorrow

At A Glance

Full-Day Tinkering Camp | 9 am – 3 pm

Member: $350/wk | Non-member: $385/wk 

Half-Day Tinkering Camp | 9 – 11:30 am or 12:30 – 3 pm

Member: $195/wk | Non-member: $225/wk

Pricing is per child/per week

 

Receive 10% Off: Register multiple children or register for multiple camps and receive a 10% discount. Use code TINKER10 at checkout to receive discount.

 

Cancellation Policy:

  • No portion of the enrollment fee will be refunded to participants as of two weeks (14 days) prior to the first day of camp.
  • Prorated refunds will not be given for missed days.
  • Cancellations must be requested by email to admin@dupagechildrensmuseum.org.

 

Join us for one week or six!

 

Questions?
Contact Dustin Thacker, Arts & Maker Specialist
dthacker@dupagechildrensmuseum.org

 

Week 1: Launchpad

Monday, June 17 – Friday, June 21, 2024
SOLD OUT

 

Week 2: Crazy Contraptions

Monday, June 24 – Friday, June 28, 2024
SOLD OUT 

 

Week 3: Let it Roll – Make it Fly

Monday, July 8 – Friday, July 12, 2024
SOLD OUT  

 

Week 4: Music Makers

Monday, July 15 – Friday, July 19, 2024
Full-Day Sold Out  |  Half AM  |  Half PM

 

Week 5: Science & Art of Bubbles

Monday, July 22 – Friday, July 26, 2024
SOLD OUT

 

Week 6: Art Explosion

Monday, July 29 – Friday, August 2, 2024
SOLD OUT

 

Join the Waitlist

 

REGISTER TODAY!

This program is partially supported by: