Are you running a STEM camp during a school vacation or over the summer? If you are looking for theme ideas, look no further! I have compiled a list of dozens of STEM camp themes, from tried and true favorites to ones I can’t wait to try!
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STEM Camp Theme – Books and Movies
This is definitely one of the more popular and fun STEM camp ideas. Whenever a new book or movie infiltrates pop culture, that is the perfect time to work in some STEM with a theme the kids already like!
Not all kids are natural athletes or even like sports, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with sports at STEM camp. Engineers play a crucial role in making sports successful for professional athletes. This is a great way to encourage kids to get involved with a sport even if they don’t like playing it.
Stadiums and equipment (create a sports dome, better helmets, awesome goal posts, or design and create a new game with new equipment (or tie this in to the Harry Potter theme with a Quidditch STEM Challenge)
STEM Olympics camp (dive deeper into the science of Olympic sports, from angular momentum of figure skaters to friction in curling, to the best bow and arrow, or build the best bobsled!)
Balance and stability – what makes something stable or unstable. How do these factors affect an athlete’s performance?
Healthy bodies, healthy minds – looking at sports nutrition, healthy activities and training the whole body, eye-hand coordination, etc.
Space exploration has been on the minds of kids since the Space Race! While it may not be as universally popular with kids as it was in the 1960s, there is SO much to explore when it comes to this topic. Not only is there the moon, but there is the ISS, Mars, and so much more!
Astronaut exercise in space – how can we keep our astronauts in tip top shape? Come up with new space exercises, games, and activities.
Growing food and recycling water in space – learning about how it’s currently done, challenges faced, and exploring new ideas to solve this problem.
Most STEM camps happen in the summer, so why not use this time to either get outside or get soaked with water STEM activities?
The Center of the Solar System – Sun Camp! Create solar ovens, sundials, or do a variety of activities with UV sensitive beads (visit Stanford Solar Center for more ideas).
If you have the tech, why not explore the world of coding or stop motion animation?
Brick Flick Camp – LEGO Stop Motion Animation Camp. Legos are my favorite thing to use for stop motion animation because they are small, easy to manipulate, and the base plates make it easy to track position. New to stop motion animation? Read this stop motion animation post to help you get started. Want to go more digital? Try the red ball challenge or other digital stop motion activities.
Maybe you don’t want to pick a specific theme for your camp but you have a LOT of legos or other building materials. Plan a camp around that!
Legomania – this timeless brick toy could be used for a whole summer of camp ideas. Think about building up, or building an entire mini city, doing math with legos, stop motion animation, or storytelling. Find STEM-specific lego activities for K-5 here.
Robot Camp – if you have Dash, Sphero, Ozobots, Beebots, EV3s, Edison robots, etc. you can spend a whole week exploring what you can do with them! Get started with coding mazes or try some games and activities.
3D Print It! During the school year, it can be hard to fit in time for 3D printing. If your camp enrollment numbers are smaller than your classroom size, this is the perfect time to print some awesome 3D projects! Start with CAD basics and then progress to creating useful objects for around the home or school.
STEM Camp Theme – Natural Disasters
While this can be a bit emotional to get into, natural disasters are happening all around the world, affecting both people and animals, not to mention water systems, forests, and the atmosphere.
Earthquakes Abound! Study earthquake proof structures, create a shake table, learn about plate tectonics, and put your skills to the test with an Earthquake STEM activity.
Other natural disasters to explore – tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides, blizzards, floods, fires, and avalanches.
STEM Camp Theme – Mixed Bag
These are some ideas that didn’t quite fit in the other sections!
Up in the Air – explore all types of aircrafts! Start out with paper airplanes and helicopters. Grab a free paper helicopter STEM activity when you sign up for this free STEM Resource Library. F
Math All Around Us – A look at how math affects us in every part of our lives, from math in nature, to money, to math in music, and in games we love to play. Two of my favorite things to explore in math are the Fibonacci sequence and Pi (and of course Tau).
Grossology – this was SUCH a fun one to teach (and the kids LOVED it)! Make snot/slime, or “poop,” explore how much liquid and mass toilet paper and diapers can handle before breaking/reaching capacity, collect samples from places the kids think are “dirty” and then watch the bacteria grow, and dissect owl pellets!
We Love Science: Pick a science branch and get to it – paleontology, meteorology, biology, chemistry, zoology, botany, etc.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow – exploring light, colors, and optics.
Board/ Card Game Design – Go old school and create your own board game or card game. Learn about the basics of game design and apply your knowledge. If you have any that are really stellar, you can even try to submit them for mass creation at Gamewright.
Nano Camp – an in-depth look at all things tiny!
That’s Ancient History! A look at ancient civilizations through structures, contraptions and more. Try these
Breakerspace or Take – Apart – LAB – Collect old electronics and appliances (that are safe) and disassemble them, learning about the parts as you go, and how to use the right tools for the right job.
Electronics Lab! Use snap circuits, little bits, breadboards, etc. to learn the basics of circuitry and electronics. Create an AM/FM radio, a clock, or a doorbell.
Brain Games – Optical illusions, perception, memory, and how we make decisions. Do a baseline memory test at the start and then use various skills to improve memory and re-test at the end of the week.
Print These Ideas for Later
If you would like a printable list of these ideas, you can download them here.
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Meredith
Meredith Anderson is a STEM education advocate and former homeschooling parent. A mechanical engineer by training with both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in mechanical engineering from RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), her passion is creating STEM educational resources for elementary through secondary students around the world.