Saturday, July 11, 2015

7/11/15: Einstein's Workshop STEM Summer Camp

I am always looking for cool options for summer camp for the kids.  This year I really tried to pick camps that match with their interests.  When I found out that Einstein's Workshop in Burlington, MA had Minecraft, Electronics, Computer Programming, Robotics and fun Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) I knew Evan would love it!
I spent some time talking to him about the different Summer Camp courses that Einstein's Workshop offered.  You can see the full list and schedule here.  He decided he wanted to take Minecraft Architecture: Castles of the Past which went from Monday to Friday 3 hours per day.  He was extremely excited to go!
Here you can see a view as you enter.  They have an area with items you can buy.
Here you can see some Minecraft items for sale.
Of course if you are called Einstein's Workshop you need to have a picture of Einstein.  He is beautifully painted on the wall.  You can also see a view in to the party room here too as you can have a party here.
When the kids arrive at camp they can play with the LEGOs.  They also have Drop In or Drop Off options if you just want to stop in and explore.  You can see more information here.
Here you can see a play area for smaller children.
Evan was really excited to get creating.
His class was to research castles and recreate them in a Minecraft world.  The teacher worked with them to ensure they used the right materials and reproduced real castles from all over the world.
Evan chose an Italian Castle to recreate.  These castles are meant to keep zombies and creepers at bay.
At the end of the class the instructor e-mailed us the world and how to use it at home.  
I personally love the 3D Printer.  One of their flagship courses is Computer Aided Design (CAD).  It is done in a visual manner.  I actually work for PTC who created Pro/ENGINEER (now Creo) which is a CAD product so this was exciting for me to hear.
Here is some video of the 3D Printer in action:
There are also several Robotics courses.  There is LEGO Minestorm.
Here you can see VEX IQ Robotics.  There was a class going on at the same time Evan was in his Minecraft course.  They also offer US FIRST Robotics Teams.  I judge US FIRST Competitions and my company PTC sponsored US FIRST so I was excited to see this.
These models are pretty cool.
Here is the creation area for those K'NEX.
Here you can see some of the open play areas.
There are lots of Legos.
Here you can Design and Test.
There is a Rainbow Loom creation area.
Here you can see a better view of the party room.
There are also classes during the school year.  What a great place to take kids and get them excited about mathematics, science, engineering and robotics!  I love that there are places like this to get kids excited about science and have fun doing it!!!  I wish it was around when I was a kid!
Disclosure:  I received a half price summer camp for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

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