Summer STE(A)M Camp

For: Children ages 3 – 6.

Overview

We are a play-based, multi-age program where children have the opportunity for fun hands-on learning, At each 4-day session, there’s a different STEM-inspired theme every day. This camp is part of the Bellevue College Parent Education program, so parents get to learn too! Parents will attend an introductory evening session where we discuss ways parents can support STEM learning and parents will work in the classroom on one of the four days of camp to see our learning in action.

What will your child experience at our camp?

We’ll have lots of fun playing and learning together! Each morning’s activities will include: science experiments, art projects, sensory bins and a water table, blocks, imaginary play experiences, large motor activities and outdoor play. We also have snack and group times for songs, stories, and games.

Week 1: Young Scientists – July 9 – 12, 2024 – Tuesday through Friday 9:30am – 12:00pm

• Paleontology / Geology – Explore fossils, dig up “bones” and assemble a skeleton. Pretend to Be a Dinosaur!
• Astronomy / Space Travel – Make constellation viewers, space helmets and melted crayon planets. Pretend to Be An Astronaut!
• Light, Shadow, and Rainbows – Make shadow puppets, weave rainbows and make rainbow bracelets. Be a Dancing Shadow Monster!
• Chemistry: Explore states of matter, non-Newtonian fluids and chemical reactions. Make Things Fizz and Go Boom!

FULL! – Week 2: Young Engineers – July 23 – 26, 2024 – Tuesday through Friday 9:30am – 12:00pm

• Simple Machines – Explore pulleys, wedges, levers, ramps, screws and the wheel and axle. Learn how tools make work easier to do!
• Building Structures – It’s Construction Worker Day! Dig with toy bulldozers, learn how to build strong structures, and work with others to build a house.
• Flight – Play with lots of ways to launch things through the air: the wind tube, scarf cannon, pompom launchers, paper airplanes and straw gliders.
• Contraptions – Learn about inventors and about Rube Goldberg devices. Play with scribble-bots. Make a robot from recyclables.

What will you get out of the camp?

This camp is part of the Bellevue College Parent Education program, where our motto is “parents and children learning and growing together.”

Parents (or other adult caregivers) are enrolled in a one credit course at Bellevue College, where the “lab” portion of class is our children’s camp, and we’ll have an online “lecture” portion prior to camp.

Pre-Camp Evening Discussion. Prior to camp, parents will participate in an online class which will include an orientation to camp, and a one hour discussion which is focused on supporting STEM learning in the classroom and at home. Building your child’s STEM skills early on lays a great foundation for future success. You are required to attend one Zoom session prior to camp. You are welcome to attend both sessions, even if your child is only in one session of camp.

Session 1 – Monday, July 8, 7 – 8:15 pm. Teaching Science Skills – Nurturing Lifelong Curiosity

Session 2 – Monday, July 22, 7 – 8:15 p.m. Teaching Problem-Solving Skills, Growth Based Mindset

Working in the Classroom: Our camp follows a co-op preschool model, where parents/caregivers are required to work in the classroom one day during the camp. (When you register for the class, the instructor will give you information on signing up for your work day. Shift choice is first come, first served.) In the classroom, you will help children with activities, help the teachers with clean-up and prep, and observe how the teachers support STEM learning.

On non-work days, parents are welcome to drop their child off for camp, or parents may choose to remain at camp with the child, whichever option is best for your family.

Logistics

Location: Camp is held on the Bellevue College Campus in Q Building – the Early Learning Center. We use the classroom that houses our Creative Arts Lab and Family Inventors’ Lab during the school year.

Ages: This is a multi-age program, appropriate for preschool to early elementary age children (ages 3 – 6). Children must turn 3 before camp begins.

Staffing: The camp staff for each day of camp includes: a parent education instructor, two children’s teachers, and the parent workers for the day, so our adult to child ratios are un-beatable! Camp is led by our Family Inventor’s Lab team: Teachers Janelle, Cymbric and Angela. Amongst us we have also taught: infants, wobbler and toddler classes, co-op preschool, Creative Arts Lab, Discovery Science Lab, and previous summer camps.

Registration

Registration for summer camps is now open. There are two parts to registration:

• Email the instructor, Janelle Durham, janelyn@bellevuecollege.edu. She will send you a link to forms to complete, and ask that you mail her a check for the lab fees that cover your child’s participation in the camp. It is $120 for one 4-day session of camp. (For a second child from the same family, it’s $80.)
• When college registration opens in May, the parent / adult who will participate in the classroom must sign up for the Bellevue College Parent Education Class. Janelle will send enrolled families instructions at that time. The parent will pay $18.41 in college tuition, directly to the college.

Tuition: For a 4-day session of camp, the parent pays $18.41 in college tuition (paid through the college system), and $120 in lab fees for the children’s program (which are paid directly to the instructor). For a second child from the same family, they would pay an additional $80 in lab fees.

Questions: If you have any questions, email the instructor, Janelle Durham, janelyn@bellevuecollege.edu. 

Schedule for Summer 2024

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Last Updated April 22, 2024