Kaleidoscopes, Rainbows, and Shadows
June 13-14 | 9am-12pm
Limit 24 people (12 kids/12 adults) | $60/child
Investigate some properties of light and color using flashlights, mirrors and prisms. Create your own kaleidoscope, capture shadows on paper, and use chromatography to create a beautiful rainbow creature!
Kids, your favorite +1 adult is welcome to join you at camp so you can have twice the fun!
registration closed
Sensational Science
June 15, 16, 17 | 9am-12pm
Limit 24 people (12 kids/12 adults) | $85/student
Get in touch with the sensitive side of science as you discover the five senses through crafts, activities and experiments! See, touch, taste, hear and smell all of the fun that hands-on experiments have to offer.
Kids, your favorite +1 adult is welcome to join you at camp so you can have twice the fun!
registration closed
Build It
July 25, 26 | 9am-12pm
Limit 24 people (12 kids/12 adults) | $60/student
Bulldoze for building! Get out the construction trucks and come discover building and what it takes to be an architect. Young engineers will build from the ground up while discovering shapes, sizes and patterns in structures from around the globe. What does it take to build a city?
Kids, your favorite +1 adult is welcome to join you at camp so you can have twice the fun!
I Dig Dinos
July 27, 28, 29| 9am-12pm
Limit 24 people (12 kids/12 adults) | $85/student
Meet the meat-eaters, play with the plant-eaters, and dig up fun that campers will be wild about! Follow us as we track the smallest to largest dinosaurs that roamed our prehistoric planet.
Kids, your favorite +1 adult is welcome to join you at camp so you can have twice the fun!
Great Growing Things
June 13-17 | 9am-12pm
Limit 24 people | $130/child
This camp will really grow on you as you learn about Earth’s living creatures! Dissect plants to discover their systems, make an animal puppet, and learn what humans and animals need to grow up strong and healthy. Nurture your curiosity about nature with crafts, play, and hands on learning!
SOLD OUT
Superheroes in Training
July 6, 7, 8 | 9am-12pm
Limit 24 people | $80/child
Defy the laws of nature during this extraordinary camp experience for super kids! Create secret identities, earn superpowers, and lead rescue missions while testing your strength of body and mind. Don your capes and masks to save the day!
SOLD OUT
Aerospace Expedition
August 1-5 | 9am-12pm
Limit 24 people | $130/child
Join us as we fly away on a unique aerospace adventure! Whether pitching up and down in an airplane, or blasting off in a rocket, get ready for an exciting week of discovery. Begin your journey on Earth learning how planes fly and adventure to new worlds while designing a vehicle to explore other planets!
Construction Zone
August 15-19 | 9am-12pm
Limit 24 people | $130/child
Make a blueprint to remember! Become a young architect by constructing different types of structures from all over the world. Take a journey through cities while exploring designing and the engineering process. Along the way create a city of fun!
SOLD OUT
Coding Expedition
June 20-24 | 9:00am-12:00pm
and
August 15 – 19 | 9:00pm-12:00pm
Maximum 16 | $130/student
Set off on your first big coding adventure! Navigate the exhibit floor following a code from your friends and learn the basics of communicating with computers. Explore concepts like the “land of loops” and “the fields of if/then” and use block coding to pilot one of the Air Zoo’s new Sphero robots through increasingly exciting obstacles along your fantastical journey!
Mission Possible
July 6, 7, 8 | 9:00am-4:00pm
(4:00-5:00 w/ extended day add on)
Maximum 24 | $125/student
+ Lunch option add on
Campers will have the opportunity to explore a different science theme each day.
W- Discover the A in STEAM - You may have heard of STEM, but what about STEAM? Discover how art fits in with science, technology, engineering, and math with a variety of creative projects. Create your own unique tessellation, engineer a marker bot, and paint with the power of magnetism.
Th- Super Sleuths - Do you have what it takes to investigate a crime scene and figure out “who dunnit?” Put all of your senses and scientific skills to the test in finding clues, examining fingerprints and other trace evidence, and breaking secret codes to solve a puzzling crime.
F- Rocketry – Build and launch your own take-home rockets while exploring gravity, drag, and thrust!
Chemical Concoctions
July 11-15 | 9:00am-12:00pm
Maximum 24 | $130/student
This camp is a messy kids dream! Stir up slime, transform a sticky mixture into a bouncy ball, combine candy with chemistry, and more. The bigger the mess, the greater the fun in this week of mixing, stirring, and concocting!
Junior Paleontologists
July 25-29 | 1:00pm-4:00pm
(4:00pm-5:00pm w/ extended day add on)
Maximum 24 | $130/student
Grab a trowel and dig up fossil evidence of the creatures that lived long ago, from minuscule mollusks to mighty mammoths! Discover dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes and find out what fossils can tell us about how they lived and what life was like millions of years ago. This camp includes a visit with a real-life scientist to explore fossils and start your own fossil collection!
SOLD OUT
Full STEAM Ahead
August 22-26 | 9:00am-12:00pm
Maximum 24 | $130/student
Explore each letter in STEAM with a variety of projects, activities, and challenges! Construct a boat out of household materials, discover how strong spaghetti is, create art with the power of the sun, engineer a robot hand, and so much more in this week of creative, innovative fun!
SOLD OUT
Exploration Space
June 20-24 | 9:00am-4:00pm
(4:00 – 5:00 extended day add on)
Maximum 24 | $210/student
Lunch option add on
Ignite your love of science with cutting-edge experiences using the Air Zoo’s STARLAB planetarium, rocket building and launching, and solar observing! Discover the latest space missions to the Moon and planets, build a rover to drop on Mars, and train like a real astronaut!
Creative Coding
June 27-July 1 | 1:00pm-4:00pm
(4:00 – 5:00 extended day add on)
Maximum 16 | $130/student
Get your creative juices flowing in this camp for computer enthusiasts! You will use a variety of programs to write your own computer games, produce animations, and fabricate and print personalized 3D designs.
Lego Robotics
July 11-15 | 1:00pm-5:00pm
Maximum 16 | $160/student
Design, build, and program a Lego EV3 robot to complete daily challenges. Use your creativity in modifying your robot design to navigate a maze, play a song, and push your opponent off a challenge mat! Invite your family to be spectators at the final showdown on Friday afternoon! Note: Campers do not get to keep the Lego robot.
Myth Busters
July 18-22 | 9:00am-4:00pm
(4:00 – 5:00 extended day add on)
Maximum 24 | $210/student
Lunch option add on
Could Archimedes really have set fire to a Roman fleet of ships using only mirrors and sunlight? Do you actually stay drier if you walk rather than run through the rain? Become a myth buster as you blow apart urban legends and popular beliefs. Use science and technology to test out your choice of myths and decide: are they plausible or BUSTED?
Mission Possible
Campers will have the opportunity to explore a different science theme each day.
August 1-5 | 9:00am-4:00pm
(4:00 – 5:00 extended day add on)
Maximum 24 | $210/student
Lunch option add on
M- When Science Meets Art
What happens when you combine science and creativity? Find out as you create a variety of art using scientific processes. Marbleize paper, explore ink chromatography, carefully craft a floating chalk print, and more in this clash of science and art!
T- Materials Science
This is your chance to design, manipulate, and discover new materials and test how they are affected by electricity, temperature, and stress. Experiment with polymers, ceramics, metals, and composites under unique conditions to create zinc and brass pennies, electrical fruit, and other creations.
W- Chemistry
What happens when you mix a little bit of this with a whole lot of that? Find out in this fun and potentially messy camp! Behold the power of pennies, separate substances using science and explore things that glow. Seek out the element of surprise and learn why chemists have all the solutions!
Th- Living on Mars
What will it take to build the first colony on Mars? Investigate the real challenges these space pioneers will face through a series of STEAM engineering challenges and fly your own “Mission to Mars” in our Starlab planetarium!
F- Survival Science
Do you have what it takes to survive in extreme conditions? Find out as you learn how to build a shelter, sanitize water, and participate in an orienteering competition.
Advanced Lego Robotics
August 8-12 | 1:00pm-5:00pm
Maximum 16 | $160/student
Work with teammates to complete challenges in this Advanced Lego Robotics camp based on the FIRST Lego League Nature’s Fury Challenge. An introductory Lego Robotics experience is required as a prerequisite, as this camp will focus on more sophisticated programming and complex problem-solving. Invite your family to be spectators at the final showdown on Friday afternoon! Note: Campers do not get to keep the Lego robot.
Engineering Extravaganza
August 22-26 | 9:00am-4:00pm
(4:00 – 5:00 extended day add on)
Maximum 24 | $210/student
Lunch option add on
Embark on a week full of exciting inventions of the past, present, and future. Participate in a week full of STEM challenges while discovering different types of materials, energy and machines. Engineer a variety of contraptions while engaging in the design process. Will you accept the challenge?
Creative Coding
June 20-24 | 1:00pm-4:00pm
(4:00 – 5:00 extended day add on)
Maximum 16 | $130/student
Get your creative juices flowing in this camp for computer enthusiasts! You will use a variety of programs to write your own computer games, produce animations, and fabricate and print personalized 3D designs.
Explore the A in STEAM
June 27-July 1 | 9:00am-4:00pm
Maximum 12 | $250/student
Lunch option add on ONLY ON M-W-F
4:00 – 5:00 extended day add on ONLY ON M-W-F
Join the Air Zoo and several of the art studios in the Park Trades Center in downtown Kalamazoo to explore the A in STEAM! Each day will be a new experience in creating different types of art and discovering the importance of art and creativity in our world!
Monday: Intro to Art
What is art? Why is it important? Get in touch with your creative side and explore the elements of art including color, line, texture, and shape. Campers will also begin a 3-dimensional project and a special collaborative project they will work on all week! This day takes place at the Air Zoo.
Tuesday: Glass Art and Papermaking
Campers will spend the morning with Glass Art Kalamazoo to learn the art of glass. Campers will create their own fused glass decorative tiles and glass pendants. The afternoon will be spent at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center where campers will make handmade paper to begin their own journal making project. This day takes place at the Park Trades Center.
Wednesday: Collaborative Art
Put your very own stamp on the Air Zoo with a collaborative, cosmic painting project. Plus, add your personal creative touch to the classroom space by creating a collaborative poster that will remain in the classroom all year long!
Thursday: Glass Art and Printmaking
Campers will start the morning with a glass blowing demo before continuing their creations from Tuesday. In the afternoon they will return to Kalamazoo Book Arts Center to discover printmaking and continue their homemade journal. This day takes place at the Park Trades Center.
Friday: Dimensional Art
Explore the world of 3-dimensional art! Create a variety of sculptural pieces out of common household materials. Campers will also complete their handmade journal from Kalamazoo Book Arts, and wrap up the sculpture and collaborative project they’ve been working on all week! This day takes place at the Air Zoo.
Notes:
On Tuesday and Thursday campers are to be dropped off and picked up at the Park Trades Center rather than at the Air Zoo.
On Tuesday and Thursday campers must bring a SACK LUNCH. Weather permitting, they will walk with the camp staff to Bronson Park for a picnic lunch.
Lego Robotics
July 25-29 | 1:00pm-5:00pm
Maximum 16 | $160/student
Design, build, and program a Lego EV3 robot to complete daily challenges. Use your creativity in modifying your robot design to navigate a maze, play a song, and push your opponents off a challenge mat! Invite your family to be spectators at the final showdown on Friday afternoon! Note: Campers do not get to keep the Lego robot.
Advanced Lego Robotics
August 1-5 | 1:00pm-5:00pm
Maximum 16 | $160/student
Work with teammates to complete challenges in this Advanced Lego Robotics camp based on the FIRST Lego League Trash Trek Challenge. An introductory Lego Robotics experience is required as a prerequisite, as this camp will focus on more sophisticated programming and complex problem-solving. Invite your family to be spectators at the final showdown on Friday afternoon! Note: Campers do not get to keep the Lego robot.
Green STEAM
August 8-12 | 9:00am-4:00pm
Maximum 24 | $210/student
Lunch option add on
(4:00 – 5:00 extended day add on)
Get ready to go green with a variety of hands on and exploratory STEAM engineering challenges, activities, and projects. Discover the who, what, where, why, and how behind sustainability, investigate alternative energy sources, and leave camp inspired to take action in the real world.
Aviation Technology (Ages 13 to 18)
Aug. 17,18 | 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Maximum 24 | $80/student
(4:00 – 5:00 extended day add on)
Work with the Air Zoo’s professional restoration crew and learn just what it takes to bring aircraft closer to exhibit condition. Learn skills such as riveting, wing building and covering, safety wiring, and cable swaging. Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Flight Discovery Center while learning about WWII airplanes recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan and the new F-117 stealth aircraft!