Summer STEM and LEGO Camps by NextGen SmartyPants - Camp - Dates & Availability

Overview

Our students are curious about the world, and robotics is everywhere! NextGen SmartyPants' award-winning NEXTGEN4 STEAM Curriculum uses robotics—combining coding, engineering, circuits, and sensors—as its foundation.

LEGO Dinosaurs / Jurassic Park

Did you hear that?! What was that?! Was it a lion, a tiger, or a... DINOSAURRRRR!!! Ahhh!!

LEGO® Dinosaurs - Jurassic Park teaches students all about dinosaurs using the fun of LEGO® bricks! Kids learn about each of the many kinds of these reptilian beasts there were, as well as their habitats, food supply, Pangea and plate tectonics, volcanic activity and more. Our classes play Dinosaur Jeopardy, tell Dinosaur jokes, and build vast Dinosaur landscapes utilizing more than 30,000 LEGO® bricks! Students work in teams and present their creations to the class, family, and friends! Super-Fun!

Lunch Break

Students should bring nut-free lunch, snacks, and juice to eat and enjoy as they get hungry throughout the day. Water and restrooms are available. If weather permits, campers will be taken outside to walk and enjoy the playground nearby.

Junior Power Machine Robotics

Learn Robotics while you build and program awesome motorized vehicles like trucks, space rovers, helicopters, and more in this super-fun class! Kids have so much fun and learn about gears, pulleys, sensors, and coding to bring their models to life! Build, learn, and play!

LEGO Minecraft

Let's travel to the Nether, but watch out for those Creepers! Come join us as we bring Minecraft® to life using your creativity and a ton of LEGO® bricks. Build with your friends and create animals, creepers, potions, buildings, and your very own Minecraft® character in this engaging and super-fun class! Then bring them together to create an elaborate Minecraft® world! How well do you think you know Minecraft®? What will you create?

This is a creative and technical class that teaches fundamental design principles; LEGO® building structural techniques; and the ability to make imaginations become reality within the Minecraft® theme. Students learn about Symmetry, Rules of framing and composition, and how to tell a story using LEGO®as their artistic medium.

Power Machine Robotics

Minecraft Advanced

Continue your Minecraft® adventure with our LEGO Minecraft Advanced course, tailored for young builders who have ventured through the basics. Dive deeper into the digital realm, collaborating with friends to construct animals, potions, buildings, and unique Minecraft® characters. Explore your imagination and take your skills to the next level as you design and build an even more epic Minecraft® world!

This course expands on the foundation laid in the basics, challenging kids to further explore design principles, intricate LEGO® techniques, and storytelling within the Minecraft® universe. Join us and continue the journey where creativity meets technical mastery!

Power Machine Robotics

Junior Amazing Animals Robotics

Lions and Tigers and Bears... Oh my! In Amazing Animals Robotics, students create their own robotic animals. Build them; program them; and then make them RRROOOAARR!!! Students have fun and learn about engineering, coding, circuits, and sensors as they build Dinosaurs, Dolphins, Panda Bears, and much more. Your child is sure to have a wild time as they build, learn, and play!

LEGO CITY Minifigure Adventures

LEGO® fans unite! It's time to create a vast LEGO® world for our beloved Minifigures! Over the course of a week, students brainstorm and collaborate to build different aspects of a LEGO® City landscape. What adventure will our minifigures go on today?! How about the Carnival, or Beach, Underwater, or Outer Space? You decide and let's build it with access to more than 30,000 LEGO® bricks!

Students are guided in character and storyline development with age-appropriate LEGO®-building and design techniques. Kids have fun while hanging out with friends and building with more LEGO® bricks than they have probably 'ever' seen! Students have fun; overcome building challenges; and let the creativity fly in the ultimate LEGO® building experience!

Star Wars Robotics

The Empire is amassing; the Rebel fleet will be destroyed if they don't get ready for the onslaught. In this super-awesome course inspired by the Star Wars® movies, kids learn robotics while building and programming space weapons, ships, creatures, and equipment. Teams are asked to modify their design and create a fun story around their projects. Use the Force and save the universe from the Dark Side!

LEGO CITY Minifigure Adventures

Junior Coding with Scratch Junior

Junior Coding with Scratch® is a super-fun way to introduce your child to the wonders of Coding! Drag, drop, click… you’ll be amazed at what they can do! NextGen's curriculum keeps things fresh and introduces kids to new and cool ways to practice, create, and design code with Scratch Junior.

LEGO SuperHeroes / LEGO Harry Potter

LEGO SuperHeroes

Calling all LEGO® fans!! To the BatCave... or Lair, or Hideout, or... you decide! Where will your SuperHero live? What powers will they have? How will they get to where the trouble is? Or, is yours a Villain that creates trouble for SuperHeroes? Unleash your creativity, learn cool LEGO® building techniques, and have a blast with your friends building a vast fantasy world out of more than 20,000 LEGO® bricks!

LEGO Harry Potter

Enter the magical world of Harry Potter with NextGen SmartyPants! Make your own Coat of Arms, create your own Lego® castle, and join us on exciting adventures as we fight the forces of Voldemort together. Each week kids engage in lessons that spark their creativity, teach LEGO-building techniques, and have fun building evil wizard traps, coat of arms, and making their very own magical creatures! Just remember to practice your magic words… Wingardium Leviosa.

Beginner Coding with Scratch

Beginner Coding with Scratch® is a super-fun way to introduce your child to the wonders of Coding! Drag, drop, click… you’ll be amazed at what they can do! NextGen's curriculum keeps things fresh and introduces kids to new and cool ways to practice, create, and design with Scratch.

NextGen SmartyPants teaches Beginner Coding using the Scratch Graphical Programming Language across four increasingly challenging levels:

Level 1 - Introduction to Scratch: Sprites, Scripts, Brackdrops, Loops, and Music
Level 2 - Broadcasting, Decisions, and Variables
Level 3 - Clones, Custom Blocks, and Boolean Logic
Level 4 - Controlling Motors and Robotics using Scratch
Students do not need to choose a level prior to enrollment; NextGen Teachers assess experiences on the first day and group students accordingly into project teams for the entire week of camp. Students are encouraged to re-enroll in Beginner Coding during future camps or classes in order to gain proficiency in Coding by progressing through each of these levels.

Beginner iMovie for kids

Lights, Camera, and... Action!

In iMovie for Kids, students have fun and learn a ton by creating, recording, and editing their own movie! The NextGen Teacher will act as a Director for a movie plot as selected by the class. The class will select a movie plot from one of a number of themes we have available; for example, a Spy Movie, a News Report, Sit-Com, Movie Trailer, or other similar themes. Kids will be guided on writing dialogue, putting on costumes, setting up a Green Screen, acting out scenes, and recording videos using iPads. Students will then learn editing techniques using the iMovie platform, upload soundtracks, bring in images or video content, and work together to create a movie. At the end of the week, students will receive a copy of the movie to show to friends and family!

Time is money, so let's get up to hair, make-up, and wardrobe and get this production started!

Break a leg!

Junior Engineers

Let's take our LEGO building to a whole new level by getting our models moving!

Junior Engineers introduces our youngest Engineers to LEGO's Technic® brand of components. Kids have fun building Merry-Go-Rounds, Seesaws, Puppy Dogs, Hockey Players, and more while learning about gears, pulleys, axles, and other elementary Engineering mechanisms! Students practice and apply their counting, simple addition, and subtraction skills in order to solidify their math skills and see how what they are learning in school is applied in real life! Junior Engineers provides eye-opening experiences! Your child will be amazed at what they can build and create!

Junior Circuits with LittleBits

Demystify Electricity with this introductory class on Circuits. Kids are introduced to fundamental concepts in electronics by building small electronic projects. Students learn about Power, Controls, Logic, and more by building circuits to control lights, sounds, motion, wireless communications, and sensors. Kids learn about Batteries, LEDs, Speakers, and Motors and help them develop insights into how everyday objects around them work. Circuits provides “enlightening” hands-on experiences for kids!

Beginner Engineers

NextGen SmartyPants' Beginner Technic® Engineers teaches kids about Engineering components and Physics concepts through fun and engaging projects. Learn how to use Gears, Pulleys, Springs, Axle, Bushings, and more as you build and design your own systems. Students build Rovers, Cranes, Catapults, and more as they learn about angles, forces, and momentum and apply the math skills they learn in school via challenging, hands-on experiences.

Beginner Electrical Circuits with LittleBits

Beginners Engineers

NextGen SmartyPants' Technic® Engineers teaches kids about Engineering components and Physics concepts through fun and engaging projects. Learn how to use Gears, Pulleys, Springs, Axle, Bushings, and more as you build and design your own systems. Students build Rovers, Cranes, Catapults, and more as they learn about angles, forces, and momentum and apply the math skills they learn in school via challenging, hands-on experiences.

Arduino Circuit Playground

Demystify the world of electronics with this fun, introductory course on Beginner Circuits! Circuit Playground invites students to explore fundamental concepts in electrical circuits and coding in a dynamic development environment. Students engage in creative problem-solving by constructing and programming interactive, hands-on projects that incorporate colorful LEDs, matrices, music, motion and light sensors, game controllers, and so much more.

If the student has taken Scratch Coding with us, they will also see a familiar drag-and-drop programming interface. This further helps students who are new to circuits to start controlling and designing their projects. Finally, we transition students to text-based Javascript and Python coding and also transport the code to a full-fledged Arduino board, so students can get with making much more advanced electronics quickly.

Circuit Playground provides “enlightening” experiences and introduces electrical concepts in a fun and approachable way for Students.

LEGO Pokemon

Gotta catch them all!

Explore the worlds of Pokemon and LEGO and become the world's best trainer! Create your own Pokemon Training Gyms and Battles, and transform your Pokemon character into stronger, more powerful species. Learn cool LEGO-building techniques as you build characters like Pikachu, Eevee, Pokeballs, elaborate habitats, landscapes, and more!

In addition to fun LEGO building, kids also have fun in this course participating in games, obstacle courses, kid-friendly training, and battles as they achieve super-trainer status!

Your child will have a blast becoming the best Pokemon trainer ever.

Junior Amazing Animals Robotics

LEGO Space City / LEGO Star Wars

LEGO Space City

Students work together to build civilizations of the past, present, and future. Construct Spaceports, Skyscrapers, Parks, and Police Stations to create new landscapes in Space or Alien Worlds. Students learn LEGO® building techniques and design principles like symmetry, color schemes, geometry, and more. Let the creativity soar in the ultimate LEGO® building experience!

LEGO Star Wars

If you love Star Wars®, this is the class for you. Come participate in Star Wars® themed activities using LEGO® bricks and other interactive learning tools, build scenes from the movie, build ships, lightsabers, you name it...May the force be with you.

Amazing Animals Robotics

LEGO Space City / LEGO Star Wars

LEGO Space City

LEGO Star Wars

Incredible Invention Robotics

Incredible Inventions Robotics is a Level-2 Robotics course designed for young minds who have completed one or more of our Level-1 Robotics courses and are looking for a more advanced challenge. These include Amazing Animals Robotics, BattleBots Robotics, Power Machines Robotics or Star Wars Robotics. All students in Incredible Inventions Robotics must have had taken at least one of these Level-1 courses in Robotics prior to enrollment. Preferably, they will have had taken two Level-1 courses and are sure to have a strong foundation in the fundamental aspects of Robotics prior to enrollment.

LEGO CITY - Designing cool buildings and bridges

Calling all LEGO® City fans! Join us for a thrilling week of designing and building amazing structures! Campers brainstorm and work together as a group to build an intricate LEGO® City - buildings and bridges, over the course of a week. Students design, illustrate, and build cities using LEGO® bricks and art materials. Have fun; overcome Engineering building challenges; and let the creativity fly in the ultimate LEGO® building experience.

Junior Coding with Scratch Junior

Stop Motion Animation Studio

Create amazing movies with stop-motion animation using LEGO® bricks and more! Students learn introductory movie pre-production and production techniques to develop a storyline, build LEGO® landscapes and scenes, photograph their models according to their storyline, and add basic post-production sound effects and graphics. Movies are uploaded to a secure site to share with family and friends!

Students are welcome to develop their own LEGO® models for their movies; or, if they prefer, utilize many of our existing pre-built LEGO® sets. These include some of the most iconic sets in themes including Star Wars, Batman, LEGO Friends, Harry Potter, Ninjago, and more. All LEGO® materials, computers, webcams, lighting, booms, backdrops, and necessary software are all provided.

Please, no LEGO-sets, equipment, etc. should be brought from home. Students will be producing their videos at 10 frames/second. Students are encouraged to think ahead about their storyline and dialog so as to maximize time with the equipment. Because of time constraints, this course focuses on actual Stop-Motion Animation production techniques. Building LEGO models, framing and composition, using editing software like iMovie and Photoshop, etc. are covered in separate NextGen SmartyPants courses. Therefore, students are encouraged to consider these courses in preparation for this Stop-Motion Animation Studio course.

Learn Coding and Video Game Design the Minecraft way!

Learn how to design and modify your own Minecraft landscapes, farms, and items. Explore adventure maps, dungeon maps, designs of structures and buildings, and building elaborate farms. Beginner modding is perfect for those who have played Minecraft before but have never dabbled in mods. This camp gives you the right tools and resources you need to create advanced structures and designs that were previously impossible. From custom skins to new blocks and items, the possibilities are endless when it comes to modding Minecraft.

LEGO CITY Minifigure Adventures

Junior BattleBots Robotics

Have fun creating robotic siege-weapons and go into battle with your friends! Inspired by the hit show “Battlebots,” BattleBot Robotics teaches students about the integration of sensors, gears, pulleys, and coding while they try to blow each other up to smithereens! Students build a different siege weapons, including robotic Catapults, Crossbows, Battleaxes, and more while learning how to apply Engineering concepts in a fun and engaging way. Teams divide up to toss (safe) projectiles in the ultimate battle-royale! Super-fun!

LEGO Master Builder Studio

This is where you come train to become a true LEGO Master Builder! Learn the techniques developed by experienced LEGO Masters and used by professional LEGO Sculptors, Engineers, and Artisans to create some of the world’s most inspiring works of art. Put aside the LEGO sets; think creatively and structurally; practice your craft; and start building your own master creations. Bring in your engineering and robotics skills; incorporate fabrics and rubber; integrate colors and lighting to create truly incredible MOCs. Stick with it; practice regularly; and pretty soon, you’ll be writing your own instruction manuals!

Introduction to Python Robotics

Explore the exciting world of Robotics through the power of Python programming! This introductory course is designed for Middle School Students with limited experience in Robotics and Python. Through hands-on project-based learning and practical exercises, students delve into the fundamentals of robotics, learning to design, build, and program using the Python programming language. Topics covered include robot mechanics, sensor integration, motion control algorithms, and real-world applications. By the end of the course, students have the skills to create and control their own Robotic systems using Python, giving them insights into how Coding, Engineering, Circuits, and Sensor technologies work together to produce robotic systems that they already experience in everyday life.

Summer STEM and LEGO Camps

Credit Status