Once considered a hobby or fad, video games are now big business with many of today’s youth interested in scoring a job in this coding career field. With that in mind, there are myriad summer camps offering game design as an option. And this STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) knowledge transcends video game programming careers; it lends itself to the development of transferable skills for a number of high-tech jobs becoming more prevalent in the current technology-dependent world. Here’s a sampling of area programs answering the call for more STEM.
The Four Cs
Photo courtesy Game Nation
Game Camp Nation, a mentoring-centered STEM program, offers weeklong classes in video game creation as well as eSports. It has seven locations across the East Coast, including one in Fairfax. To avoid a long daily commute, sign up your child for the full overnight camping experience. Participants can “rough it” with a twin-sized air mattress, sleeping bag or cot, or there’s the option to reserve a hotel room. But co-founder Philip Luchon boasts that their facilities “provide unmatched comfort and a vibe that’s nothing like school.”
Game Camp Nation offers seven courses that engage participants through hands-on learning and gaming activities. In “Game Design & Minecraft Modding With Construct and Redstone,” participants create video games through visual coding and modify the popular Minecraft video game. In “3-D Modeling, Printing and Animation With Maya,” participants design a 3-D universe with Maya professional software. All classes use a variety of programming software and languages to offer opportunities for all gaming interests.
Luchon says Game Camp Nation’s camps are designed to encourage the four C’s — creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration — as well as strengthen self-confidence through the completion of challenging projects. Participants also have the opportunity to build lasting friendships with their instructors and peers due to the classes’ 5-to-1 student/instructor ratio.
“Our groups are intentionally kept small so that we can encourage positive peer interaction,” Luchon says. “Our community is about people working together: learning, mentoring and cooperating on something truly remarkable.”
Registration Closes: June 30
Camp Dates: June 30-July 27
Open to: Ages 7-17
Cost: $799 for day camps; $1,199 for overnight camps
Digital Design
The MathScience Innovation Center’s Camp Innovation program offers a series of weeklong STEM classes for a variety of interests, ranging from exploring the James River to forensic crime scene investigations. One of the most popular programs is Gaming Galore, a half-day camp in which participants use a coding program called Kodu to create their own video games. Since Kodu can be downloaded for free, campers can continue working on their games and making new ones at home.
Summer Programs Coordinator Carrie Persing says that many STEM programs use Scratch programming, which is also taught in schools. By using Kodu, Gaming Galore is exposing participants to a new platform and supporting a diverse understanding of coding and programming.
“In this course, students need to think critically, creatively and logically,” Persing says. “All of these are important skills that are needed in school and in the workforce. By starting at a young age, students will more easily progress into other STEM topics as they get older.”
Camp Innovation also offers “Coding With Creativity” and “D2P2: Digital Design Python Programming.” Due to the increase in demand that the center has seen for coding classes, MSiC has even started offering classes for kindergarten and first-grade students. “Our programming classes are the first to fill up,” Persing says.
Camp Dates: July 9 - Aug. 2
Open to: Rising fourth- through ninth-graders
Cost: $125 for half-day; $250 for full-day
Code and Play
Photo courtesy CodeVA
This year marks CodeVA’s sixth summer offering classes through its popular Eureka Workshop, which provides a range of arts-integrated computer science programs for children. Each program features hands-on projects that introduce participants to the concepts of computer science through active play. Director of Children’s Programs Maggie Smith emphasizes that the classes do not take a deep dive into text-based programming until each student is ready.
“We want to show all of our students that computer science is useful and fun even if they do not want to become a programmer when they grow up,” she says. “Our classes focus on age-appropriate logic, vocabulary and skills that give children the foundation and curiosity they need to feel confident with computer science as they learn.”
Several of Eureka Workshop’s previous classes center on video game creation, but this summer CodeVA is adding three new courses: “Platform Game Making,” “Video Game Characters” and “Retro Game Design.” These classes fuse the arts with computer science as students learn the importance of iteration, creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
Smith says that each year CodeVA has grown in the number of students it serves as more local schools and community organizations express interest in its programs. “I am so happy to see such a wide array of organizations looking to make this much-needed area of education and literacy fun.”
Registration Closes: Friday before each class begins
Camp Dates: June 17-Aug. 30
Open to: Rising first- through eighth-graders
Cost: $150 (increases to $180 two weeks before first classes begin)
Gathering STEAM
Photo courtesy Club SciKidz
Children interested in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) topics have their pick of enriching science and technology camps with Club SciKidz/Tech Scientific as well as creative art classes offered by partner company Doodle Dynamo. In addition to camps focused on topics such as veterinary medicine, oceanography and culinary science, the program has a wide selection of video game design and coding camps for all levels.
“Intro to Coding” and “Dash and Dot Programmer” gives participants an introduction to coding, while more advanced camps such as “Video Game Factory” and “Racing Games — Game Design” familiarize participants with various gaming platforms.
“These kinds of programs teach children a lot about the basics of computer programming,” says Abhilasha Rathi, a scientist with a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, owner of Club SciKidz/Tech Scientific and founder/owner of Doodle Dynamo. “By the time they grow up, these programming languages might be obsolete, but their knowledge will not be. Early exposure will help them learn and accept any new language much faster in a high-tech world.”
Rathi adds that each camp includes visits from professional game developers and programmers to connect camp themes to the real world. In addition, participants are involved in the creation of takeaway projects in each camp, sometimes up to 20 in one week. “We believe in a hands-on approach to learning rather than demonstrations,” Rathi says.
Camp Dates: June 17-Aug. 9
Open to: Prekindergarteners through eighth-graders
Cost: $285
