My 11yo loved the Junior Robotics camp! His only wish was one more day to finish coding his robot.
Back home in San Francisco, my kid had attended many various STEM-based camps, but this was the first truly build-focused camp. No chants, no theme days, no park visits, just 100% build. He was so focused on his build that he skipped lunch on the last two days. (Good and bad haha)
On the first day they learned about battle it's (through videos) and built cardboard prototypes with motorized manufactured wheels. These cardboard versions battled it out. :)
Days 2 and 3 were modeling their vehicle and 3d printing the models. It looks like Guild Hall is a membership-based makerspace that happens to hold summer camps. The Cambridge location has a LOT of 3d printers, which meant the kids could model, print, and assemble the same day. Amazing!
Day 4 was coding the controller. Unfortunately, my kid was maybe a bit too optimistic about how much time was needed to model and print vehicle, so he ended up not having time to code. Guild Hall provided all the info we needed to wrap up his car, so we'll finish it at home.
Day 5 was battle and tweak! Or, in my kid's case, continue 3d printing.
I was a little taken aback when we walked in that first day by the small number of campers and that all the camps that week would be run in the same space, but in the end it was perfect. The kids get to learn at their own pace and be nosy and learn about the other camps (my kid interacted a lot with a kid in the game coding camp). If we lived in the Boston area, my kid would 100% do more Guild Hall camps and probably also become a member. read more