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Children are born inventors and explorers; that's why STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, art and math) are so popular. Whether it’s digging through muddy streams to see what lives there, building and battling Lego robots, or writing nature-inspired poetry, the best STEAM-focused camps know how to engage kids by always keeping things fun. (Summer break is no time for worksheets.) A few weeks ago, we rounded up STEAM classes and camps in Westchester; now we’re examining the offerings in the lower Hudson Valley area. Don’t forget to browse our Summer Camp Guide to find out about additional enriching programs. ROCKLAND RCC Summer Camp – Suffern These week-long camps will make use of the air-conditioned laboratories at Rockland Community College, where instruction and hands-on learning will center on a different area each week: biology, chemistry, robotics, locomotion, rocketry and crime scene investigation. This is a full-day program with before- and after-hours care available. Challenger Center Space Explorers Camp - Airmont Children entering second through seventh grade can spend a week (or more) trying out 3D printers, operating space missions in a NASA simulator, or getting up close and personal with the solar system in a planetarium. There are also Legos involved! Campers will have the opportunity to build robots using the Mindstorms and We-Do kits. My 8-year-old just went on a school field trip to the Challenger Learning Center in May, and he returned with rave reviews for the experience. The camp runs from 9am-3pm, with extended care available for an additional fee. Summer Teen Tech Camp – West Nyack Held at the Career & Technical Education Center at Rockland BOCES, these week-long camps have video game art and animation classes, as well as robotics and CSI concentrations. Those who want to look beyond STEAM can also take cooking and health classes. These half-day camps are geared toward students entering seventh through 10th grade. ORANGE S.T.ART – Newburgh The “Science Through Art” program, held for two weeks in August, is a full-day indoor/outdoor program for children in grades K-5. Campers participate in a variety of structured and free-play activities—including map-making, solar kits, flubber making and journaling—held over a day that’s broken into 30- and 60-minute periods. Extended-hours care is also available. Black Rock Science Camp – Cornwall Middle and high school students can learn about all things nature in these week-long camps, where they will study directly with scientists and have the ability to choose from a range of topics. Sample classes include Cold Blooded Creatures, Engineering from Nature, Nature Writing in the Forest and on the River and The Art of Scientific Observation. There’s even a sleep-away option, allowing campers to bunk in the Black Rock Forest Lodge and participate in evening campfires and activities. DUTCHESS Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies – Millbrook As its name indicates, the activities at this camp center on ecology. The full-day program is held on a 2,000-acre campus, with ponds, streams and hills for the kids to explore with assisting scientists. Programs begin as young as age 3 in the Eco-Tots track, with the Eco-Discovery, Eco-Science and Eco-Leaders tracks for second through 12th graders. MULTIPLE LOCATIONS Mad Science Like its Westchester counterpart, Mad Science of the Mid-Hudson holds week-long camps at a variety of schools and community centers in Orange, Rockland, Dutchess, Putnam and Ulster counties. Areas of focus range the gamut, with concentrations on machines, NASA, archeology and robots all planned for this year. Not all locations focus on the same topic, so extreme science lovers may want to location-hop. There are both half-day and full-day options. Camp Invention The week-long sessions of Camp Invention are always a standout in my son’s summer. A different theme is picked each year (for example, some locations will have kids build go-karts this year), and kids spend their days playing, learning and problem-solving together. One fixture of the camp has each camper bring a “take-apart item” from home—such as a computer or a hard drive—allowing him or her to investigate and learn about the guts of the now-discarded common household item. Bricks4Kids We recently reviewed the Staten Island Bricks4Kidz on our NYC site, but both Westchester and Orange counties each have its own franchises. Geared toward both boy and girl Lego-lovers, Bricks4Kidz is holding multiple week-long camps throughout both areas. Each week has a special theme, such as Space Adventures, Pokemon, American Girl and All About Animals. In addition to Lego building, campers will also play games and trivia. All camps are three-hour sessions. Snapology Held throughout the lower Hudson Valley area, Snapology is another program for children ages 5-12 in love with all things Lego. Programs include both week-long and daily mini camps, with themes ranging from Star Wars to Minecraft to Superheroes and Heroines. There’s even an Animation Studio camp that has kids writing the scripts for their own Lego-based movie. In addition to brick building, campers will create comic strips or experiment with Minecraft worlds on the computer. Image credit: MommyPoppins.com

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