SPRING BRANCH, Texas – June 5, 2009– The Camp Invention® program returns to Spring Branch this summer. Based on the concept that learning should be fun, the program provides children with opportunities to experience the joy of playing, creating, and inventing in ways that augment their traditional education, and shows them that there’s always more than one solution to a problem.

Custom designed for children entering first through sixth grade, the Camp Invention program presents a science-based curriculum that has been a proven success nationwide. The lessons learned at the Camp Invention program are taught through a series of hands-on, group activities designed to lead children in discovering the science behind their favorite superheroes, tracking down a lost Viking treasure, and building revolutionary safety devices for vehicles.

The Camp Invention program explores what are known as the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering, and math. America is currently facing a critical talent gap in these areas, known as the international “language” of innovation. America’s economic and productive future depends on how well we educate our children and youth. The Camp Invention program helps cultivate the ideas critical to STEM by encouraging exploration and curiosity during everyday activities so children understand that science is everywhere.

Experiences at the Camp Invention program immerse participants in action, experiments, and challenges that allow imaginations to run wild. Children use ingenuity, trial and error, and a lot of tape, aluminum foil, and cardboard to build and create the necessary items for success. By the end of the weeklong Camp Invention program, children will have learned about environmental and “green” science, laws of physics, and structural design techniques that will enrich their educational experiences for years to come.

Dr. Cindy Moss, Science and Curriculum Director for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, has noted the success of the Camp Invention program and has seen the impact that enriching education can have on children. She recently noted, “We have to find a different way to teach science and math so that children get excited and see that it's relevant.”

Since 1990, the Camp Invention program has provided nationally-acclaimed curriculum to 500,000 children across the country at a local level. The program utilizes local teachers and staff members so that each week-long experience is unique to the area in which it is held.

Two staples of the Camp Invention program are also returning to Spring Branch. The I Can Invent: Fantasy Inventions & Complicated Machines II™ and Recess Remix™ modules are program favorites that have been completely re-designed for participants of all ages. In the I Can Invent module, for example, younger children (first through third grade) have the mission of developing a prototype invention to help them solve a problem that bugs them such as keeping siblings out of their bedrooms. Meanwhile, older children build a working machine that will break a “rotten egg” in a frying pan. If they can make it work, expect an icky, gooey experience that fourth, fifth, and sixth-graders won’t soon forget.

This summer, the Camp Invention program is coming to Arlon Seay Elementary on June 8 – 12. To learn more about the Camp Invention program and how you can get your children involved, visit www.campinvention.org or call 800.968.4332.

About Camp Invention: The Camp Invention program is a weeklong summer enrichment program designed by Invent Now® Kids and its parent company, the National Inventors Hall of Fame® Foundation (NIHFF), with support from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. NIHFF is the premier organization in America dedicated to honoring and fostering creativity and invention.

In 2008, the Camp Invention program was attended by more than 66,000 children at 1,056 sites throughout 48 states. For more information, visit www.campinvention.org.