Innovation Lab - DEAN Adventure Camps (Grades K-5)

Innovation Lab (Grades K-5)

  1 week sessions        9:00am–3:00pm       Price: $615 - $715

The Innovation Lab is the ultimate space for campers to let curiosity and creativity run wild. Science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) are blended daily in an exciting array of age-appropriate projects and skills being taught. From campers teaming up to design a Rube Goldberg–style chain reaction machine, to learning coding concepts and programming robots to complete challenges, or constructing imaginative structures from wood, foam, and 3D pens. Every project encourages campers to experiment, explore new ideas, and discover that innovation isn’t about getting it “right”. It’s about asking questions, trying different approaches, and learning through trial and error.

With imagination at the center and fun guaranteed, The Innovation Lab strikes the perfect balance between structure and creative freedom, giving campers the tools to build, the space to experiment, and the joy of making.

Skills Learned

Each week, campers engage in hands-on projects, learning key skills and mindsets:

- Foundation Skills: Design thinking, engineering principles, and construction techniques through brainstorming, planning, and assembling

- Technical Abilities: Safely operating age-appropriate tools while building focus, self-regulation, and responsibility

Also, as they build and create, campers strengthen essential character skills too:

- Collaboration: Working in teams to problem-solve and persevere through challenges

- Resilience and Perserverance: Refining designs and sticking with bringing big ideas to life through trial and error.

By the end of each session, campers take home their finished creations, along with a new level of confidence, enhanced skills, and the mindset of a true innovator.

General Daily Schedule

• Morning introduction

• Activity period—approximately 1 hour

• Snack and stretch break—approximately 15 minutes, outside weather permitting

• Activity period—approximately 1 hour

• Lunch and Recess break—approximately 1 hour, outside weather permitting

• Activity period—approximately 2 hours (included in this time can be a stretch break as needed)

• Clean up, pack up, dismissal 

Dates, Hours, and Fees

2026 Dates	Program	Grades
June 8 - 12	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior	K-1 / 2-3
June 15 - 18 *4-day week	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior	K-1 / 2-3
June 22 - 26	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior / Senior	K-1 / 2-3 / 4-5
June 29 - July 2 *4-day week	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior	K-1 / 2-3
July 6 - 10	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior / Senior	K-1 / 2-3 / 4-5
July 13 - 17	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior / Senior	K-1 / 2-3 / 4-5
July 20 - 24	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior / Senior	K-1 / 2-3 / 4-5
July 27 - 31	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior / Senior	K-1 / 2-3 / 4-5
August 3 - 7	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior / Senior	K-1 / 2-3 / 4-5
August 10 - 14	Innovation Lab Mini / Junior / Senior	K-1 / 2-3 / 4-5
Hours
9:00am – 3:00pm
Fees
$715 5-day week / $615 4-day week

Weekly Overview

Innovation Lab Mini (K-1)

Imagine it. Build it. Test it.

Innovation Lab: Explorers is where big ideas take shape! Campers channel their curiosity into designing, building, experimenting, and testing with an exciting array of materials, including cardboard, wood, gears, pulleys, wheels, LED lights, motors, 3D components, glue guns, hand tools, and so much more.

Throughout the week, STEAM-based challenges and projects blend science, technology, engineering, art, and math in hands-on, creative ways. From roller coasters that twist and turn to coding robots to solve challenges, Explorers work through the complete design process, from brainstorming, prototyping, to testing and refining. Working individually or in small teams to encourage perseverance, communication, and collaboration while transforming bold ideas into reality. By week’s end, campers leave with growing confidence, stronger problem-solving skills, and the pride of turning imagination into innovation.

Because Innovation Lab for Explorers grows with experience, campers can return week after week, and year after year, to expand their skills and take on new challenges, creating fresh projects each time.

Innovation Lab Junior (2-3)

Design. Innovate. Create!

Innovation Lab Explorers takes making to the next level, where campers dive deeper into engineering, design thinking, and hands-on problem-solving. Building on foundational skills, Explorers tackle more complex projects that challenge them to plan, prototype, and refine their creations using a wider range of materials and tools.

Throughout the week, campers work with cardboard, wood, foam, wheels, axles, simple circuits, hand tools, glue guns, and building kits to bring their ideas to life. They might engineer a working drawbridge, construct a marble maze with moving parts, build a light-up constellation, or design a vehicle that races down a ramp. Each project introduces real engineering concepts like balance, force, circuits, and structural design—all while keeping the focus on creativity and experimentation.

With guidance from skilled instructors, Explorers learn to measure more precisely, follow multi-step plans, troubleshoot when things don't work, and improve their designs through testing. Collaboration drives teamwork as they share ideas and materials, resilience grows as they work through challenges, and responsibility strengthens as they safely manage more sophisticated tools and keep their workspace organized.

By week's end, campers take home functional creations they've engineered from start to finish, along with growing confidence in their ability to turn ideas into reality. Because Innovation Lab Explorers grows with experience, campers can return week after week, and year after year, to expand their skills and take on new challenges, creating fresh projects each time.

Innovation Lab Senior (4-5)

Where Big Ideas Take Shape!

Innovation Lab Sr. is where campers channel their curiosity into designing, building, experimenting, creating and testing with an exciting array of materials, including cardboard, wood, gears, pulleys, wheels, LED lights, motors, 3D components, glue guns, hand tools, and so much more.

Throughout the week, STEAM-based challenges and projects blend science, technology, engineering, art, and math in hands-on, creative ways. From roller coasters that twist and turn to coding robots to solve challenges, Explorers work through the complete design process, from brainstorming, prototyping, to testing and refining. Working individually or in small teams to encourage perseverance, communication, and collaboration while transforming bold ideas into reality. By week’s end, campers leave with growing confidence, stronger problem-solving skills, and the pride of turning imagination into innovation.

Because Innovation Lab for Explorers grows with experience, campers can return week after week, and year after year, to expand their skills and take on new challenges, creating fresh projects each time.