With summer on the horizon, Westchester parents are on the hunt for the ideal camp for their kids. If your little one is interested in coding, robotics, or animation, these five local STEM camps are designed for campers to get their hands on the latest technology.
iD Tech Camp
Bronxville and Purchase
iD Tech Camp is the original STEM camp for kids and teens ages seven to 18. The company created enrichment camps aimed at introducing campers to quality STEM courses that will ultimately pave the way for college, internships, and their dream careers. Westchester’s future STEM professionals have access to iD Tech’s week-long day camps at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville and Manhattanville College in Purchase. It’s quality STEM enrichment in a fun, collegiate atmosphere.
SummerTech
Purchase
If your kids dream of reaching the hallowed game-development labs of Nintendo, Mojang, or Sony, send them to SummerTech. The family-operated computer tech camp housed at Purchase College is where tomorrow’s coders and game designers (ages 10-17) can choose from courses in web development, animation, 3D modeling, and more. SummerTech offers the most rigorous, effective, and advanced coding and web-development programs for kids in the world, taught by some of the brightest young minds in the area. “It’s the most complete summer camp experience in a technology forum in Westchester,” says founder Steven Fink.
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Discover Camp
Hawthorne
Long before STEM programming became the rage, husband-and-wife duo Anthony and Sabrina Rich were ahead of the trend. Based on their personal love of technology, science, and hands-on hobbies, they first launched their science-and-technology-focused camp in 2007. Fast-forward to today, Discover Camp has become a STEM leader in the tri-state area, drawing more than 800 campers (ages five to 15) who come for the 110 “hands-on” classes that run the gamut from rocketry and aeronautics to 3D printing. Brand-new courses for this year include X-Wing-Discover a New Strategy Game, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, Introduction to ESports, and more.
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Computer Adventures
New Rochelle and White Plains
If you think tech camps are only for those who want to become programmers, think again, says Vivian Tai, owner and director of Computer Adventures, a week-long tech camp for campers from pre-K to grade 12. Tai has made it her mission to create a tech camp for the well-rounded student. “This is not just for kids who want to go into computer science careers, because this technology will be part of almost any job they have as adults,” Tai explains. Campers who love creative writing can flex their writing skills while plotting scripts in the video game design course, while musically inclined campers can put their prowess to work in an electronic music course. Campers choose from more than 30 classes offered every summer, including favorites such as app development, animation, and drone programming.
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MakeInspires Summer Enrichment Camps
Chappaqua and Mamaroneck
How can you foster your kid’s healthy obsession with technology without promoting their unhealthy screen-time habit? That’s the mission at MakeInspires Summer Camp, where the campers (ages six to 15) are encouraged to create technology instead of just using it. According to Travis Sluss, camp founder, “Other than pure coding, campers are not just looking at a screen. They are moving around our five activity zones.” These include the Tinker Studios (where campers are encouraged to deconstruct and reconstruct electronics), Audio & Video Zone, Robotics Tables, and the Micro Controller Zone (where campers animate objects using equal parts coding and wiring).
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