Summer Camps
Engage your kids with Summer Camps
Van Andel Institute for Education offers unique summer camps in science, engineering, and robotics for students in grades K–12. Our 1-day and 4-day summer camp options throughout the summer include a variety of hands-on interactive investigations where kids think and act like scientists!
1-Day Camps
Grades K-2:
Log runs are a classic amusement park ride that slowly twist and turn until riders are dropped down a large slide to be soaked from head to toe. In this day camp experience for grades K-2, students will build their own log ride prototype using a marble and everyday materials. Get your marble to roll, spin, and eventually drop safely into the landing zone. But be careful not to make it too long — there are a lot of riders waiting!
- Learn about the forces that power a log run.
- Design and engineer your own Marble run that ends in a splash!
- Explore different variables that can impact the direction and speed of your marble.
June 20 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
This camp is currently filled. Join Waitlist
The places that animals live are called habitats. All animals are specially adapted to live in their unique habitat. Their mouths are specially designed to eat the food that is available, their feet and legs are designed to walk or fly or swim where they live. Kids in grades K-2 will learn about different habitats and adaptations and use that knowledge to design a new and uniquely adapted animal!
- Handle a variety of our resident animals!
- Discover how adaptations help animals survive in their habitats.
- Use nature as an inspiration to design and engineer your own unique animal!
June 26 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
This camp is currently filled. Join Waitlist
Hurricanes produce winds anywhere from 90 to 190 miles per hour. Houses in a hurricane’s path need to withstand these terrifying speeds! Engineers design structures that are stable and streamlined to survive these massive storms. Kids in grades K-2 will learn about different shapes and how they provide strength, and then design a home that can hopefully survive a hurricane!
- Discover how different shapes play a role in designing strong buildings.
- Learn about aerodynamics and how they can help homes survive a hurricane.
- Design and build your own house that can withstand hurricane force winds!
July 24 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
This camp is currently filled. Join Waitlist
A beloved VAI organism has gone missing! Young scientists will put their skills to the test as they learn about the world of forensic science and try to solve this crime. Working together, students will identify clear evidence from the crime scene to return the tortoise back to its rightful home.
- Learn about what a forensic scientist is and how they solve crimes.
- Analyze a crime scene to generate evidence used to determine who committed the crime.
- Use teamwork to collaborate with other scientists and solve the crime by finding who stole the tortoise.
August 14 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
This camp is currently filled. Join Waitlist
Grades 2-4:
Log runs are a classic amusement park ride that slowly twist and turn until riders are dropped down a large slide to be soaked from head to toe. In this day camp experience for grades 2-4, students will build their own log ride prototype using a marble and everyday materials. Get your marble to roll, spin, and eventually drop safely into the landing zone. But be careful not to make it too long — there are a lot of riders waiting!
- Learn about the forces that power a log run.
- Design and engineer your own Marble run that ends in a splash!
- Explore different variables that can impact the direction and speed of your marble.
June 21 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
This camp is currently filled. Join Waitlist
The places that animals live are called habitats. All animals are specially adapted to live in their unique habitat. Their mouths are specially designed to eat the food that is available, their feet and legs are designed to walk or fly or swim where they live. Kids in grades 2-4 will learn about different habitats and adaptations and use that knowledge to design a new and uniquely adapted animal!
- Handle a variety of our resident animals!
- Discover how adaptations help animals survive in their habitats.
- Use nature as an inspiration to design and engineer your own unique animal!
June 27 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
Hurricanes produce winds anywhere from 90 to 190 miles per hour. Houses in a hurricane’s path need to withstand these terrifying speeds! Engineers design structures that are stable and streamlined to survive these massive storms. Kids in grades 2-4 will learn about different shapes and how they provide strength, and then design a home that can hopefully survive a hurricane!
- Discover how different shapes play a role in designing strong buildings.
- Learn about aerodynamics and how they can help homes survive a hurricane.
- Design and build your own house that can withstand hurricane force winds!
July 25 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
This camp is currently filled. Join Waitlist
A beloved VAI organism has gone missing! Luckily, the criminal left behind a mysterious powder. Utilizing physical and chemical properties, identify the substance left behind and link it to a suspect to help bring our organism home.
- Discover how to determine the physical and chemical properties of materials to identify powders left behind at a crime scene.
- Analyze a crime scene to generate evidence used to determine who committed the crime.
- Use teamwork to collaborate with other scientists and solve the crime by finding who stole the Bearded Dragon.
August 15 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
This camp is currently filled. Join Waitlist
Grades 4-6:
The king of amusement parks is the roller coaster. From metal to wood, steep drops, corkscrews, and twists and turns, these mechanical marvels deliver the most thrill to riders. Kids in grades 4-6 will discover how roller coasters work and then design a marble roller coaster to see how energy transformation works! Can you design a roller coaster that delivers a maximum amount of thrill safely?
- Discover how potential and kinetic energy transform throughout a roller coaster.
- Design and engineer your very own roller coaster that has the most thrill for its riders!
- Conduct tests to discover how we can increase the amount of energy in a roller coaster system.
June 22 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
This day camp experience will combine engineering, computer science, and biology! Meet some of our resident animals, learn about unique adaptations they have that help them survive in their environment and then apply this knowledge to design your own mechanical animal! Using a Sphero robot, kids in grades 4-6 will design, program, and test an animal that can move, make sound, and respond to its environment!
- Handle a variety of our resident animals.
- Discover how animals use adaptations to meet their needs in their environment.
- Learn the basics of block coding.
- Design and engineer your own animal using our Sphero Robots.
June 28 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
Earthquakes can do some serious damage to buildings. Engineers utilize large shake tables to test the ability of buildings to withstand various types of seismic waves generated by earthquakes. Kids in grades 4-6 will become engineers, build their own building, and evaluate how well various designs withstand seismic activity on our shake table!
- Discover real technologies that help buildings survive earthquakes.
- Think and act like an engineer as you design and test your own earthquake resistant building.
- Learn about the seismic waves that travel through the Earth’s crust during an earthquake.
- Test different materials and learn about how their properties can keep buildings standing during an earthquake.
July 26 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
A beloved VAI Organism has gone missing! Using your deductive skills, you will try to solve who is responsible for the kidnapping. Learn about forensic techniques that real scientists use to collect evidence from crime scenes. Put it all together to solve the case and return the organism.
- Discover how scientists use fingerprinting, footprints, and fiber evidence to gather information from a crime scene.
- Analyze a crime scene to generate evidence used to determine who committed the crime.
- Use teamwork to collaborate with other scientists and solve the crime by finding who stole the Leopard Gecko.
August 16 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
Grades 6-9:
The king of amusement parks is the roller coaster. From metal to wood, steep drops, corkscrews, and twists and turns, these mechanical marvels deliver the most thrill to riders. Kids in grades 6-9 will discover how roller coasters work and then design a marble roller coaster to see how energy transformation works! Can you design a roller coaster that delivers a maximum amount of thrill safely?
- Discover how potential and kinetic energy transform throughout a roller coaster.
- Design and engineer your very own roller coaster that has the most thrill for its riders!
- Conduct tests to discover how we can increase the amount of energy in a roller coaster system.
June 23 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
This day camp experience will combine engineering, computer science, and biology! Meet some of our resident animals, learn about unique adaptations they have that help them survive in their environment and then apply this knowledge to design your own mechanical animal! Using a Sphero robot, kids in grades 6-9 will design, program, and test an animal that can move, make sound, and respond to its environment!
- Handle a variety of our resident animals.
- Discover how animals use adaptations to meet their needs in their environment.
- Learn the basics of block coding.
- Design and engineer your own animal using our Sphero Robots.
June 29 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
Earthquakes can do some serious damage to buildings. Engineers utilize large shake tables to test the ability of buildings to withstand various types of seismic waves generated by earthquakes. Kids in grades 6-9 will become engineers, build their own building, and evaluate how well various designs withstand seismic activity on our shake table!
- Discover real technologies that help buildings survive earthquakes.
- Think and act like an engineer as you design and test your own earthquake resistant building.
- Learn about the seismic waves that travel through the Earth’s crust during an earthquake.
- Test different materials and learn about how their properties can keep buildings standing during an earthquake.
July 27 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
A beloved VAI organism has gone missing! How do forensic scientists collect DNA evidence from a crime scene? Dive into the world of DNA fingerprinting as you work to solve this crime. Use lab techniques that scientists use all over the world to identify DNA left behind at a crime scene. Rely on your detective skills to solve this crime and save the day! Practice the skills of forensic scientists by identifying a DNA sample left behind at a crime scene. Learn to use a micropipette, set a gel, run DNA samples with the aid of electrophoresis, and analyze the results.
- Learn to use a micropipette, set a gel, and run DNA samples with the aid of electrophoresis.
- Discover the work of real forensic scientists and how they work every day to collect evidence from crime scenes.
- Analyze a crime scene to generate evidence used to determine who committed the crime.
August 17 | 1:00 – 3:30 PM | $25/day
4-Day Camps
Grades K-2:
Once upon a time, there existed a summer camp where fantasy and science collided! Come and explore your favorite fairy tales, new and old, as we bring fantasy to life using science. Engineer solutions to save a princess or keep a villain from blowing down your house, and even meet real-life creatures that you thought existed only in story books!
- Save Humpty Dumpty from falling apart.
- Keep the big bad wolf from blowing your house down.
- Meet a real-life Dragon (though it may not be exactly what you imagine) and learn how it protects itself.
August 7-10 | 1:00–3:30 PM | $80
Grades 2-3:
Explore the amazing world of fossils. Think and act like a true paleontologist as you collaborate with new friends, make your own fossils, create a fossil sandwich, and participate in a unique fossil dig! Learn how fossils are formed, discovered, and used to help us understand Earths’ past!
Some of the guided activities:
- Make your own fossils.
- Create a fossil sandwich.
- Participate in a unique fossil dig.
- Collaborate with new friends.
- Meet with scientists from the Van Andel Institute.
August 7-10 | 9:00–11:30 AM | $80
Join us as we explore the amazing world of animal senses. Meet, and handle, resident VAI animals and learn about their extraordinary eyes, fantastic feelers, and other sense-sational senses. Learn how animals use their senses to survive in their environment and use what you learn to design your own new animals with amazing abilities!
Some of the guided activities:
- Set up and conduct your own behavioral investigations.
- Learn the basics of coding, and design and build your own robotic animal.
- Meet reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates.
- Meet a real scientist from the Van Andel Institute.
June 12-15 | 9:00–11:30 AM | $80
June 12-15 | 1:00–3:30 PM | $80
Grades 4-5
Explore the world of animal adaptations and the habitats they live in! Learn about, meet, and handle a variety of species including invertebrates, amphibians, and reptiles! Study animal behavior, observe structural traits, and discover the unique ways animals survive in the wild.
Some of the guided activities:
- Conduct observational trait studies.
- Conduct your own behavioral trait investigations.
- Design a habitat for an organism.
- Collaborate with new friends.
- Meet a real scientist from the Van Andel Institute.
July 17–July 20 | 9:00–11:30 AM | $80
July 17–July 20 | 1:00-3:30 PM | $80
Join us for a week of exploration to learn what it’s like to live and work in space. Earn your Space Science Investigator badge as you discover how the human body works differently in space, gain an understanding of the dangers associated with space travel, learn about what robots can do for humans in space, and much more! This event has been developed in partnership with the Girl Scouts but is open to all girls.
Some of the guided activities:
- Build a scale model of our solar system.
- Build foam rockets and launch them into your solar system.
- Exercise like an astronaut.
- Discover the effect of microgravity on your body.
- Design part of an astronaut suit to stay safe in space.
- See the effect of meteors and micrometeoroids on spacecrafts.
- Talk with an expert from NASA about their work.
- Design a prototype of a robotic arm to pick objects up in space.
July 31- August 3 | 9:00–11:30 AM | $80
July 31- August 3 | 1:00-3:30 PM | $80
Grades 4-6
The Grand Rapids Public Museum, in partnership with Van Andel Institute for Education (VAI), will provide a unique opportunity for students to think and act like scientists. Young scientists will learn about the history of the Grand River, the Grand River Watershed, and its diverse habitats. Be prepared to get your feet wet and explore the river, conduct laboratory experiments, and learn how you can make a difference protecting this river habitat.
Some of the guided activities:
- Determine the water quality of the Grand River.
- Design and build solutions to help prevent run-off from getting into our water.
- Build a mini ecosystem and learn how organisms thrive and survive in their environment.
- Learn from real environmental experts about our water and how you can make a difference.
- Create a Public Service Announcement to share with others about how we can improve the quality of our water.
June 26-29 | 9:00 AM–11:30 PM | $80
Ever wonder, “what’s in our water?” Well now you can find out in this summer camp! Investigate this question as you collect, test, and analyze local water samples. Examine possible sources of contamination in our waterways. Build your environmental expertise as you explore ways to improve our water quality. Learn from environmental experts to better understand how all our water is connected—and how crucial it is to keep it clean!
Some of the guided activities:
- Determine the water quality of the Grand River.
- Design and build solutions to help prevent run-off from getting into our water.
- Build a mini ecosystem and learn how organisms thrive and survive in their environment.
- Learn from real environmental experts about our water and how you can make a difference.
- Create a Public Service Announcement to share with others about how we can improve the quality of our water.
August 14-17 | 9:00–11:30 AM | $80
Grades 6-8
Explore and learn what it takes to be a crime scene forensic scientist. Study different techniques used to analyze a crime scene, determine who is ultimately responsible for committing different crimes, and participate in hands-on investigations focusing on fingerprinting, DNA analysis, and more! Talk with an actual crime scene forensic scientist to learn more about this exciting career. Be ready to put your skills to the test and solve a crime on the last day of camp!
Some of the guided activities:
- Learn how to complete a fingerprinting analysis.
- Engage in a (simulated) blood typing investigation.
- Discover how to analyze different fibers lifted from a crime scene to determine what they are.
- Meet with a forensic scientist from the Michigan State Police and learn how to analyze an actual crime scene, while discovering more about that career.
- Put your skills to the test as you use your learnings to solve a crime at the end of camp.
July 17-20 | 9:00–11:30 AM | $80
July 17-20 | 1:00–3:30 PM| $80
Calling all witches and wizards! Grab your brooms, or use your Floo powder, and travel to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—Van Andel style! Immerse yourself in the world of Harry Potter as you get sorted into houses, make a magic wand, and attend courses such as Potions, Care for Magical Creatures, History of Magic, and Broomstick Flying! Use your newfound knowledge to compete in the all new Triwizard Tournament at the end of the camp.
Some of the guided activities:
- Meet the Sorting Hat and let him determine the house that you belong in.
- Participate in a different Hogwarts class (including Potions, Care for Magical Creatures, and more!) each day to become a more complete witch or wizard.
- Earn House points as you compete with all the different houses of Hogwarts to win the House Cup at the end of the week.
- Use all your newfound knowledge to compete with your fellow wizards in the Triwizard Tournament at the end of the week.
- Meet a real scientist from the Van Andel Institute.
June 20-23 | 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM | $120
July 24-27 | 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM | $120
Grades 6-9
Explore the science, engineering, and technology needed to complete a mission to Mars. Learn about the red planet and why scientists are so interested in discovering more about it. Build and test a rocket that will travel into space! Use LEGO® Mindstorms robots to construct and test a rover to investigate the surface of the Red Planet. Simulate the role of mission control as you attempt to program your robot to complete mission-critical tasks.
Some of the guided activities:
- Learn about NASA’s current efforts and goals for Mars exploration.
- Design a space vehicle that will return astronauts safely back to Earth.
- Design and code your own programs using LEGO Mindstorms.
- Calculate your age and weight on Mars and find out why it is different.
- Build and test a rocket.
- Meet a real scientist from the Van Andel Institute.
June 20-23 | 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM | $120
July 24-27 | 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM | $120
Flying, digging, and swimming robots can be sent into, and access, places that are sometimes too dangerous or complex for humans to reach. In this camp, you will learn about real robots that are saving lives and you will program and engineer your own robotic hero to do the same!
Some of the guided activities:
- Learn the basics of block coding.
- Design and test a way for your robot to navigate debris and rescue stranded survivors!
- Program your robot to play sounds and lights to send distress signals.
- Collaborate with teammates to overcome challenges and be a spHERO!
July 31- August 3 | 9:00–11:30 AM | $80
July 31- August 3 | 1:00-3:30 PM | $80
Grades 9-12
Investigate the field of biotechnology as you conduct experiments and visit Van Andel Institute research scientists to learn from the experts. Learn how to perform lab techniques used in research facilities found around the world including DNA extraction, PCR amplification, gel electrophoresis, gene regulation, and protein purification.
Some of the guided activities:
- Extract your own DNA!
- Engage in an ELISA Protocol!
- Learn about how to visualize your DNA!
- Conduct a DNA Fingerprinting Investigation!
- Meet with scientists from the Van Andel Institute!
June 12–15 | 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM | $120
Refund/Cancellation Policy
- Full refunds will be given if requested more than 7 days before the start date of your camp.
- Partial refunds (50% tuition) will be given if requested 7 days or less of the start date of your camp.
- EventBrite fees are nonrefundable.
- If you sign up for the 1-day camp bundle ($80) and end up canceling one or more registrations, you will be charged $25 for each individual event you register for.