July 21, 2009

Four additional LEGO Engineering Camps planned

by Ashley McRaven and Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- By popular demand, Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Division of Continuing Education is adding four LEGO Engineering Camps to its summer schedule.

This is the first year of LEGO camps at SIUC and the response has been tremendous, with the initial camp sessions totally filling up. New sessions of the camps for kids age 5 and older are now set for the first two weeks in August.


Media Advisory

Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the LEGO camps. Each of the newly scheduled camps will meet in Quigley Hall, Room 128. Camp sessions for different age groups and with differing complexities are set for 8-11 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. Aug. 3-7 and Aug. 10-14. For more information, contact Vanessa Sneed at 618/453-5684 or by e-mail at vsneed@siu.edu.


Two new LEGO Junior Engineering Camps for children ages 5-7 are on tap. Junior Engineering Camp I is Aug. 3-7 from 1 to 4 p.m. and participants will learn by doing, utilizing advanced LEGO parts and pieces including gears, levers, wheels and axles. They’ll learn about structures, forces and simple machines. Camp II is 1-4 p.m. daily, Aug. 10-14, and it involves the use of more advanced LEGO pieces enhancing learning by building projects even more complex than those created in Camp I.

There are also two new LEGO camps for youngsters age 8 or older. The first session, Elementary Engineering Camp, is 8-11 a.m., Aug. 3-7, and participants will work with gears, levers, wheels, axles, structures, forces and simple machines. During the second camp session, LEGO Vehicles, Engineering and Building Camp, youths will actually get to construct up to 13 different complex vehicles and machines, including an adjustable crane, a motorcycle, a riding lawnmower, a space cruiser and a submarine. That session is set for 8-11 a.m. daily, Aug. 10-14.

All four camp sessions will meet in Room 128 at Quigley Hall. Campers will have LEGO kits to use while on campus but they won’t be taking them home at week’s end.

The cost is $115 for each weeklong camp. Enrollment is limited and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. To sign up, or for more information, contact the Division of Continuing Education at 618/536-7751 or look online at https://www.dce.siu.edu.