Yorktown Teachers Let Children's Imagination Soar Through Summer Science Camp

The non-profit Invent Now organization is bringing back its week-long Camp Invention to the at the end of July. 

The camp, which begins on July 30 and ends on Aug. 3, says it "engages children to discover their own innate creativity and inventiveness through hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics." It is a week-long summer camp for students entering grades one through six. 

"I believe that [Camp Invention] allows those children who like the box more than the present inside to explore their creative, innovative side," camp co-director Janet Toto said. "It’s important to fuel that love of physics, chemistry, and history early on in a student’s life because the future depends on these students to continue to grow in their wonder of how things work, what can make our lives better."

Toto, a Shrub Oak resident who works as a substitute teacher at the , first started working with Camp Invention in 2003. She and Jean Wolff, a special education teacher at , are co-directors of the camp. 

"We have been friends since our sons, who are camp counselors, have been in kindergarten," Toto said. 

Toto said she wants children to know the importance of science, language arts and cooperative collaboration all while having fun at their camp.

"It’s wonderful to see a child creating an invention, working safety and properly with tools, and facing obstacles and overcoming them, or not," the camp's co-director said. "Failures are important learning tools – figuring out why something doesn’t work sets you free and makes you more resilient."

In addition, the inventions the campers come up with don’t necessarily have to work, Toto said.

"It’s the process – the brainstorming of ideas, the manipulation of materials, the teamwork and the smiles that make it so worthwhile," she said.

The campers will participate in four workshops, as well physical activities that allow them to develop collaborative, team-building skills.

To register a child for these programs or to learn more about Invent Now programming, visit their website or call 800-968-4332.

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