The South Carolina State Museum in Columbia is excited to introduce At-Home Virtual Summer Camps this June for ages 6 – 11, sponsored by AFLAC! These week-long camps will focus on a different theme each day, including natural history, astronomy, robotics, art, S.T.E.A.M and more.
How Do At-Home Virtual Camps Work?
Each day is split into two groups (A & B), with each group having two 90 minute sessions each day:
Group A: 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. Group B: 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Each camp week comes with a kit of supplies for the daily activities. Kits will include enough materials for one camper – but can be shared with other campers in the household. If sharing a kit, campers must also be sharing a screen / device and cannot be on separate devices. Additional kits are available for an add-on fee. Campers with add-on kits must also share a screen with the household camper.
Kits will be available for pick-up at the museum on the Friday before the camps week starts from 6 – 7 p.m. Kits must be returned to the museum the Friday of virtual camp by 7 p.m. Failure to return kit materials by their assigned return date and time will result in additional weekly household rental fees.
Camp activities are designed with parents in mind. Activities are intended to be completed with virtual assistance from museum educators and require little parental oversight.
Activities are hands-on and mostly mess-free.
What Does Camp Registration Include?
Access to live virtual content and museum educators
1 set of materials for the entire week of camp
Access to museum educators during “office hours” if you’d like to continue learning
Camp Schedule
Please note: this page is updated periodically with camp availability.
Materials pick-up: July 3 (6-7 p.m.); Materials drop-off: July 10 (6-7 p.m.)
Astronomy Day – Stars and Constellations Mon., July 6
Make sky darts to create your own patch of sky and learn how constellations are created. How would you be represented by stars up in the night sky? Turn yourself into a constellation and find out.
Robotics and Technology – Random Robots Tues., July 7
This day is self-led and based on whichever random robot you are given for the week. Campers should still login for their two sessions for robot tutoring and project options. They will be broken into breakout sessions based on their robot.
Natural History – Sharks!! Wed., July 8
Dive into all things shark as we become Museum Sharksperts! Make your own shark’s tooth necklace, sink your teeth into some trivia, and learn why sharks are an important part of our underwater ecosystems.
STEAM and Literacy Day – Sewing and Cheek Cell DNA Necklaces Thurs., July 9
Join us as we learn all about “Tallulah the Toothfairy CEO” and how to sew together our own Pillow Pals. Then we’ll get to know our “inner cell-ves” as we take a look at our own DNA and make a personalized necklace.
History and Art – Wait! What Did They Say??? Fri., July 10
We’ll explore unusual ways to send secret messages – the language of flowers and language of the fan. Then, we’ll create our own arrangements and watch the mystery unfold!
Materials pick-up: July 10 (6-7 p.m.); Materials drop-off: July 17 (6-7 p.m.)
Astronomy Day – The Sun Mon., July 13
Harness the power of the Sun to create a tasty treat and then build a model of the Sun and learn about our very own star.
Robotics and Technology – Random Robots Tues., July 14
This day is self-led and based on whichever random robot you are given for the week. Campers should still login for their two sessions for robot tutoring and project options. They will be broken into breakout sessions based on their robot.
Natural History – Hidden in Plain Sight Wed., July 15
Now you see them; now you don’t. Make your own “hidden creatures” as we explore the world of animal camouflage and biomimicry.
STEAM and Literacy Day – Dragons Wings & Cloud Trolleys Thurs., July 16
Have you ever wanted to be a dragon? Well now you can! We’ll be reading “Dragon Post” can creating our own Dragon Wings during the first activity. The second part of the day will be all about physics as we create a Cloud Trolley to carry things across the room.
History/Art – Pirates, Ahoy! Fri., July 17
We’ll set sail on the seven seas to discover the tales of some of the most scurrilous sea dogs ever! Then embark on our own adventure as we create hats, eye-patches and flags fit for the swashsiest of swashbucklers!
Materials pick-up: July 17 (6-7 p.m.); Materials drop-off: July 24 (6- 7 p.m.)
Astronomy Day – Planets Mon., July 20
Create a cosmic cascade of planets for your porch or garden then imagine what a world in another solar system might look like and make a 3D model of one.
Robotics and Technology – Random Robots Tues., July 21
This day is self-led and based on whichever random robot you are given for the week. Campers should still login for their two sessions for robot tutoring and project options. They will be broken into breakout sessions based on their robot.
Natural History – Shellshocked! Wed., July 22
Let’s “shell”-abrate the world of shells! From protective coverings to animal homes, we’re exploring shell form and function. Find out what makes them so unique. The answers may shock you!
STEAM and Literacy Day – Monsters and Bugs Thurs., July 23
Today we get to become MONSTERS! We’ll design our own monster outfits after reading about “Nibbles the Book Monster” and then we’ll dig into a bit of tinkering as we make our own light up LED Flicker Bugs!
History – Child’s Play Fri., July 24
How did kids of yore spend their free time? We’ll look at ways they amused themselves and create our own corn husk dolls and toy soldiers just as they did!
Materials pick-up: July 24 (6-7 p.m.); Materials drop-off: July 31 (6-7 p.m.)
Astronomy Day – Aliens Mon., July 27
Design an alien that can survive on a planet very different from our own then consider how we might be able to say “hello” to visitors from space.
Robotics and Technology – Random Robots Tues., July 28
This day is self-led and based on whichever random robot you are given for the week. Campers should still login for their two sessions for robot tutoring and project options. They will be broken into breakout sessions based on their robot.
Natural History – Along Came A Spider Wed., July 29
Oh what a tangled web we’ll weave as we venture into the world of spiders! Design your own 8-legged friend and put an inventive spin on a spider creation.
STEAM and Literacy Day – Lights, Shadows, Paint it! Thurs., July 30
Today we’ll learn about all about light and motion as we create our own shadow puppets. Then we’ll get to tinkering as we get our gears moving and motors going to create spin art machines. Paint will be used during this activity and may be a little messy.
History and Art – Gullah Greetings Fri., July 31
We’ll explore the wonders of Gullah culture and create our own mini-rag quilt.
Materials pick-up: July 31 (6-7 p.m.); Materials drop-off: August 7 (6-7 p.m.)
Astronomy Day – Far OUt Mon., August 3
Learn about the large-scale structure of the universe and dark matter then see how forces balance in space by making a model of a binary star system.
Robotics and Technology – Random Robots Tues., August 4
This day is self-led and based on whichever random robot you are given for the week. Campers should still login for their two sessions for robot tutoring and project options. They will be broken into breakout sessions based on their robot.
Natural History – Crazy Crystal Creations Wed., August 5
We’ll learn about crystal formation while growing our very own. We’ll also create luminous masterpieces in an exploration of crystalline structure.
STEAM and Literacy Day – Tummy Troubles and Things that Twinkle Thurs., August 6
On this day we are making our own intestinal tract aprons to wear as we study our bodies and healthy eating. Then we’ll switch gears for activity 2 as we design light up LED mobiles that twinkle!
History and Art – Where are We Going? And How Do We Get There? Fri., August 7
We’ll examine the marvel of cartography, and then design our own maps to fantastic lands hitherto unknown!
Important Information
Campers need basic reading comprehension skills and good fine motor skills.
Teaching interactions occur through Zoom and materials will be picked up at the museum.
All activities will occur through Zoom. Participants must have a computer, a reliable internet connection and download Zoom to their computers.
Kit materials pick-up for each week will be the Friday before from 6 – 7 p.m. at the Group Visits entrance. We will have a table and will come out to your car. You will be given a specific date after registering. Kits cannot be mailed.
Materials also need to be dropped off the Friday the camp ends from 6 – 7 p.m. Dates are listed in the weekly camp schedules posted above.
All materials are being prepped by sanitizing materials into boxes and marking those boxes with green tape once they are totally clean and safe.
Upon return, materials will be marked with red tape to signify that they have not been re-sanitized and cannot be given to another guest.
Staff will be wearing masks and washing hands throughout the kit making process.
Daily Schedule:
Group A:
Session 1 –
9-9:20 a.m. Kinesthetic Activity
9:20-10:20 a.m. Educator Activity
10:20-10:30 a.m. Wrap-up/Prep for next session
