Pre-Camp is for children ages 6+.
You must have a camp registration for the same week to enroll.
Learn more about Pre-Camp Week 6 (July 15-19).
Swoop through the galleries to find portraits of powerful figures in photography, sculpture, and painting. What do their expressions, posture, and environments tell us about their superpowers? Use your paintbrush, pencil, and scissors to construct superheroes and villains of your own.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Art Superheroes.
From anthills to wasp nests, animals have unique ways to create shelter. Throughout the week, you’ll undertake a habitat design challenge using naturally available resources to replicate nature’s designs and see if your creations can withstand the same elements of their natural counterparts. Explore different cultures to discover how they are inspired by the natural world. Take a hike for inspiration as you explore nearby Schenley Park to scope out example structures in nature.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Build It and Break It.
Explore the 3D form through diverse materials and processes in this two-week intensive program. Look to artist Beate Kuhn’s dynamic ceramic works and learn hand-building and wheel throwing before exploring additional materials like plaster, metals, and fibers to add to your sculptural portfolio. Brainstorm ideas, experiment with materials, and engineer your designs. Projects will be fired and available for pick-up at the museum 3 to 4 weeks after camp.
This is a full-day two week program that meets Monday through Friday and ends on July 26.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Ceramics and the 3D Form.
Invent your very own creature and bring it to life through comics, paintings, and wearable sculptures of monster proportions. Insert kaiju into unexpected places, construct mixed-up beasts, and become inspired by the creatures inhabiting the art galleries and lurking in Natural History’s dioramas and Hall of Dinosaurs.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Cryptids and Other Made-Up Things.
Discover an enchanted world inside the museum and make natural connections to some of your favorite stories. Let it all go as you experiment with ice, and go under the sea to learn about the differences between fresh and salt water. Experience no worries as you learn how animals survive in their ecosystems, plus explore ways you can help make the world a better place.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Enchanted Exploration.
Let your creativity expand beyond the canvas as you and your classmates design a secret hideaway. Work as a team to combine elements such as architecture, painting, sculpture, sound, and light to create a unique experience for all that enter. Learn how contemporary artists conceptualize and construct artworks that take over entire rooms in the museum. Sneak into private spaces within our building and invent experiences inspired by the hidden and out-of-the-way artworks you find.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Forts and Secret Hideaways.
Level up your knowledge of rocks as you examine gems, minerals, rocks, and fossils in the lab and throughout the museum. Learn the tools of the geologists’ trade on a rock walk in Schenley Park, and tour the natural wonders of Laurel Caverns on a day trip. Discover surprising ways we use rocks and minerals in everyday life. Experiment with the rock cycle and observe everyday items made from rocks and minerals, plus start your own collection to take home.
Activity fee: $50
Day trip to Laurel Caverns: museum pick-up at 4 p.m.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Geology Rocks.
Calling all five-year-olds who are ready for a full-day camp adventure!
See it! Smell it! Hear it! Touch it! Discover how your brain decodes the world. Learn how vision impacts taste buds by taking a blind taste test. Follow your nose to solve a smelly mystery. Sharpen your eyesight as you search for clues on a sensory scavenger hunt. Become a nocturnal naturalist by training your ears to identify owls, insects, and other nighttime critters.
This camp is a full-day experience set at the best pace for young learners. Fascinating science experiments and nature explorations are interspersed with snacks, rest time, and active play to keep your child engaged all day. Maximum class size is 15 students with a 5:1 child-to-adult ratio.
Hi-Fives! camps are recommended for kids who have finished a year of full-day kindergarten or full-day child care.
Please note: Pre-camp and post-camp care are not available for Hi-Fives! campers. Hi-Fives! campers must be picked up by 3:15 p.m.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about HiFives!: Science of the Senses.
Construct unique artworks by combining varied materials and art processes. Mix colors and apply paint using unusual tools and techniques, create interesting textures by layering and combining materials, and experiment with stamps and transfers using different forms of printmaking. Explore the galleries to discover examples of the processes other artists have used worldwide and throughout history.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Paint, Print and Paste.
Do you favor the watery worlds of Claude Monet or the textured colors of Joan Mitchell? A landscape that looks perfectly real or an abstraction open to interpretation? Get to know great paintings in the museum’s galleries. Build your skills through daily experiments with numerous painting techniques and color mixing strategies and choose your favorite approach to create your own masterpieces.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Painting Lab.
Explore the world up close using real scientific tools! Collect plant and animal samples and use a video microscope to observe living things in detail you’ve never seen before. Discover the miniature world of stream creatures, using dip nets, hand lenses, and microscopes. Practice identifying Pennsylvania trees and use your knowledge on a scavenger hunt through the forest. Perform experiments to see how pollution affects the water cycle. Use binoculars to spot birds and insects that fly around us. Get ready for a hands-on, scientific experience.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Science Up Close.
Crickets and beetles and flies…oh my! Scour the stream, grounds, and Nature Center to discover Powdermill’s creeping creatures. Construct a 5-star bug hotel while learning how to protect insect habitats. Have fun with mud as you make seed bombs and search for decomposers. Build your own bug, go on a scavenger hunt, and cheer for your favorite cockroach as they compete for the title of “World’s Fastest Roach.”
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Secret Life of Bugs.
Uncover the geological mysteries of caves and caverns. Learn lab techniques for analyzing rocks and minerals, then venture outdoors to practice the basics of geology field work on a hiking trip through Schenley Park. Explore the science of unique rock and mineral formations through hands-on experiments. Use your geology knowledge to interpret the hidden secrets of the world, and tour the natural wonders of Laurel Caverns on a day trip.
Activity fee: $50
Day trip to Laurel Caverns: museum pick-up at 4 p.m.
The last day to register for this camp is July 10, 2024.
Learn more about Youth Museum Institute: Geology Explorers.
Post-Camp is for children ages 6+.
You must have a camp registration for the same week to enroll.
Learn more about Post-Camp Week 6 (July 15-19).
Learn more about TEST Build a Bunker.
Pre-Camp is for children ages 6+.
You must have a camp registration for the same week to enroll.
Learn more about Pre-Camp Week 7 (July 22-26).
Give your fingers a workout by rolling coils, smooshing slabs, and constructing artworks using clay. Create dough cookies during imaginative play, push together smooth and fluffy cloud clay for a sensory experience, and create organic forms like sculptor Beate Kuhn using hand-building methods like coiling and pinch pots.
The last day to register for this camp is July 17, 2024.
Learn more about Build, Squish and Roll.
Learn more about your favorite dinosaurs! Get an up-close look at real fossils in the exhibition Dinosaurs in Their Time. Find out where these big bones came from and learn all about prehistoric animals. Dig for replica bones like a real paleontologist, make fossil casts, and study authentic dinosaur specimens. Meet the creatures that roamed with the dinosaurs—early mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects.
This half-day camp keeps pace with active 4- and 5-year-olds and includes a mid-morning snack.
The last day to register for this camp is July 17, 2024.
Learn more about Dino Dig - Morning.
Apply left-brained thinking to a right-brained activity for unexpected results. Observe works of art in the galleries for ideas, hypothesize some “what-ifs,” then head to the lab for experimentation. Ink, graphite, rubber bands, straws, paint brushes, paper, wood, plastic—let materials take you on a scientifically fun drawing journey. Record your process and results in your sketchbook and make a series of pieces based on your findings.
The last day to register for this camp is July 17, 2024.
Learn more about Drawing Lab.