Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History offer pre-camp care hours for children ages 6–13 enrolled in camps. Sessions include age-appropriate activities and games.
Learn more about Pre-camp: Week 04.
Journey into the museum’s galleries to uncover artworks that originated in places far from Pittsburgh but all ended up together in the Carnegie International. Discover more about the artists and their creative practices through close observation, art investigation, and expert insider information. Explore diverse art materials and processes through experimentation as you play and map what you discover throughout your journey.
Learn more about Art Around the World.
Get ready for a wickedly fun week exploring all things Oz! Try your hand at “magic” as you mix potions, make bubble art, and investigate dry ice. Journey through the museum in search of emeralds, rubies, and other colorful jewels. Uncover the science behind melting and defy gravity by designing a flying broomstick. Learn about lions, tigers, bears, and other animals of Oz, plus craft a wand for a good witch or a bad witch.
Learn more about Bubbles and Broomsticks.
Discover an enchanted world inside the museum and make 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. You‘ll have no worries as you learn how lions, warthogs, and meerkats survive in their ecosystems, plus explore ways you can help make the world a better place.
Learn more about Enchanted Explorations.
Let’s go green! Discover the environmental efforts that make Pittsburgh a green city. Learn about the city’s transformation from industrialized and polluted to sustainable and livable. Visit nearby “living buildings” to examine how local organizations achieve net zero energy and keep our water clean. Hike our beautiful parks and uncover how green spaces keep the city’s inhabitants healthy, from people to plants to animals. Get active on this adventurous camp with daily excursions by foot and Pittsburgh Regional Transit.
Learn more about Green Pittsburgh.
There’s no place like camp! Journey over the rainbow to uncover the mysteries of life in Oz and compare them to the natural world. Use your brain to search for ruby red and emerald green minerals, and discover how patterns help lions, tigers, and bears survive in the wild. Gather your courage and head outside in search of all the colors of the rainbow, and put your heart into colorful crafts. Make magic rainbow bubbles and get to know tiny “munchkin” plants and animals.
Learn more about Hi-Fives!: Over the Rainbow.
Create surrounded by your favorite art in your gallery classroom. Learn how to reproduce classical work using academic drawing methods, then transform them into unique compositions using a variety of drawing, printmaking, and painting techniques. Gather with your educators and peers in the morning and receive a museum pass to extend your learning in the afternoons. By the end of the week, you will have a robust sketchbook full of creative expression. Teen programs are designed for students entering grades 9–12.
Learn more about Museum Sketch.
Do you have the drive and determination to survive in the wild? Build your survival skills as you play team-building games, decipher puzzles, and problem-solve your way through challenges. Investigate and identify edible, medicinal, and poisonous plants. Build a shelter, practice filtering water, and learn navigation techniques. Compete in a series of friendly competitions to see if you have what it takes to survive. The challenge is on!
Learn more about The Drive to Survive.
Curious campers, let’s ask questions and seek out answers! Ponder, hypothesize, and experiment your way through a week of hands-on science. Learn how to extract DNA, investigate optical illusions, and test out colorful chemical reactions. Create a cozy case for an egg and see how far it can fall without breaking. Make a racetrack for marbles, plus build a Rube Goldberg-like contraption to watch what happens next as you ask, “What if I?...”
Learn more about What If I....
Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History offer post-camp care hours for children ages 6–13 enrolled in camps. Sessions include age-appropriate outdoor activities, games, and library visits—all in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. A light snack is provided at post-camp care.
Learn more about Post-camp: Week 04.
Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History offer pre-camp care hours for children ages 6–13 enrolled in camps. Sessions include age-appropriate activities and games.
Learn more about Pre-camp: Week 05.
Push, pull, squish, and turn clay into anything you can imagine—from a bowl you can use to three dimesional sculpted figures of your of your own design. Learn to use the potter’s wheel to shape vessels and hand-building techniques to construct figurative sculptures that stand, sit, or dance suspended in motion. Add texture and design to the surface of your clay works and investigate glazing techniques to include color and luster. Kiln-fired projects will be fired and available for pick-up at the museum 3 to 4 weeks after camp.
Learn more about Ceramics Studio.
Spend the week creating crafts and enjoying nature like you live in a cozy cottage in the woods! Trek through the forest to watch for Pennsylvania birds, press flowers from the meadow, and pick fresh raspberries for homemade pies. Try your hand at sewing and upcycle old fabric to braid into rugs. Extract essential oils to use in candle-making, and relax with puzzles of all types. Make a scrapbook of your adventures to remember your cottage core camp!
Learn more about Cottage in the Woods.
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 scientific drawing journey. Record your process and results in your sketchbook and make a series of works based on your findings.
Learn more about Drawing Laboratory.
Campers, let your imagination run wild as you explore daily themes with crafts, games, and creative play. Make tents and “camp out” as you learn about wilderness survival. Uncover your inner “forest witch” and brew potions, look for frogs, and collect worms for your magic spells. Imagine life in underwater kingdoms, sculpt with mud, host a fairy tea party, and much more!
Learn more about Investigation Imagination.
Explore the world of Super Mario and find out how it compares to our natural world. Adventure into the museum and meet the inspirations for your favorite turtle and dinosaur characters. Create STEM-based “power-up” projects, and dive into the natural biomes that match up to favorite game worlds. Design and race your own model go-kart and complete a Mario-inspired obstacle course in this week of next-level fun!
Learn more about Mario's Natural World.
Come and catch them all! Join Pokéteam Carnegie to explore the natural world of Pokémon. Learn about different Pokémon and examine their habitats to discover what makes them strong. Meet entomology experts and compare the life cycle of Pokébugs to real insects. Create your own Poké Ball and Pokémon creature based on real features of amazing animals. Go on quests in the museum and Schenley Park to find Pokémon.
Learn more about PokéGo.
Celebrate your favorite real and cartoon dogs in this canine-themed camp. Learn how to take care of your dog friends, and craft your own sock puppet, collar, and doghouse. Use microscopes to discover the difference between fur and hair, and practice using your sense of smell like our canine friends. Each day you’ll engage in learning and play while you look for clues like Blue, dig like the Paw Patrol, and find museum specimens that are the same color as Bluey.
Learn more about Puppy Pals.
Calling all wiggle worms! Join us at the museum for a wiggle-and-squiggle-filled art-making week. Use movement as inspiration as you explore the galleries to find ideas for your art. Use your feet, your hands, and your body to create sculptures that shift, paintings that vibrate, and a parade performance through the galleries.
Learn more about Art in Motion.
Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History offer post-camp care hours for children ages 6–13 enrolled in camps. Sessions include age-appropriate outdoor activities, games, and library visits—all in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. A light snack is provided at post-camp care.
Learn more about Post-camp: Week 05.