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Pre-Camp is for children ages 6+.

You must have a camp registration for the same week to enroll.

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Learn how you might turn a passion in art into a successful career. Discover the diversity of professions that are available in creative fields by interviewing conservationists, art installers, curators, and educators within the museum. Travel to other locations to tour nonprofit arts organizations and galleries. Work with your class educator and other experts to develop your personal portfolio and allow them to help you to navigate your next steps in your personal practice, higher learning, or apprentice opportunities.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023

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Explore a wide range of tools to try out marks, smudges, and textures that can become expressive works of art. Conduct art experiments and play collaborative games to leave room for unexpected results and discover how nontraditional materials and processes can fuel your creative imagination. Use our galleries as a source for inspiration as you look for artists who think beyond realism and traditional techniques and create art in innovative ways.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023

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Develop your own Minecraft inspired worlds, block by block. Bring digital creations to life by constructing pixelated structures in three dimensions as models and as playable spaces. Explore biomes and suitable environments that would attract animals and keep mobs at bay, scavenge for materials that emulate the ideal ores, and create mods that will bring your ideas to the next level. Explore spaces around Oakland and work with your team to recreate their materials and silhouettes in Minecraft.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023

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Push, pull, and squish clay into anything you can imagine—from functional vessels like bowls and cups you can actually use to sculpted figures of your own design. Try out the potter's wheel and learn hand-building techniques inspired by artists in the museum collection. Use colorful underglazes to give your work a personal touch. Projects will be fired and available for pick-up at the museum 3-4 weeks after camp.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023

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Become inspired by a rainbow explosion of color! Let’s delve into the Hall of Gems and Minerals and uncover the dazzling colors within. Then, recreate the vibrant hues found within our galleries and invent new pigments based on your favorite foods and memories. What color experiments would you make using paint, clay, and a myriad of other art materials? Travel through different art stations in your classroom that will allow you to play, create, and discover.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023

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Explorers, you have a mission! A mysterious benefactor has given you a generous gift, and you must use it to build a new museum to inspire future generations. Design a character and team up with museum experts to deepen your understanding of how exhibitions are curated. Examine artifacts and work with your co-players on challenges that test your knowledge, creativity, and teamwork on this exciting adventure.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023.

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Welcome dreamers of all ages to the happiest museum on Earth! Here you can have no worries as you explore different biomes and learn how animals survive in their ecosystems. Let it all go as you experiment with ice, and go under the sea to learn about the differences between fresh and salt water. Make museum connections to some of your favorite stories and explore ways you can help make the world a better place.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023.

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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. 
 

Hi-Fives! camps are recommended for kids who have finished a year of full-day kindergarten or full-day child care. 

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. 

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 5, 2023.

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Become an entomologist at Powdermill! Use scientific tools, set insect traps, and create your own take-home collection of local bugs. Learn to identify pollution indicators from the stream and make seed paper art to help pollinators thrive. Discover insect anatomy through grasshopper dissections. Let your imagination run wild as you construct original bug sculptures inspired by science and your own creativity. Keep a scientific journal of your work as you explore a week of amazing arthropods!

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023.

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Unleash your inner artist and create some unique masterpieces with different materials and art processes in all sorts of funky ways. 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 that other artists have used around the world and throughout history.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023

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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 5, 2023.

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POP! BAM! WOW! Explore the superpowers of real-world animals and plan your transformation into an amazing superhero. See how your web slinging compares to that of Peter Parker and your friendly neighborhood garden spider. Find out if any animals can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Create a superhero league with your new camp friends, and join a friendly competition to test your powers.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023.

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Investigate the intricate balance of systems in the human body. Dissect a brain and conduct a mock coronary bypass on a real heart. Discover surprising evidence in fossils and ancient skeletons that reveals how medicine and disease have evolved throughout time. Find out what it’s like to be a real medical student on a field trip to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s training facilities.

Day trip to University of Pittsburgh WISER facility: museum pick-up at 3 p.m.

The last day to register for this camp is July 5, 2023.

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Post-Camp is for children ages 6+.

You must have a camp registration for the same week to enroll.

Learn more about .

Pre-Camp is for children ages 6+.

You must have a camp registration for the same week to enroll.

Learn more about .

Visit the habitats of animals big and small as you learn about the types of places different creatures call home. Learn how human architects gain inspiration from nature’s structures and animal dwellings. Study insect homes through a microscope. Compare animal architects that build their own houses to sneakier species that steal them. Bring your favorite toy animal to camp and create a model of its very own dream house!

The last day to register for this camp is July 12, 2023.

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Let’s use the movement of our bodies, wearable artwork, and our creativity to produce a show like no other! We'll take inspiration from the galleries and emulate the postures of sculptures, construct costumes inspired by paintings, and sway like mobiles. We'll learn moves from different dance and meditation practices, and even create our own beats using percussion instruments. Then, we’ll put on a show for visitors, popping into the galleries to give them a performance they'll never forget. Invite your family and friends to come see the original production we design together as a group.

The last day to register for this camp is July 12, 2023

Learn more about .

Let’s use the movement of our bodies, wearable artwork, and our creativity to produce a show like no other! We'll take inspiration from the galleries and emulate the postures of sculptures, construct costumes inspired by paintings, and sway like mobiles. We'll learn moves from different dance and meditation practices, and even create our own beats using percussion instruments. Then, we’ll put on a show for visitors, popping into the galleries to give them a performance they'll never forget. Invite your family and friends to come see the original production we designed together as a group.

The last day to register for this camp is July 12, 2023

Learn more about .

Push, pull, and squish clay into anything you can imagine—from functional vessels like bowls and cups you can actually use to sculpted figures of your pet or an imaginative creature of your own design. Try out the potter's wheel and learn hand-building techniques inspired by artists in the museum collection. Use colorful underglazes to give your work a personal touch. Projects will be fired and available for pick-up at the museum 3-4 weeks after camp.

The last day to register for this camp is July 12, 2023

Learn more about .