Skunks, spiders, and snakes – oh my! Let’s explore what makes misunderstood animals so important in their ecosystems. Separate fact from fiction and learn about the survival skills of amazing creatures of all sizes. Get an up-close look as you dissect a real squid using age-appropriate tools and techniques. Encounter animal ambassadors that call the museum home and taste a snack that they may enjoy. Work with your fellow campers to create an awareness campaign for your favorite misunderstood animal.
The last day to register for this camp is July 24, 2024.
Learn more about The Good, the Bad, the Misunderstood.
Get ready to see Pittsburgh like you have never seen it before! Trek across the city by foot and Pittsburgh Regional Transit to explore Frick Park and go indoor rock climbing at ASCEND. Navigate through Pittsburgh’s kaleidoscope of cultural traditions. Learn what you can do to make city life better for all of Pittsburgh’s inhabitants. Lace up your sneakers—this is an active camp with daily hiking and public transit excursions.
Activity fee: $50
Rock Climbing with ASCEND and daily local trips: museum pick up at 3 p.m.
The last day to register for this camp is July 24, 2024.
Learn more about Youth Museum Institute: Go Pittsburgh!.
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 8 (July 29-August 2).
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 9 (August 5-9).
Stretch those art muscles with games and challenges worthy of the Olympics. Challenge yourself with timed drawings and work in teams to design and execute artwork with your peers. We will create sports-themed artwork, move our bodies with gestures inspired by gymnastics and soccer, and transport ourselves to Paris, the location of the 2024 Summer Games.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Art Olympics.
Stamp art passports with stops that will take you all over the world and through time without ever leaving the museum! Pore over a collaborative coral reef, discover the geographic origins of a sphynx, or rest for a while in a cool spot on a hot day in France. Create sculptures, paintings, and drawings based on what you find in each new location.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Art Passport.
Push, pull, squish, and play with clay into anything you can imagine—from a bowl you can use to sculpted figures of your pet or an imaginative creature of your own design. Become inspired by the organic forms of ceramic artist Beate Kuhn, mix mediums like found objects and plaster with multiple forms of clay, and construct figurative sculptures that stand, sit or dance suspended in motion. Kiln-fired projects will be fired and available for pick-up at the museum 3 to 4 weeks after camp.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Ceramics.
Explore line, pattern, color, and texture through creative play and fun projects. Observe how artists draw in diverse ways and explore using unusual tools to make marks of your own. Work with a variety of drawing materials including oil pastel, chalk, and charcoal, and try your hand at printmaking methods to bulk up your drawing tool kit.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Drawing Explorations.
Climate change has warmed our oceans, destroyed habitats, and created other environmental stressors that have taxed humans and animals. Artists exhibited in our museum have called attention to the looming ecological disaster through interesting installations, photojournalism, and collaborative projects. Learn how to inform and call others to action via art-making through exhibitions like Widening the Lens, Pittsburgh Satellite Reef Project, and Everlasting Plastics. This program will occasionally meet outside of Carnegie Museum of Art’s campus.
This is a two-day program
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Eco Art Activism.
Use natural and humanmade fibers like yarn, fabric, and grasses to create unique artworks. Work in teams to construct a collaborative sculpture inspired by the exhibition Pittsburgh Satellite Reef Project. Weave with papers, learn how to tie-dye and hand-sew, and create 3D artworks and soft sculptures with pulp, plastics, and cloth. Learn how to tie-dye, hand sew, and invent your own fabrics with stamped patterns or other unique embellishments using diverse materials.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Fiber Arts and Fashion.
Uncover woodland wonders as you turn over stones, explore aquatic ecosystems, and look for life under leaves and logs. Conduct a digestion experiment, and use the power of the sun to make a tasty snack. Investigate diverse biomes throughout the museum. Build a bug condo and design a cozy compost bin for worms. Use your new nature knowledge to create your own nature game.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Go Nature Go.
Calling all five-year-olds who are ready for a full-day camp adventure!
Grab your magnifying glass and explore the tiny world of bugs! Learn how insects move, crawl, walk, and fly. Investigate how different critters make sounds and use microscopes to take a closer look at colorful butterfly wings. Act like a bug as you participate in a “Pitts-bug Marathon” to test the speed of different insects. Venture outside to investigate insect habitats around the museum, plus build your own insect model and bug house to take home.
Hi-Fives! camps are recommended for 5-year-olds who have finished a year of full-day kindergarten or full-day childcare.
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 31, 2024.
Learn more about HiFives!: Bug Bonanza.
Through exciting experiments, explore how regional environments inform the way we live. Learn about local resources involved in Indigenous Cultural traditions. Grind corn and use your cornmeal to make snacks. Compare insulation and water resistance in building materials and clothing. Discover the history of the earliest human habitation in North America on an extended day trip to Meadowcroft Rockshelter.
$50 activity fee.
Day trip day to Meadowcroft Rockshelter: museum pick-up at 5 p.m.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about North American Explorer.
In a galaxy far, far away… is life really that different? Compare the plants, animals, and biomes of the Star Wars universe with those of our own world. Discover what makes a tauntaun so well-suited to its habitat, and design your own out-of-this-world creature. Investigate the science of Cloud City and examine real life crystals to determine which ones would give a lightsaber your favorite hue. Don your Jedi gear—it’s time to discover the science behind the fantasy!
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Star Warriors.
Decode puzzles left by ancient peoples from around the world and throughout history. Delve into experimental archaeology through design challenges such as mixing rock art pigments, using stone tools, and testing pottery techniques. Extract DNA and learn what modern studies in genetics reveal about prehistoric human migration. Explore Meadowcroft Rockshelter and discover more about the earliest human habitation in North America.
Activity fee: $50
Day trip to Meadowcroft Rockshelter: museum pick-up at 5 p.m.
The last day to register for this camp is July 31,2024.
Learn more about Youth Museum Institute: Secrets of Ancient Culture.
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 9 (August 5-9).
Utilize open source and Adobe-based editing software to finesse and finish photographic and film-based artworks. Learn how to strengthen compositions, alter lighting, and color correct your photographs, and how to smooth transitions and add sound or music to your film. Bring along work you’ve started or create new images with the guidance of teaching artists. This program will occasionally meet outside of Carnegie Museum of Art’s campus.
This is a two-day program
The last day to register for this camp is July 31, 2024.
Learn more about Film and Photo Editing.
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 10 (August 12-16).
Develop your own modular worlds inspired by popular toys and games like Legos and Minecraft. Bring digital creations to life by constructing pixelated structures in three dimensions. Explore plastics as a material in construction and sculpture in the exhibition Everlasting Plastics and learn to build by stacking diverse materials like artist Marie Watt. Use Lego figures to explore stop-motion animation and pull distinctive prints from the bubbled surface of each brick. 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 August 7, 2024.
Installation view of Joel Shapiro, Untitled, 1985–1986, Carnegie Museum of Art, Gift of Milton and Sheila Fine, © Joel Shapiro / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Learn more about Building with Blocks.
Do you have an eye for detail? Do you like to puzzle through patterns? Join this micro-adventure to unearth some of the smallest specimens on display in the museum. Analyze patterns and make connections between cultural artifacts and the natural world. Learn how your brain decodes fine detail by experimenting with light and color. Dissect a real cow eyeball using age-appropriate tools and techniques.
The last day to register for this camp is August 7, 2024.
Learn more about Camouflage Chaos.