June 11–15
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Ages 4–5
Half-day camps, 9–11:30 a.m.
Some camps also available 1–3:30 p.m.
Choose One:
Make A Mess
For some artists, a messy studio is a sign of creativity. Bring a smock and have some fun making art with all sorts of messy materials that you don’t get to use at home. Experiment with gooey papier-mâché and drippy paint. Make abstract compositions and freestanding sculptures. Look for inspiration in the galleries and draw your favorite artworks in your sketchbook.
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Dino Dig
Choose morning or afternoon session
Have a dino-mite week as a junior paleontologist! Get up-close and personal with Dinosaurs in Their Time. Find out where those big bones came from and get to know the animals they belonged to. Bone up on your dino facts by studying specimens, making fossil casts, digging for replica bones, and investigating the plants of the Mesozoic Era. Meet the creatures that roamed with the dinosaurs—early mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects.
Ages 6–7
Full-day camps, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Art Cat's Excellent Adventure: Museum Time Machine
Design and build a time machine that takes you on a blast to the past—or fast-forward into the future. Sketch art and architecture from ancient civilizations, the Renaissance, and the 21st century, and create a mixedmedia time capsule to tell people about your moment in time. Experiment with historical art-making techniques using clay, paint, and other materials—all with a modern twist. Create your own paintings, sculptures, drawings, and architectural models.
Creepy Crawly Slippery Slimy Science
Discover nature’s slimy, creepy-crawly, gigantic, and tiny oddities. Investigate how animals and plants survive in extreme environments, learn about weird prehistoric creatures, identify mystery slime, and more! Daily experiments delve into insect movement, habitats, and senses. Forays into the physical sciences and chemistry encourage observation and testing of phenomena. Sink your teeth—literally!— into a yeast experiment with rising bread, and find out for yourself whether yeast can blow up a balloon. Create emulsions and test what floats in slimy substances. Even build an obstacle course for worms!
Ages 8–10
Full-day camps, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Neighborhoods in My City
This camp is full. Please click here to place your name on the waitlist.
Explore a neighborhood on foot and in paintings! Board our charter bus with a team of architect chaperones for a day visiting a local neighborhood and exploring a main street and local housing styles. Design a neighborhood of your own and see how it connects with your classmates’ to build a city.
Planet Protection Agency
Help save the planet! Get serious about conservation, waste reduction, and recycling. Investigate important issues such as urban heat islands, acid rain, flooding, landfills, and more. Design games and projects that help you decide how to make the biggest green impact. Run experiments to learn how plants filter air and recycle water. Venture into the world of decomposition by testing the speed at which materials break down in water and soil, and make a worm composting bin to take home. Re-purpose recycled materials while learning about the life cycle of metals, plastics, and other manufactured products.
Ages 11–13
Full-day camps, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Drawing
Draw the world around you. Learn to draw from observation, capturing exactly what you see as well as making abstract patterns and designs. Experiment with pencil, charcoal, pastel, and pen and ink.
Youth Museum Institute: Mysteries of Pittsburgh
With kayak trip & rock walk
This camp is full. Please click here to place your name on the waitlist. Another session is also available June 18–22.
Get ready to see Pittsburgh like you’ve never seen it before! How does a falcon-eye view from the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning compare with a view of the skyline from the head of the Ohio River? Find out as you explore the city by foot, by bus, and on a kayak trip led by experienced Venture Outdoors guides. A rock walk in Schenley Park near the museum reveals secrets about how our region’s celebrated landscape formed. Hike hillside steps for unique views of town. Gain a better understanding of watershed ecology and geography through biodiversity studies and geologic exploration. Set up experiments that model glaciation and erosion. Slip and slide on a model glacier in an ice-block race! Field trip fee: $35.