Fun and learning mix at Camp Invention

Although school doesn't start until next month, more than 100 first- through sixth-graders put their minds to the test at Camp Invention, the second year it's been held at Minden Elementary.

Created by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, the week-long summer day camp offers students a variety of activities that engage their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

"In the middle of summer, the camp offers something different, something exciting," said Minden teacher and camp director Lauren Hayes-Spires on July 21.

Hayes-Spires said the students rotate between five classrooms, each with a different project.

"They'll have experiences here they might not have during the regular school year or at a traditional camp," she said.

Boxes, plastic containers and other recyclables abounded in the school's hallway, overflowing into the classrooms where students used the materials for projects.

In one room, students used screwdrivers to tinker with outdated stereos, old coffee makers and other discarded appliances. Each had brought some electronic device from home. All were instructed to disassemble their machines, document their discoveries, and conceive of new inventions using the old parts.

"Wow, nice!" one student exclaimed while 9-year-old Bryson Williams opened up a windup flashlight.

"I got this from my parents; my dad has a lot of them at work," Bryson said.

With the curiosity of a scientist, the goggle-faced fifth-grader inspected the flashlight's innermost parts. He found a greasy set of gears beneath the hand lever and an intricate network of wires and circuits connected to the light bulb.

"I can maybe build something with these," he said, "but I don't know what yet."

Nine-year-old Sidney Johnson, working with classmate Wenny Lu, had a good idea what she wanted to create.

"We were told to write down stuff that bothers us, and I wrote down that I don't like washing my dog," Sidney said. "So what I want to do is to make a small machine that can wash my dog for me."

How Sidney would create such a machine by taking apart an old DVD player had yet to be imagined. She did consider converting the DVD's disc spinner into some sort of rotating sprinkler.

"I think I could make that machine," she said.

Outside the school, another group of students had already made their inventions for the day, a mighty assortment of card-board shields.

And to put their creations to the test, the students split into teams and engaged in an all-out water fight. Water balloons and wet sponges flew across the playground thudding against the contraptions. After two rounds of fighting, teachers determined the driest team and rewarded its members accordingly, 100 points each.

Winning-team member Tyler Rudd, 6, showed off his victorious shield, which had duct-tape handles and a cartoon face in the center.

"There was one girl who kept throwing stuff at me, but I just kept blocking her," Tyler said.

Another set of students, gathered a few yards away, were participating in a watery test of a different kind. They'd spent the day building cardboard ships and now prepared to sail them across an inflatable pool, which had Greenland and Newfoundland written on either sides.

"This one is a long boat, with evenly-distributed weight," teacher Donna Harker said of 8-year-old Timothy Caires' vessel.

Timothy and two other teammates had made a ship of cardboard, tinfoil and paper towel. They also glued popsicle sticks around the base, to enhance stability and prevent capsizing.

"We didn't want it to tip over," Timothy said.

He explained how one challenge of the project was to put 20 washers in the boat to see if it could withstand the weight.

"We put five in each corner, and then just had to blow it across," he said.

"Another safe voyage," Harker exclaimed after the students' ship made it to the shores of Newfoundland.

She said Camp Invention was designed to keep kids busy.

"They really get to be creative," Harker said. "They get to let their minds work without constraints."