If you have kids at home, you’re probably already looking ahead to summer. Maybe you’ve had camps and swim lessons on the calendar for weeks (months?) — but what about some other opportunities that help them discover new interests and skills and keep them on track for the next school year and beyond?
“There’s research highlighting how young people can lose learning over the summer, as well as needing a break from the classroom,” says Karen Peterson, founder and chief executive officer of The Connectory, an online portal for out-of-school STEAM learning opportunities for kids. “Finding summer opportunities that mix fun with learning can address the summer learning loss and provide new experiences.”
“Finding summer opportunities that mix fun with learning can address the summer learning loss and provide new experiences.”
Whether you're looking for a few days of learning or all-summer-long fun, opportunities to learn about science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) outside of school time are a great way to keep kids engaged. Science Near Me partners with providers like The Connectory to connect parents and caregivers with a wide variety of STEAM and STEM activities for kids.
“Over the past few months, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of opportunities added to The Connectory, especially in-person summer camps and workshops,” says Peterson. “We’re also seeing more summer online classes being added than before the pandemic.”
Find events, projects and programs on Science Near Me
Science museums, science centers, planetariums, universities, STEM clubs, libraries and more host great events and courses each summer! Opportunities are everywhere, so the real challenge is finding the perfect opportunities for your kids. That’s where Science Near Me comes in: With our opportunity finder, you can filter by age range, cost and more to find a match for you.
With almost 2,000 Connectory opportunities on ScienceNearMe.org, we’re sure you’ll find something!
For instance, parents and caregivers in Maine can sign kids up for DaVinci Experience’s Maine summer day camps for art activities, science experiments and outdoor games that will encourage kids to explore and experiment. Find a one-time event like Leap into Science: Ocean Density at Morristown, NJ’s Kemmerer Library, where kids grades K-3 can hear stories and do fun experiments to learn about the ocean. Or sign the kids up for a grade-level specific Mad Science workshop in St. Louis, MO.
If you want to make this a summer of science for your children, there are programs like the Girls Who Codefree Summer Immersion Program, where rising 11th and 12th grade students can spend seven weeks learning coding skills at one of several locations in the Los Angeles, CA, area and nationwide.
Or if you’re looking for educational activities for kids at home, there are plenty of live, online or on-demand events to choose from. Kids love Minecraft? Join an in-game class like The Island of Dr. DNA: Protein Synthesis Minecraft class. Coloring more their jam? Make it educational this summer with the Women in Engineering (WE) STEM Role Model Coloring Book. You never know what you’ll find browsing Science Near Me!
Science Near Me connects people of all ages with science events and opportunities that are right for them, provided by dozens of trusted sources, including The Connectory. Get started today at ScienceNearMe.org.
Have a summer STEAM activity to promote?
If you’re a STEAM educator, be sure to add your opportunities to Science Near Me! We’d love to share your event, opportunity, activity or camp with our community.
