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Ellis Abel Learns.

Engineering Summer Camp in Kankakee, IL

The Kankakee, IL metro area has about 105,525 residents, ranking 351st in the country. Engineering Summer Camp works the same way here as anywhere: give a child a problem too hard to guess at, then refuse to hand them the answer.

Ages 7-14 · For families · Illinois · Midwest

Engineering Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Kankakee, IL
Engineering Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Kankakee, IL

What the week actually is

Engineering week is constraints week. A bridge that must hold a weight, with a fixed pile of materials and a deadline. Children who have never been told no by a problem before meet one here, and learn that the answer is a redesign, not a tantrum.

Day by day

  1. Constraints and a materials budget
  2. First build, first collapse
  3. Redesign from what failed
  4. Load test to destruction, record the number
  5. Showcase: defend the design choice

Kankakee, IL — what applies locally

  • The Kankakee, IL metro area has about 105,525 residents, ranking 351st in the country.
  • Metro area: Kankakee, IL
  • State: Illinois · Region: Midwest

Questions we get from Kankakee, IL

What do they build?
Load-bearing structures, simple machines, catapults, water filters — physical things that either work or fall over.
Is it messy?
Yes. That is not incidental.
Do they work alone or in teams?
Both. Solo build first, then a team build where they have to defend a design choice out loud.

Other camp themes in Kankakee

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Engineering Camp elsewhere in Illinois

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