Summer Camp at the National Building Museum From the Campers' Perspectives

Chloe, a fourth grader, has been a National Building Museum camper for the past two summers. We asked her what she thought of camp last year:

Why did you choose to come to the National Building Museum camp?
Because I did it the year before and it was fun and great!

What were some of your favorite activities?
There were three. I liked making [sculptures] out of clay, it was fun redesigning the White House, and it was great [learning] Google SketchUp.

What makes the National Building Museum camp different from other camps?
You have so activities to choose from and you can find so many different friends to play with!

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I would like to be an artist, designer, or architect!

Three 2010 Camp Alumni Sit Down to Discuss the Museum’s Summer Camp:  

Grace: What did you learn at Summer Camp at the National Building Museum?

Henry:  I’ve been at camp three times. We learn about different cultures. Like in Greece, how they have certain columns. To learn about Japan we took a pretend trip to Japan and got to redesign some of the structures. I learned about different types of cities and the different types of buildings you find in cities. I also learned how to build bridges. One of the perks of being at the Museum is that when you have to think of where to put stuff, when you are in the museum and you look outside you are in Washington and you have the whole city to learn from.

Jonathan: I was at the camp for two weeks last summer and I really liked it. 

Henry: How did you hear about it?

Jonathan: I like to build a lot. And I heard that you get to build and have fun at the Museum so I signed up. I wanted to learn about building better buildings, making cities, and more cars. And they have LEGOs, and I love LEGOs.

Grace:  Did you get to design what future cities could look at?

Henry: Oh yes. We even used the set design from Star Wars as an example to work off of. We pulled out architectural themes that we could use to inspire our design for our own city of the future. The camp really makes you think.  The best part of building is when you start to design. You can notice a flaw, and you get to fix it and make it better. I’m also interested in the art in architecture. Sometimes the best place for art is on a building.

Grace: At camp you have to really use your creativity and imagination.

Two-week sessions for campers entering grades 3-5 in fall 2012.

Experience the world we build for ourselves in new ways—through the building, visual, and performing arts! Attend one, two, or three unique sessions of two week, full-day summer camp at the National Building Museum.  Visit the Summer Camp Webpage for more information.